Seeing the Sights

I write this at the tail-end of my unexpected Summer Holiday here in NZ, having had around 6 weeks off since mid-December. A few of us managed to get through the final stages of the VFR phase in no time thanks to a spell of a good weather and lots of aircraft availability. As our next phase, the IFR phase, has a fixed start date we had no choice but to take time off and turn our attentions to seeing more of New Zealand and preparing for the Christmas festivities. I was particularly happy as my girlfriend turned fiancée (that’s a story for another time, I’ll spare you the details on this blog…!) was coming out to visit for Christmas.

To start with the flying: I passed PT1 (Progress Test 1) back in December which is basically a CTC test to check competency in the flying and groundwork aspects of this stage in training, only once we pass this test can we move onto the IFR stage. The prep for PT1 involved studying up on the aircraft and various NZCAA (NZ Civil Aviation Authority) documents as we often get quizzed before the flight so the instructors can assess our general knowledge. I had my first two attempts at PT1 cancelled due to poor weather, but this didn’t stop each instructor giving me a thorough quizzing so by the time I actually got round to having a nice day I was well and truly prepared. The flying element consists of checking everything we’ve learnt so far, making sure we maintain good lookouts, follow checklists and procedures, fly accurately etc. The test started with a nav leg given by the instructor which I have to reach within certain tolerances and as we approached the destination I was given an airfield to divert to which I then plan and brief for while we are in the air. I was diverted to Matamata airfield where we had an oil ‘emergency’ so I then had to talk through my actions, only to then have an engine ‘failure’ as we approached Matamata meaning I did a glide approach to land. The last half hour of the flight is dedicated to general handling, where I have to demonstrate various turns and stalls as well as going ‘under the hood’ to fly using the instruments and surprise, surprise I had a few instrument ‘failures’ during that section as well. It’s was all over before I knew it though, and that marked the start of the holidays for me so it was time to focus on important things like buying tinsel and making mince pies…

A rather different view - flying over Hamilton at night.

That’s pretty much it for the VFR phase now, I only have a couple of night flights left on the Katana to do but they seem to get slotted in later on. I’ve had one so far, a few weeks ago which was an awesome experience – I can’t wait to do the other couple! The VFR phase was a great couple of months of learning and seeing such a beautiful country from the air, I will certainly miss the solo navs flying around NZ but I’m happy to progress onto the IFR flying now. IFR (instrument flight rules) takes us another step closer to the airline world, as we move on from the mainly visual flying up to now. We’ll be learning to use the Glass Cockpit (Wiki: Glass Cockpit) which is a digital display that we’ll use once we are flying commercially, and will be a different experience from the Katana with all its analogue instruments and gauges. IFR starts with a bit of ground school, followed by a few simulator sessions on the DA42 (also called the Twinstar). We then do a few flights on the Cessna (single engine aircraft again, with the glass cockpit) before finishing the IFR training on the Twinstar culminating in our CPL (Commercial Pilots Licence) test sometime in May.

Festivities

It was always going to be strange having a hot Christmas on the upside-down part of the world, but it was a cracking day and we managed to coordinate a proper Christmas Dinner for almost 30 of us starting with a surf on the beach before a meal back at Clearways. I realised why a lot of Kiwi’s don’t cook a roast at Christmas – the kitchen became a sauna/steam room with all the activity and 6 ovens blasting away with various meats and veg roasting away. It was a real team effort, and definitely a memorable Christmas and a great feast (of course, can’t beat mum’s Christmas dinner!).

Christmas on the beach

Christmas Dinner!

Roadtrippin’

My fiancée (!) and I took the opportunity after Christmas to head up to the Coromandel Peninsula for a week - another outstandingly-beautiful-words-don’t-do-it-justice kind of place. We enjoyed a few nights in Coromandel Town, before heading right up to the northern tip where very quickly life feels fairly remote as you trundle along gravel roads to various idyllic sandy bays and beaches. We got our fill of the renowned Coromandel Mussels, as well as sea kayaking around Cathedral Cove and a good hike up Castle Rock. We managed to reconvene with a few of my course-mates for New Years, before heading back to Hamilton.

Camping in Coromandel Town

Looking out to sea from Castle Rock

I spent the next few days down at Raglan beach, trying my hand at surfing again (mixed success) and eating many a “fush n chups”. A few of us had a weekend up in the Bay of Islands, and then a road trip around the South Island for around 10 days. We flew down to Queenstown, spent 3 days there before picking up our 10-seater wagon and taking 3 days to get to Christchurch, taking in Franz Josef and a few beautiful stops en-route to swim in ice-cold meltwater and rivers. For anyone who hasn’t seen New Zealand’s South Island, then it’s hard to describe just how constantly stunning it is – you should just visit!

Queenstown

The Wagon!

Couldn't miss an opportunity for some plane spotting on the drive out of Queenstown

Our stop in Christchurch was really quite humbling, with much reconstruction and damage still evident from the earthquakes – having visited before the quake it was a stark contrast and particularly sad to see the main Cathedral Square still surrounded by ruins. Nevertheless, we managed to see some of the rejuvenated parts and there was definitely a sense of optimism and renewal around the rebuilding projects. We were only there for a night though, and we picked up two smaller hire cars to take us back up to Hamilton over the next few days, stopping in Picton and Wellington before the final drive back to Clearways.

That’s all for now – I’m really looking forward to getting started again, I’ll update on my progress with the simulators in due course!