So, I received a phone call approaching Huntly... a somewhat difficult task given the excessive noise of the rather modest powerplant of the Cessna 152... I shouted "We're still flying" into the microphone of my mobile, pressed the "End Call" button and then sent a text to the caller saying "What's up?"... the reply?
"You're dead, according to SpiderTracks"
Rewind 1hr and 39mins... and Irene and I are taxiing out to runway 03 after ECT (Evening Civil Twilight aka. night time) preparing for a night cross-country down to Hamilton for some circuits.
Unfortunately, my "point and click" digital camera is less than useless at night photography, so I have no pics to show, but it was one of those nights that reminds you why you wait patiently for the sun to descend below the horizon to go flying... we could see the lights of Hamilton as we departed via the downwind from Ardmore... the long yellowish snake of State Highway 1 stretching out into the darkness before us. I was there as pax, with Irene wanting to rack up some PinC/Night flying time...
Following a relatively uneventful flight down, we arrived overhead Hamilton to join a (surprisingly) busy circuit... with 3 or 4 CTC aircraft doing the rounds. 5 or 6 (rather large!!) circuits later and Irene decided it was time to head home, so she called departing and we headed back north...
Despite SpiderTracks indicating that our flight had ended somewhat abruptly somewhere between Ngaruawahia and Huntly, we made it back to Ardmore safe and sound... at which point several phone calls were made to allay the concerns of the parties receiving emergency alerts.
No (real) harm done, but a story about a young man and his fascination with "canis lupus" comes to mind :-/
This was an awesome currency check
1 year ago
2 comments:
Lets look at the bright side, someone was keeping an eye on your progress. It would be nice to know the cavalry was on the way if something bad had happened.
True... It is comforting to know that the system is working, even if the annoyingly bright leds are a bit of a nuisance when night flying ;)
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