A TOUCH WINDY BUT....

Well, I have finally had a "go" in one of Waikato Aero Club's brand new Tecnam P2008s.  It did not look too promising, though, as the ATIS was showing wind at 230º at 20 Knots gusting 30 shortly before I set off to the club and hadn't changed when I arrived.  However, instructor Andrew reckoned it was good to go and after taking me through the preflight we headed off towards Cambridge and Lake Karapiro for some altitude stuff to kick off with.
We had Grass 25 for take off - more or less into the wind - and that was uneventful - 15º flap and little "WIP" took off in a very short distance, impressive!  We took a right turn to head out over Cambridge and then Karapiro.  There were surprisingly few bumps given the conditions and, once over Karapiro, Andrew got me to do some steep turns which were OK after the first one and then a basic stall.  No real problem with that, WIP was very gentle in the stall, just wallowing before dropping very gently; easy recovery with only 100' height loss.  The wing drop stall was next; with full flap and partial power the airspeed was around 30Kt before there was just a hint of right wing drop and I recovered OK (that was the second go - WIP refused to drop a wing first go).  After that Andrew demonstarted how slow we could go into the wing - he managed to get the ground speed down to 15Kt without any trouble with 15º flap - that's what you call slow flying.
Then we did a forced landing without power and I was very impressed with the glide performance.  I got things pretty much sorted out but was a touch high on final.  No problem as there was a huge paddock beyond my chosen one so I told Andrew I would go for that one and was given the "go-around" instruction.
Righto, back to Hamilton and into a left hand circuit pattern off Grass 25 right (Grass 25 left is generally used for full stops as it is the closer runway to the club).  Now things got interesting.  We flew four circuits after the first touch and go and I found it hard to keep the approach speed below the 65Kt for flap deployment.  Also, with the strongish and rather gusty wind I was finding concentrating on keeping on the centre line AND getting height and speed correct a big challenge in a strange aircraft. After two pretty average attempts, Andrew took aver to demonstrate an approach and landing and handed over to me for what proved to be the last circuit as we were instructed to do a full stop and time did not permit waiting around to take off again.  I flared a bit early on this one but revovered with a touch of power and, after letting it settle, landed quite well on the mainwheels and Andrew said, "Good recovery", which was pleasing.
So, not a bad first go given the conditions, which were quite challenging for my first time in an "Ultralight".  Any more wind and I reckon it would have been a "no-go".  Still, should make me appreciate better weather conditions for my next try - fingers crossed for next week!

TAILDRAGGER CROSSWIND

The weather today (Saturday, 13 October) was not too good (understatement, it was complete c**p, high winds and rain) so my planned first flight in one of the new Tecnams didn't happen.  So, nothing to tell about today but last Sunday was quite "exciting".....

Sunday 7th October

I had a flight in the Stearman with instructor, Pete, planned for this morning at Classic Flyers, Tauranga.  The weather the day before had been very windy and this morning the wind was 200º at 15 knots which was about a 10 knot crosswind on 25 which meant it would be "interesting" and definitely not a day for me going solo (which may happen one day soon, hopefully).
The windsock outside Classic Flyers was almost horizontal but Pete still considered it good to go, "A good, honest crosswind".  We flew 5 circuits and it felt like 10!!  The first takeoff was OK, remembering to keep straight with rudder and aileron into wind but I did let myself drift quite a bit to the right of the centreline on upwind (naughty!!).  The first touch-and go started off well.  I crabbed in on the centre line, kicking straight with rudder at about 150' altitude and keeping down the centreline with aileron and a reasonable "wheeler" resulted and the take-off a bit better than the first.  However the next one wasn't so good.  I was a touch enthusiastic with right rudder and was pointing towards the tower as we lifted off.  A bit of a turn to the left got us into more or less the right direction.
Pete decided he would do the next touch and go as a "demo".  This was an expert touch-and-go and control was handed back to me on climb out.  I managed a reasonable landing and climb-out next time but by now I could feel the conditions getting to me (as well as the wind getting a bit gustier) and called for a full stop.  That landing was nowhere near perfect but not too bad and we headed back for a much needed LARGE flat white at the AvGas cafe.  All good fun, if somewhat challenging.  Never mind, it makes one appreciate the good days more.

ARDMORE - PART 2

It was three days ago but my brain is still buzzing with excitement over the airshow at Ardmore on Saturday.  So, having had a little time to digest the event and look through the photos myself, passengers Chris and daughter, Thalia took and post some of them here.  For the petrol heads amongst you I have posted some of the classic cars (the Jaguar XKs had me drooling!).  Here goes:

Turning Final for 21 Ardmore.  JGP has just touched down and WCD is on about a one mile final at this stage - photo by Chris Maher

Strikemaster

Meeeeow!!!

Morgan plus 8 - always popular

Sunbeam Tiger - British classic with American muscle under the bonnet

Best of British - De Havilland Vampire and Mosquito in formation

Rare DH60 Gypsy Moth

Roaring Forties Harvards

And again

A real treat - Avro Anson