Long weekend

Friday (ANZAC Day) looked like it was going to be the only 'flyable' day given the forecasts, so I headed out to NZAR on a bit of a whim and decided to go and do some 'revision' in a 152...

I am very glad I did, it was so smooth and still that I was running over my own wake doing medium turns!

So I did the basic stuff - medium turns, steep turns (need to work on the right hand turns a bit more!), basic stalls, approach stalls, FLWOP (was very happy with this), Overhead Join, Go-Around (more on this below), Shortfield Landing...

All in all, a relatively relaxing and pleasant flight...

except for the itinerant pilot visiting NZAR who:

1. Had not read the NZAR AIP Plates (had to confirm with UNICOM that circuit direction for 03 was right hand)
2. Had no idea how to join at an uncontrolled aerodrome (got talked through an overhead join by UNICOM and another aircraft)
3. Stopped in the middle of the runway and asked for taxi instructions... while I was on short finals! Hence the Go-Around... spoiled a really good shortfield approach :( Here's an idea, taxi off the runway first and then ask! grrrrr

It seems to me that this pilot (who said he was from Christchurch) has spent a lot of time flying in controlled airspace... and is so used to being told what to do and when to do it, that he is a little lost in an uncontrolled environment... He even asked UNICOM for permission to cross the runway when taxiing.

I guess another way to look at it, is that he was unsure so he did ask for help... as opposed to blindly flying into a busy aerodrome and making it up as he went along. Which should be commended.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this guy is a crap pilot or bagging him out, if anything I blame his training establishment for not preparing the guy properly. Just as lots of guys from Ardmore struggle when introduced to the controlled environment, eg. flying to Hamilton, it would appear that pilots who have spent most of their time in a controlled environment struggle when they are left to fend for themselves in an uncontrolled environment.

Saturday was a little marginal, but I decided to take JBL for a blat to work some of the 'run in' hours off... the new engine requires 25 hours at high power to bed it in... so you have to fly everywhere at full power... which makes the approach and landing a little interesting :)

jade had taken me out to Karioitahi Beach on Friday morning to show me where she went for her team building last week, so I decided I'd fly out to Port Waikato and then up the coast to Karioitahi for a bit of a look from the air, as I could stay clear of airspace... beautiful place (no cellphone reception! :) I reckon I could live out there quite happily... although it is a bit of a drive to Ardmore! ;)

On the way back I was orbiting over Pukekohe, watching some cars going round the racetrack... and had a laugh as one of them went off the end of the back straight and into the gravel trap!

Heading back I was hoping that no-one else was stupid enough to be flying so I could join straight in so I would not have to come in on low power... thankfully only 2 other aircraft were in the circuit, so I came straight in. Was a fairly messy approach given that I was doing 80 or 90 kts, but I got it on the ground well enough.

Sunday I went to Hamilton with Trevor... I had been hoping to get a ride in a real aircraft, but unfortunately the ADF in the cherokee he is planning on using for his instrument flight test was out of action... that and the weather report mentioned isolated and embedded CB's... not the sort of weather to be out and about in... so we ended up in the Sim again...


This flight: 1.1 PinC (Fri), 1.0 PinC (Sat)
Total Hours: 119.4 (77.5/33.8 Day, 3.9/4.2 Night, 5.1 IFR)

Who needs night-vision goggles...

when you have a full moon!

A simply stunning flight last night... full moon, clear skies, no wind, unlimited vis... After finishing off some paper work for the type-rating, I took Trevor and 2 of his kids for a Night Scenic in LMA...

I am officially in love with this aircraft, it is just so smooth and a real dream to fly... once you trim it up, it really is hands off flying... and I had forgotten the joys of low-wing aircraft and the extra ground effect making for nice soft landings...

The 180HP engine also makes a lovely, reassuring grumble... :)

Conditions really were perfect, and as I was getting established on long final, Trevor commented he could see the moonlight shadow of the aircraft on the ground!

Hoping to go again tonight if the conditions hold...


This flight: 1.0 PinC
Total Hours: 117.3 (77.5/31.7 Day, 3.9/4.2 Night, 5.1 IFR)

Adding to the collection

Climbed behind the controls of a Piper Cherokee (PA-28) for the first time in almost 8 years today...

And it was fantastic... this particular aircraft (ZK-LMA) was a very tidy specimen of the 180HP variety... with 3 people on-board that could afford to miss the odd meal or three, it was still climbing at over 500' per minute while maintaining 80kts! When I took it solo I was getting over 1000' per minute!!!

LMA is a lovely (if somewhat expensive) aircraft to fly... and I will certainly be racking up a few more hours in it now that I am officially rated in it and approved to fly it.

So I now have C-152, C-172 and PA-28 ratings... that will pretty much cover the world in terms of aircraft, meaning that I should be able to go almost anyway and find something that I can fly...

In addition to the Type Rating, I was also able to provide Trevor with the 1.4 hours that finally took him over the 100 hours required of 'direct' supervision on his C-Cat... well done mate!

now about that remaining 65.1 hours PinC time required for my CPL ;)

On another note, I spent yesterday in Hamilton watching Trevor get put through the wringer in the Sim as part of his prep for an instrument rating... although I was actually able to follow along fairly well this time, I can tell I have a LOT still to learn... am hoping to tag along next week while he's doing the same thing but in a real aircraft :)


This flight: 1.4 Dual + 0.5 PinC
Total Hours: 116.3 (77.5/31.7 Day, 3.9/3.2 Night, 5.1 IFR)

Free and Clear

It is official. I am now the proud owner of an unrestricted PPL(A)... I completed my solo high level cross country today and as luck would have it, the flight examiner showed up at the club about an hour after I got back, so I was able to get the CFI to certify my logbook as having completed the cross-country syllabus and then the flight examiner removed the cross country restriction from my licence. :)

"Feel free to go fly 1000 miles at night" he said with a smile...

As for the flight today... it started a little shaky... I got all the way out to the airfield and realised I had left the latest lot of AIP amendments behind... rather than fly with an 'outdated' AIP, I elected to return home and get them, which meant I was running around 1/2 hour late... not really the start I was hoping for.

I was starting to get a little concerned by the cloud that seemed to be building up, but once again, when you got out to Bombay it was fine. The top overcast layer being up around 20,000' to 24,000'. Underneath that it was completely clear, at least where I was heading.

So I called up Auckland Control, they instructed to me remain clear of controlled airspace and that they would get back to me shortly... after a couple of minutes they cleared me for a non-standard VFR level of 6000'... enough to qualify as high-level and out of their way I guess.

ETZ really is a fabulous aircraft and without an instructor on board, the cool air and relatively high pressure, it was flying like a dream... I managed to maintain a steady 500'/minute climb, so made 6000' pretty quickly.

Overhead Hamilton and onwards to Te Kuiti, I was expecting to get a descent clearance, but had not by the time I got to my top of descent point, so I asked for clearance and they basically said go for it.

I had timed it pretty much perfectly and arrived over Te Kuiti as I wanted too... at overhead joining height at a good speed. No traffic around, but some smoke was indicated a slight northerly breeze (the windsocks were not showing anything)... so I elected to use 34 and made a really good shortfield landing onto the (very) narrow sealed strip.

I taxied to the pumps to find a helicopter operator filling about 20 jerry cans on the back of his ute... he was kind enough to help pull ETZ closer to the pumps and push it back when I had finished refueling... I dropped my $5 landing fee in the honesty box and then got ready to depart, at which point a Turbine-powered fletcher top dresser arrived... it didnt bother with the runway and just made a very short landing onto the grass area next to the strip! Then taxied round behind me to refuel... man those turbines are LOUD! I was more than happy to put the LightSPEED Zulu on and turn on the ANR :)

Speaking of which, the Zulu was just fantastic today... if I am going to get an ANR headset, it is going to be the Zulu... Now I just have to drum up the courage to part with $1200... yikes!

I headed out to Raglan, made another good overhead, and sequenced in behind (another) fletcher arriving low level... I gave myself plenty of room, not wanting to crowd the strip, and was able to pull off a pretty decent touch and go in the first half of the strip... I'm told if you T+G you dont have to pay a landing fee ;)

Then back home to Ardmore. Was fairly bumpy at 2500'... I'm thinking I'll have to start flying in controlled airspace everywhere... its so much smoother up high. The weather in Auckland had taken a real dive, with a front moving across the area... luckily it had blown through by the time I got close and I was able to join overhead and land without any issues...

I am very relieved to have completed my cross-countries before the nasty winter weather sets in... one of the other students has both his high levels to do, and I reckon he is going to have to make some substantial sacrifices to the weather gods with winter approaching.

As for me... well I still want to do an aerobatics rating and once LMA gets back from the mechanics, I am going to get a cherokee rating. Then onwards to the CPL ;)


This flight: 2.5 PinC
Total Hours: 114.4 (76.1 Dual Day, 31.2 PinC Day, 3.9 Dual Night, 3.2 PinC Night, 5.1 IFR)

Sharing the wealth

Took a friend up for a Night City Scenic this evening...

Was a little 'interesting' to begin with, as he is a little nervous about heights and not that sure about flying in light aircraft... his comment when we arrived at the club was 'wow, those planes parked next door are quite small'... He was referring to the 172's for sale at Denis Thompson Aircraft Sales... we were going to be flying in a 152! :)

After I showed him JFY, he looked a little nervous, but I walked him through the pre-flight, explaining what I was doing and why (safety) and he seemed sweet.

Strapped in and headed for the city... was a clear night and very smooth... and the city looked simply spectacular! After a couple of orbits of the Sky Tower, my friend was feeling a little more relaxed and even got out his camera to get some pics. After trying to take some photos, without flash after I pointed out blinding your pilots is not a good idea, and getting lots of blur, he decided to try a video. The results can be seen here:

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=790574270&k=6WDYX3P5S55MZ1LGWAVXV

note: you may need a facebook account to view this... I'm working on getting a copy of the original, so I can add it to youtube

It came out quite well... and I'd just like to point out that the camera shake has nothing to do with my flying! :)

Back to Ardmore for a relatively smooth landing and he was really buzzing and wanting to do it again with his Fiance... :)

He did mention to me at work that he got a little nervous when I chopped the power back to idle beginning the approach to land... so I must remember next time, to advise the pax what I'm up to so as not to cause any concern!

The ulterior motive behind my flight was to test out the LightSPEED Zulu headset that I have on demo from Phil at SpecialFX Supplies (the NZ LightSPEED Distributor)...

all I can say is "WOW!"... this puppy really does live up to the hype... very light, very quiet and extremely comfortable... I'm hoping to give it a good test on my solo high level cross country this weekend... fingers crossed for good weather!


This flight: 1.0 PinC
Total Hours: 111.9 (76.1 Dual Day, 28.7 PinC Day, 3.9 Dual Night, 3.2 PinC Night, 5.1 IFR)

The Ultimate Night Experience

WOW!

I had been told that it was an unbelievable experience... and it really was! Tonight I went for my night scenic check flight with the CFI. At Airline Flying Club we are in the lucky situation of being in good standing with the Air Traffic Controllers at Auckland International. This is down to CFI Rob who works hard to maintain a working relationship with the controllers at NZAA so that, provided they are not busy with 'real' traffic, they will allow us to execute a low approach and overshoot...

Quite an experience to join the 'Big Boys'... although the pilot of QF189, who had setup a nice 10 mile final, sounded a little bewildered when the Tower told him to "Expect a TCAS warning, traffic is a 152 orbiting just south of the threshold"... "Confirm Traffic Type"... "A Cessna 152 orbiting just south of the threshold"... "A 152?!?!? at night??!?!? He's Brave!"...

After our 2nd Orbit we were cleared "Number 2 behind 767 on short final, caution wake turbulence"... you think?? ;)

I set up for the final approach (missed the centreline due to the 17knot crosswind... oops!) and as we were coming in... "Juliet Foxtrot Yankee... cleared low approach and overshoot and then direct to the city, 1500' or below".

I make the readback and then continued with my sideways crab along final... at which point QF189 pipes up with "awwww, I wanted to see him land with the 17knot crosswind!"... cheeky sod!

I really had to fight the urge not to say "Well if you pay the $50 landing fee I will!"... Rob told me later he was wanting to go back with "We would, but we wouldnt want to show you up!"... hahahahaah :)

We zoomed along the runway doing 100kts at 100' and then executed the go-around... I was very happy with my track, given the ridiculous crosswind and we made our way to the city thanking the controller for their help.

A quick turn around Sky Tower, out over the Port and then across to Musick Point. The city looked absolutely fabulous... I cannot wait to take a few family members and friends up at night... Then around the coast to Maretai and Clevedon river mouth, before heading back to NZAR... The wind had swung around so we were able to make a straight in approach for 21. Thankfully I managed to get the runway lights on. A relatively decent landing and Rob says to me "Excellent, feel free to go flying at Night" :)

Stoked!


This flight: 1.1 Dual
Total Hours: 110.9 (76.1 Dual Day, 3.9 Dual Night, 28.7 PinC Day, 2.2 PinC Night, 5.1 IFR)

Flying High

6500' to be precise... Although we almost did not make it!

I arrived at the club to open up, and Xavier was waiting with a friend to go on a City Scenic. Unfortunately, ETZ had an issue with the mixture control lever. The real downside to this, was the fact that I was due to be flying ETZ on my High Level Cross Country... doh!

While we were unable to contact the maintenance guys, we were able to play some musical aircraft and shift a couple of bookings to keep everyone happy...

The end result being that I would get to take JFY :)

Went ahead with my flight planning... checking weather, calculating estimated elapsed times etc. Then we filed a VFR flight plan, which we did by FAX as a learning exercise...

The weather forecasts were not looking to bad, the sun was shining and there was little wind. However, it was not looking so good when the booking before us, got back and the instructor told us it was not looking too good, cloudbase-wise, towards the south. Trevor said "We can try (and possibly fail) or we can pull the pin now"... Feeling optimistic as always I opted to try.

We strapped into JFY and taxied out to the holding point at 03... to discover a Thunder Mustang, a Kittyhawk, a Birddog and a 172 taking up all the room. Thankfully, the Mustang, Kittyhawk and Birddog were ready to go, so I just slowed my taxi and by the time I got there they were gone :) Not sure the tecnam behind me was happy about it, but it was better than trying to weave around 3 or 4 aircraft doing run-ups!

We got into the air, called up Christchurch Info to relay my departure and ETA times and then we started assessing whether we would be able to get our planned 6500' cruise altitude. To fulfil the requirements of the high level cross country, you have to get to at least 6000' and VFR cruising altitudes in New Zealand (above 3000') are remembered by the Mnemonic NOSE + 500... North = Odd Thousand + 500', South = Even + 500'... As we were flying in a southerly direction, we needed Even + 500'...

There was a big band of cloud around 3500', but it looked like it ended around the Bombay Hills area and was clear behind that. So we decided to re-assess once we got there... and thankfully there was indeed some clear air.

So we called up Auckland Control, who seemed friendly enough... "JFY Cessna 152, requesting clearance into controlled airspace, Tracking direct to Hamilton at 6500', squawking 0317"... unfortunately, I realised that I had forgotten to give my current position just as I heard "JFY, please report current position"... "JFY is overhead Mercer 2100'"... Thankfully they were feeling kind and I got back "JFY, identified on screen, cleared to climb and maintain 6500', track direct to Hamilton"...

After reading back and then confirming that I was aware that the danger zone by Taupiri was activating (someone was launching rockets, but I didnt see any) soon, I pushed the throttle all the way in and we began the slow climb up to 6500'... at 500'/minute it takes a while to climb 4500'... 9 minutes does not sound like a lot, but it seems like forever!

Once we got there, I could not believe how smooth it was... no bumping about and you really could trim the aircraft and fly hands off... fabulous!

Heading towards Hamilton we were handed over to Christchurch Control who wanted to know if our destination was Hamilton... we advised we were overheading Hamilton, and then on to Te Kuiti... After reaching Hamilton, we were given an unrestricted descent into uncontrolled airspace and as we reached Otorahanga were told "No more requirements from this frequency, have a good day"...

The overhead join at Te Kuiti was a bit messy, not helped by my descent planning being a little off, meaning I was coming into the pattern quite fast and also an aircraft doing a simulated engine failure overhead the field... so I messed up the overhead join a little bit, but it worked out OK in the end.

We topped up with gas and then headed for Raglan. The overhead join into Raglan was much better and I got a good look at the field, the windsocks and worked out the approach. Unfortunately the final execution of the approach was poor.

I was high and should have gone around, but thought I could make it. Unfortunately, there was no wind whatsoever and JFY just floated... I was about to Go-Around when we touched down, so I decided to make it a fullstop instead of a Touch and Go and started to apply brakes... at which point we hit a huge lump in the middle of the strip and we bounced back into the air! Thankfully, we got back down and pulled up well before the end of the strip...

A poor landing as a result of a poor approach and poor decision making... As Trevor said "If you're airbourne and you have power, landing is optional".

We taxied back to the end of the strip, executed a Max Performance Take-off, and headed for home...

We did a couple more groundspeed check exercises on the way back which was a bit challenging, given the lack of decent ground features... back was still good to practice.

Coming in to AR, I terminated my flightplan and was setting up to join wide right base for 03, dodging a couple of gliders out of Drury, when a 182 flew around and across in front of me and declared he was doing the same!!! He then did something really dumb and started flying, at circuit height, the wrong way downwind, before making his turn to base leg.

Not wanting to be anywhere near that sillyness, I just called for the parallel grass strip and setup for a good shortfield landing, which I nailed and then taxied back to the club.

Trevor and I had a debrief, and I acknowledged that my overhead join into Te Kuiti was a bit messy and while my overhead join into Raglan was much better, my decision making on the final approach had been poor... Other than that, a fairly solid cross country and I'm looking forward to doing it solo!

This flight: 2.7 Dual
Total Hours: 109.8 (76.1 Dual Day, 2.8 Dual Night, 28.7 PinC Day, 2.2 PinC Night, 5.1 IFR)

Circuit Groping?

Can't really say 'Circuit Bashing'... coz I could not really see it, more like groping in the dark :)

Despite a day of rubbish weather, it came good at just the right time... and once you get up into the circuit and turn the landing light off the view is just amazing... with Auckland City, the Southern Motorway snaking off into the darkness and the stars even came out! Beats me why no-one else is night flying at the moment... the only traffic I had were a couple of light twins returning from some night IFR and one of those was back on the ground while I was doing my run-ups!

My night landings are definitely improving, with just one 'firm' one out of 12... it's amazing how quickly you can get around the circuit with no other traffic around!

I now have the minimum requirements for Night Flying (5 hours with at least 2 dual and 2 solo). All I need to do now is a night city scenic with Rob (including a low approach and overshoot at Auckland International!) and as long as I perform satisfactorily I will be able to get the night restriction lifted!


This flight: 1.2 Solo
Total Hours: 107.1 (73.4 Dual Day, 2.8 Dual Night, 28.7 PinC Day, 2.2 PinC Night, 5.1 IFR)

5th 1st solo

I was not confident my plan to go flying tonight was going to come off... it had been raining all day and the cloud was really low... but by 6:30pm the front had passed through and the lovely sunset was proof the skies were clear...

So the plan was to go up with Trevor and just make sure I had everything sorted and then, assuming it all went ok, I could do a B-Cat check with Rob so I could get signed off for Night Solo's...

Only Rob showed up and said "We'll just go up and then you can do an hour's worth of Solo's"... :)

As the wind had shifted, we were flying off 21... and I taxied out to the run-up area... and discovered that the Left Magneto was running rough... We ran the engine right up and leaned it out to clear the spark plugs which worked a treat and we were off...

It was the first time using runway 21 at night and it was interesting, as the view and reference points were all different. Having advised Rob of this, he was kind enough to point out some really good reference points to use. After some good standard approachs (with and without the landing light) and a decent go-around, Rob said "Ok, make the next one full-stop, not complete... I'll jump out and you can do an hours worth of solo"...

yeah baby! My 5th 1st solo... (1st solo, 2nd - solo 7 years later, 3rd - solo in the training area, 4th - solo cross country)...

So I spent the next hour going round and round... practicing standard & flapless circuits both with and without the landing light... it is amazing the number of circuits you can squeeze into an hour when no-one else is in the circuit to get in your way! ;)

I was a little nervous about the weather for the 1st 30 minutes or so... but then I noticed the stars had come out which meant no clouds :) I still kept an eye out down to the south, but as it turned out, I had nothing to worry about...

And I got possibly my best landing ever... flapless... without the landing light...:D

The first indication that I was on the ground was that I could feel/hear the main wheels rolling... no squeaking rubber, not even the slightest bump... it was silky smooth... I wish they could all be like that!

This flight: 0.6 Dual + 1.0 Solo
Total Hours: 105.9 (73.4 Dual Day, 2.8 Dual Night, 28.7 PinC Day, 1.0 PinC Night, 5.1 IFR)