WARBIRDS OVER WANAKA - PART 4

Waikato Aero Club Trip to Warbirds Over Wanaka

5 - 8th April 2012

 

Sunday 8th April - The Journey Home 

The point of returning home on Sunday was to have Easter Monday as a "reserve" day if we didn't make it all the way back.  We needn't have  worried.  the weather was still ideal and a light tailwind most of the way back helped us.  Same personnel in FWS as on the way down with Allanah instructing young Hamish on the Queenstown to Timaru and Kaikoura to Foxpine legs and myself flying the other two.

It was a pretty uneventful journey.  Once clear of the Kawarau gorge out of Queenstown Allanah and the other pilots decided to fly direct to Timaru as the skies were so clear and we could get above the mountains.  So I was "landed" with the renavigation getting the protractor and map out to give Allanah a new vector.  That worked OK and we were into Timaru in good time.  I refuelled with a cheese and tomato bun while the aircraft got some Avgas and it was off to Kaikoura.

This was a fun leg following WIT with its fancy GPS and other navaids helping to reduce the workload.  I followed about a mile of so behind with UFS and WAM not too far away.  We had a look for marine mammals closer to Kaikoura without any luck.  It was a fairly good landing, Allanah commenting I was a bit high on mid base but then said, "looking good" after I turned final (I closed the throttle!) and I pretty much glided in for a smooth but not as perfectly precise landing as on Friday.

We came across the Cook Strait in a loose formation and spaced ourselves out for a group landing at Foxpine.  Then it was the final leg.  Being Easter Sunday Ohakea Tower was off watch and after conversing with control we all got a clearance through the military zone to track direct to Hamilton.  We ended up the lead aircraft coming into Hamilton.  Allanah asked for a straight in approach for 36R with a 9 knot tailwind (more that I would have accepted if alone, I reckon).  Not a bad landing, really although Allanah was hovering over the controls while I was "floating" down the runway.  All good, though - refuel, unload, park up and off to middle daughter's place for some family time.  Fantastic trip!!!!

Yours truly in the left-hand seat

Kaikoura flightline

Cook Strait - WIT alongside (looks closer than it really was - love telephoto!)