On the line...

So I finally got a taste of line flying... :-D

I've been sent "on tour" to a small town, in the Northeastern region of Kalimantan, called Malinau.

Up North

My first official operational flight was a short hop from Balikpapan (WALL) to Samarinda (WALS)... Literally a postage stamp in the middle of a large city...

Easy to spot

Looks shorter than it is

Not a bad day in Samarinda

We then had a delay due to weather at our next destination, Long Ampung.

Climbing enroute to Long Ampung

Sadly, the delays meant cancelling a couple of afternoon sectors to Data Dawai and back, so we headed to Malinau instead.

I learnt a lot on my first day... Thankfully, I have been paired with a very relaxed Training Captain who is happy to answer all my questions and offer some very useful advice from his 4+ years working on the line here...

Day 2 was a little wet to start with... Some overnight storms had left their mark and there was some light drizzle and low cloud... For me, it was a half day of flying. Headed off to Tarakan (WALR) and back and then up into the middle of nowhere to a place called Long Bawan (WALB) to pick up some passengers and one prize fighting roster!!?! Before coming back to Malinau to change over with the other FO based here so he could fly the afternoon portion of the schedule.

Daily Schedule

All in all, another good learning experience... And a couple of new places visited.

And with 3.4 hours yesterday and 2.2 today... I'm now over 900 hours Total Time... 900.1 to be precise ;-) w00t!

A crazy day...

Had an "interesting" day...

Started out by taking a "short stroll" in 35 degree heat to a shopping mall...

About 100m from the house, I almost got run over by a guy taking driving lessons... Doing about 5km/h... Yes... Five! :P

Later on my walk, I saw a guy wearing a 'Hamas Palestine' T-shirt...

Was greeted with "Helloooo meeester" about 20 times (including 6 at once from school kids hanging out the windows of a bus and once from a guy who shouted it at me as he went past on a scooter doing about 50km/h)...

Was followed by a woman in the shopping mall... As in, down an escalator and halfway across the mall!!?! "Excuse me mister, where are you from?"... New Zealand... "Excuse me, Do you have a family?"... Yes, in New Zealand... "Do you have any kids?"... Ahhh, No... "Do you have a.... Wife?" <insert hopeful look here>... Ahhh, yes... "Meh"... <insert disappointed look and 180° turn here>... Not sure if she was going to try and set me up with herself or her daughter... :-/

Realised I've been in Indo too long when I decided that a salon asking NZ$8 for a haircut was just outrageous...

Took a taxi back to the house... Meter says 21,000... Go to pay 25,000 because I like to tip the drivers who don't mess with foreigners...  gives me the 5,000 back... And asks for a 10!!?! :-/

Nothing makes sense... I love it! ;)

Waiting...

Got a good lesson in waiting... Which is ongoing ;)

Just over a month from completing my ground course and flight training with Susi and I finally got my Indonesian license validation issued... The wheels of bureaucracy turn VERY slowly in Indo... Doesn't help when the DGCA takes a 1 week vacation to celebrate then end of Ramadan... :-/

Then, 1 day of travelling, from NZ to my first base assignment in Kalimantan, turning into 3 days due to fog in Sydney, missed connections and some admin hiccups...

Then... I get to base to find that the flight crew to aircraft ratio is a bit high...

Still, I can think of worse things than getting paid to sit around and watch TV and drink beer... :P

2 weeks in...

And here is a quick run down of things I have learned so far...

• Indonesia is hot... Like ~30°C hot... ALL. THE. TIME! Morning... Afternoon... Evening... Middle of the night! The temperature variance is maybe 2 or 3 degrees...


• Never trust an "Indonesian fart"... I'll spare you the details, suffice to say that imodium is very useful in this part of the world. :-/


• Indonesia is cheap... Like crazy cheap... Like a big bottle of beer for $3 cheap... 30¢ for a bottle of water... Cornetto and magnum ice creams for ~80¢... $9 for tailor made pilot shirts... 1 hour cab rides that travel 30+km for $15... 3 gigs of prepay mobile data for $6...


• The people are very friendly... "Hellooo Meeester"


• Google Translate is awesome


• Like the "Pirate Code"... I think the Indonesian road code is more a set of guidelines.... That no one follows!


• Attempting to fly IFR and shoot an ILS approach from the right hand seat of a Cessna Caravan with analogue instruments and a vacuum pump failure is NOT fun


• The "Engine Fire" alarm in a Cessna Caravan is VERY loud


• Flying a Cessna Caravan with asymmetric flaps is hard work


• Sim instructors are the same everywhere... They don't seem to be happy unless something has failed on the aircraft! :P


• Sitting up until 1am watching world cup football, the night before an 8am sim session is not a good idea.

Additionally, I have been told the secret to surviving Indo is to remember 2 simple rules:

1. Nothing makes sense


2. Don't get too personally invested in anything

To elaborate slightly... With regards to rule #1... There doesn't seem to be any logic or order in Indo's brand of chaos... Once you make peace with this fact, you'll quickly stop asking questions that contain the word "why"... And you'll be a much happier person...

As for rule #2... Trying to achieve anything, is a constant battle... Trying to effect change is nigh on impossible... If you invest yourself to heavily in something, chances are very high that you will ultimately end up very frustrated and/or angry...

I've only been here 2 weeks and already I can see the benefits of Rule #1... I suspect that trying to figure out the "why's" of Indonesia would be a lifetime of work... (And would most probably just end up proving Rule #2! :-P)

Having said all that, I'm having a blast... I've got a good bunch of guys on my training intake... Pangandaran is beautiful little beach resort... The training schedule is intense but the content is interesting... 

The only real downside is that the Lovely Em is all the way back in New Zealand... :( Fingers crossed I get a few days off after training is completed for a quick trip back to NZ!

Can't wait to get into the real aircraft next week... After the written and verbal exams are done! :-P

I'm leaving on a jetplane...

Don't know (exactly) when I'll be back again...

The sharper eyed visitor may notice that the page headline has changed ever so slightly. Although relatively minor, this edit means massive change for myself and, hopefully, my aviation career.

The short version of events is that in a fit of frustration, about a month and a half ago, I fired my CV off to some overseas operators, just as an attempt to feel like I was being proactive about finding myself employment as a pilot. I had not expected to hear back for several months if at all, so naturally, I got a response in less than 24 hours! This resulted in a fairly short notice "holiday" to Singapore for myself and the lovely Em, so I could take a side trip to Indonesia for 4 days to attend the assessment and interview. Apparently I didn't screw up the tests, the interview or the sim check, as I got offered a place on the next training course... that started 3 days after the interview!!?!

Unlike some of the other attendees that had already packed up their lives and essentially come to Indonesia without planning on leaving, I needed to head home to make arrangements (quit part time job, pack up life, move out of flat, explain to Em's mum why I was going overseas... without Em :-/ etc)... So I left Indonesia with a "Ok, we'll put you in the holding pool and advise when there is a space available on a future traning course, if there is one"-type offer.

So, I went back to Singapore to celebrate with Em the fact that I at least had something resembling an offer of employment and eventually got back home to NZ thinking I should have a few weeks to plan and organise things...

Cue email arriving about 4 days after I got home telling me that my course would be starting in 2 weeks on June 2nd!!?!

A twin job a bit closer to home would have been nice, but the opportunity to get some air transport operation experience, in a multi-crew environment, on a turbine powered aircraft is a good start, and realistically, an opportunity that is too good to pass up.

The end result is that I'm busy packing my life into cardboard boxes again, as I prepare to head off overseas to start a job in Indonesia, flying Cessna Caravans (C208B) around the archipelago as a First Officer for Susi Air.

Watch this space. :)

The best laid plans of mice and men...

Often go awry, as the quote goes...

I've been planning since June to get my Instrument Rating renewal completed with and ILS endorsement added. The yearly "competency" currency was due to expire on 12 July, so I started nice and early with some simulator and practice flights, hoping to book the Flight Examiner and get everything sorted in a timely manner.

However, the Flight Examiner was having his own currency issues... which caused a couple of weeks delay. Then the aircraft was out of action, then I was unavailable, then the weather was crap, then the instructor was unavailable, then I needed some recurrency training, then the weather was crap, then a new Flight Examiner was the choice, only he was waiting on various tests/paperwork etc, then the weather was crap... ad infinitum... *le sigh*... I had almost given up all hope of ever completing my renewal! :-/

Last week was looking good, I had a "practice run" on the Tuesday, that highlighted some points for improvement and was all set for the "test proper" on the Wednesday. I awoke to grey, dreary skies and rain on the roof... not necessarily a problem, that is what instrument flying is all about... so I checked the weather... The forecast was less than desirable, rain, strong winds and embedded "CB's" (Cumulonimbus... aka Thunderstorms) with accompanying turbulence and hail :-(

I made a nice early call to cancel and rebook for this week... and had it locked in for Wednesday. I then got a call on Tuesday from a 3rd party, who seemed to think that my renewal had been transferred to a "ferry flight" of a completely different aircraft type (Tecnam Twin instead of Partenavia), from a different airfield (Matamata instead of Ardmore) flying a different route (Matamata, Hamilton, Auckland, Ardmore) to the one expected and briefed (Ardmore, Whenuapai, Great Barrier, Ardmore)!!?! Several texts and phone calls later and it was all sorted. I'd still be in the Partenavia from Ardmore, just leaving later so the Flight Examiner could ferry the Tecnam up to Ardmore first.

No problems with a late departure, more time to prepare in the morning (perhaps even a bit of a sleep in! ;-) and less rushing about and less stress... or so I thought!

I woke up on Wednesday to blue skies and sunshine. Things were looking good. I headed out to Ardmore, preflighted and started flight planning based on my expected route. All I needed was the Flight Examiner to confirm a departure time so I could file flight plans with air traffic control and I was good to go.

And that is where it started to go a little pear shaped. I waited... I waited some more... I rechecked the weather... I rechecked the NOTAMs... I waited... I had lunch... I waited... Finally, I got the call.

The Examiner was delayed about 3 hours due to problems picking up the Tecnam... and I was struggling to get a training slot at Whenuapai, due to the military training being conducted in conjuction with the Australian airforce. I managed to get a tentative booking, but was going to be cutting it fine timewise. So much for a nice relaxed flight. The rush was on. I resisted the urge the rush though, fearing I might make mistakes if I didn't take my time and do all my checks thoroughly. A lesson learned from a previous flight. "More speed, less haste" etc...

It did mean that I was about 10 minutes late departing. Then due to traffic, was vectored around a bit and given a "non-standard" join onto the VOR arc at Whenuapai, where I intercepted it from a "random" course, rather than tracking via a radial. Thankfully, it was a scenario that I had already experienced once before (and gotten rather confused by, but had then had a subsequent session in the simulator to work it all out), so I nailed it! :-D

I was still concerned that we might run into trouble time wise, but as it turned out... even thought we arrived in Whenuapai's airspace about 20 minutes late, we were able to get our approaches and vacate before their exercises started. I guess we weren't the only ones running a little late!! :-P

I won't bore you with the details of the test, it was for the most part average at best... certainly not one of my better days at the controls and the phrase "skin of your teeth" was mentioned :-/ I was a bit disappointed with myself, as I know I can do much better and I pride myself on flying well, but I had passed and picked up my ILS endorsement (and some very useful reminders not to neglect the basics!!) along the way.

I now have the complete set of navigation aids (ILS, VOR, NDB, GPS) for my single pilot, multi-engine instrument rating... and a V. large hole in my bank account :-/

Hopefully, things will go a bit smoother next year. For now, the focus will be back into the books and studying for ATPL (Air Transport Pilot License) exams... and the never ending quest for a flying job ;-)

A day at the mountains...

Finally... a reminder of why I love having a pilots licence...

After mentioning to one of the instructors at the Auckland Aero Club that I had a bit of time in Piper Cherokees/Warriors... he twisted my rubber arm and convinced me to tag along on their club trip "Round the Mountains"...

I had always wanted to go for a trip specifically to do a scenic flight around the mountains and I had been past them a couple of times, but for one reason or another, had never managed to go get a proper look.

The weather in the Auckland area wasn't stellar, but over Taupo and the Central Plateau it was absolutely stunning!

On arrival at NZAP

11 of us took down 4 aircraft... 2 Cessna 172's (JRA and CWD), a Cessna 162 (AAC) and the Warrior (MBK)... I paxed to Taupo in MBK... then had the pleasure of the scenic flight around the mountain... then paxed back to Ardmore in MBK again after lunch.

MBK is an old Massey University aircraft, and surprisingly, one that I never actually did any flights in back when I started flying towards the end of my time at university. I have almost the entire alphabet soup of the "Mike Bravo" aircraft in my logbook... Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, Juliet, Lima, Quebec and Sierra... but no Kilo...

It has also recently had a brand new engine put in... so new it had only just finished it's 50 hour "run in" when I went to do some currency circuits on Thursday. Consequently, it was purring like a kitten, and with the cold temps and high pressure... it climbed like a climby thing... maintaining at least a 500 foot per minute climb rate all the way up towards 9000'!!

And it was totally worth climbing all that way... as the pics below will show ;)

Ngaruhoe and Ruapehu

Some interesting patterns in the snow...

Lazy left hand turn at 9500' round Ruapehu

Crater Lake

After a few left hand orbit of Ruapehu aka "The SkyTower" (no Ben, you'll never live that down! :P) and a few more round Ngaruhoe for good measure... we headed back to Taupo for some lunch...

Lake Taupo looking awesome in the afternoon sun

Meat bombs on arrival... "WOOOOOHOOOOOO!"

Apparently the only thing more expensive than an Auckland Taxi, is a Taupo Taxi... $30+ to get from the Airport into town!!?!

The benefits of not flying the last leg home ;)

We had a quick lunch at Lone Star and then I went for a wander to partake in another hobby of mine, Geocaching... before we headed back to the airfield to load up for the flight home.

Another thing ticked off the bucket list... Awesome fun and highly recommended!