SATURDAY 9th JANUARY 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR - FIRST FLIGHT FOR 2010
A few months ago the lady wife had suggested flying up to Whangarei to visit her uncle, Dave who, after many years in Wellington, and after a bit of overseas travel and that moved up to Parua Bay with wife, Sue a few years back. Jolly good idea, I thought, and, about two months ago, booked Archer III, WIT for the day and crossed my fingers for the weather
Earlier in the week, daughter Eleanor called us to ask if she could cadge a ride with us. She was being driven to Hamilton from Wellington the night before and the original idea was to drive up to Whangarei the next day for a 21st party, then back to Hamilton Sunday and back to Wellington on Monday. Well, the clever girl had worked out that if she came with us she would get there quicker, more comfortably (5 up in a medium car was the alternative) and could have an extra few hours with her boyfriend who was up there at his parent's home for the holidays. She hadn't seen him since before Christmas, aaaah!, young love!!!
A third person in WIT was no problem so early(ish) on Saturday morning the three of us trekked out to the Aero Club. We loaded our stuff into the plane and I then sent the passengers back to the lounge while I preflighted and filled the tanks to give us 4.5 hours endurance for a 2.5 hour round trip - should be plenty.
It was fairly quiet at the airport (no CTC!) and we were cleared to line up on 18L as soon as I called ready and for take off while I was in the process of lining up. We lifted off at 0933 and after two right turns I set course for the first waypoint, Port Waikato at the Waikato river mouth. I chose 2500' for the cruising altitude for this leg. The wind was just West of South at about 25 knots from the forecast which seemed about right because we arrived over the coast on time with only a minor heading correction for the wind.
We then turned to the North to track up the sensational West coast making for the next waypoint, about two miles West of Parakai aerodrome. I set the GPS "direct to" track for Parakai to give me a guide (as if I needed it with the coast pointing the way!), set the autopilot and had the map on my lap to time my descent for the 1500' or below zone across the Manakau Heads and the Te Henga transit lane around Whenuapai. I must say I really like the autopilot in WIT, especially being able to dial in a descent or climb. It meant I could keep a good lookout and admire the view.
Our track across the heads was uneventful, no traffic nearby from the radio calls and we continued North past Piha and Muriwai beaches and at the golf course just past Muriwai called "Parakai Traffic" with my intentions to climb to 2500', and pass 2 miles west of the field on track to Whangarei. Time now to change the fuel tank, full throttle, dial up 500' a minute climb on the "VS" dial on the autopilot and listen out and look for any traffic around Parakai. There wasn't any to worry us, one call from a plane over Helensville on his way to Parakai, well away from us.
We tracked to the North and were soon over the Kaipara harbour which is vast (by NZ standards) and looks very shallow, the sand bars and banks clearly visible from the air. The southerly wind was now dead astern and the GPS showed 140-142 knots ground speed and an indicated airspeed of just over 120. Fairly whizzing along!! There were a few boats about but no planes, either heard or seen.
Once past the northern edge of the harbour I changed to the Whangarei AWIB (Automatic Weather Information Broadcast) and heard wind 220 at 10 knots, 4000' instrument cloud and parachute dropping in the vicinity so no overhead join. The wind sounded pretty friendly for runway 24 and just south of the MBZ (Mandatory Broadcast Zone) I called on the appropriate frequency that I was intending to land. Just South of Whangarei harbour I descended to 1000' and set up to join left base, making the appropriate calls. Only one aircraft nearby, just rotating off the runway, and a para dropper about to drop 10 miles away, so no worries there.
Once lined up on final it was clear the wind was not so friendly as first thought. It was a gusty and variable cross wind from about 180º and a slightly untidy landing resulted (well, I thought so, but the passengers were happy and outside observers thought it looked OK).
Eleanor disappeared off with boyfriend and Carol & I spent a few hours with Dave (Sue was in Wellington). We had a chat over a cup of tea admiring the views over the bay, a good walk and, following a much needed pub lunch, it was about time to head back to the airport and off to Hamilton. The wind had changed again - now from 100º so it was take off from runway 06, right turn and off to the South.
On the way back over Northland it was a bit bumpy so I climbed up to 4500' where it smoothed out nicely. We more or less reversed our course back except at Manakau heads I edged out to sea to get to 2500' to avoid oncoming traffic (heard but didn't see them). There seemed to be an event on at Piha - big red tent with lots of people around and relatively few on the beach. We heard a microlight radio call - his very loud engine (presumably uncowled) almost drowning out the pilot.
Approaching Hamilton it was still very quiet and, when I called the tower over Ngaruawahia, I was cleared into the zone, 1700' or below, to join a right base for 25 straight away. So, a gradual descent to circuit height over the city and when I made my next call early downwind I was cleared to land on 25L. (How often does that happen??!!). The wind was straight down the runway and so a nice landing back at base. Fantastic flight - great day out.
Eleanor shot some good video of the flight to Whangarei, link below;
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