Less than two months to go and the pressure is starting to
build ahead of our CPL (Commercial Pilot License) test at the end of our time
here in New Zealand. I am delighted to
say I’ve now had my first flight on the Twinstar (picture below) which is a
real step up from the single engine aircraft we’ve been flying up to now. I’ve now also done my last Cessna flight and
finally completed the extra night solo flight on the Katana meaning no more
solo flights and the focus is now on twin engine flying.
The Cessna
Once we had finished our lessons “beacon bashing” (see
previous post) over Hamilton, it was time to be let loose on the North
Island! IFR flying consists of following
designated airways or routes around the sky, controlled by a radar centre based
in Christchurch. When we depart from
Hamilton on the SID (Standard Instrument Departure) we are transferred to
Christchurch control, who monitor us on radar and keep us separated from other
traffic as we fly via the airways to other aerodromes around the country. This flying has felt as close to ‘airline’
flying as anything we’ve done to date; flying an instrument departure into an
airway and then onto an instrument approach at another aerodrome. Typically, once we are close to the
destination we’ll get clearance to do either an RNAV (that’s an approach using
GPS) or a VOR (see previous post on a basic VOR approach) or a VOR DME approach
(basically a VOR approach, but we are also given a distance from the
beacon). The other good thing about the
final few “IFR Routes” flights on the Cessna was that we could choose where to
go, and back-to-back with other guys on the course. This basically means we can get a lot further
as I might fly us in one direction for my lesson, and then we’ll have lunch and
do a swap with a coursemate to take us back.
Anyway, the three ‘IFR Routes’ flights on the Cessna are now done – and it’s
goodbye to the Cessna!
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| Last Cessna flight - flying to New Plymouth (aerodrome bottom left) with Mt. Taranaki in the distance. |
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| Rather damp morning walk-around |
The Twinstar
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| The DA42 Twinstar |
The next step has been onto the Twinstar – a twin engine
aircraft with retractable gear and generally much more sophisticated than the
single engine aircraft we’ve flown to date.
The first 5 lessons are back to VFR flying (visual flight rules) meaning
all the procedures and techniques learnt in the past month or so for IFR flying
are put aside.
VFR and IFR flying is fairly different, as when we are
VFR we set the attitude of the aircraft using the view outside (basically
where the horizon sits in our forward view, for example during a medium turn I
know roughly where the 30 degree angle is without looking at the instruments, just by
judging where the horizon cuts through my forward field of view). In IFR flying, our head is mainly inside the
cockpit as we are in cloud (or simulated in cloud if there isn't any!) – so the instruments provide us with the
attitudes when there is no horizon. In
addition, during VFR flying we mostly fly in uncontrolled airspace so Air
Traffic Control doesn’t separate us from other traffic meaning we can’t fly
around with our heads buried in the cockpit using the instruments – we need to
avoid traffic, weather, and terrain. I am enjoying being back to VFR flying though, and even though I haven't done it properly since PT1 in December, it has all come back fairly quickly - proving I've learnt something at least!
The Twinstar is also a lot of fun! It is much more powerful and flies faster
than we’ve got used to so far, meaning we have to think ahead and be ready for
whatever is coming up next. The first
lesson just got used to the handling, and the second one is a Circuits lesson where
we get used to the slightly different circuit pattern that the Twinstar uses.
The final three lessons (which I am yet to do) incorporate a
key part of our training here – asymmetrics.
The bonus of a twin engine aircraft is (surprise…) two engines! This means that we can still fly with one
engine inoperative – however we need to learn how to safely fly on one engine, taking
into account the asymmetric forces now in play given that all the thrust is
coming from one side of the aircraft. The forces can actually be quite large, and
require a lot of rudder input and I’ve heard that a lesson of asymmetrics is a
good alternative to leg day at the gym (not that I’ve ever had a leg day at the
gym, who am I kidding). I’ll update you
on how my legs hold up.
I also finally had my last Katana flight (and last CTC solo
flight) doing my solo night circuits at the weekend. It was really nice to be back in the Katana
after a long break, it’s a great thing to fly! The actual flight was just an hour of circuits
here at Hamilton, and it was pretty cool buzzing around with the city lights in
the distance. Another milestone
completed!
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| Last solo and flight on the Katana |
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| BP forecourt - our workstation |
I’m pleased to say I managed to get out with the other boat
investors here for my first sail on our newly acquired catamaran.
We headed down to Lake Karapiro to have a sunset sail, which mostly went
to plan despite quite a light wind.
Luckily we had some spare oars on standby to assist when it really died
down, and putting 5 of us on board was a bit of a squeeze but it was good fun nonetheless. As the
sun went down so did our evening go mildly downhill from there. Having been bitten alive securing the boat
back to the trailer we realised the light connection to the car had been
broken, so we ditched the boat by the river and headed to find a
replacement. After some swift rewiring
at a BP station 15 mins away we were back in action and returned to pick the
boat up. Our success was short lived due
to a flat tire on the trailer on the way home – hopefully next time will be
less eventful!
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| Preparing the boat for a sail at sunset on Lake Karapiro. |
Last weekend I ticked off my top last major ‘bucket list’ item here in
NZ – the Tongariro Crossing and Mt. Ngauruhoe (a.k.a Mt Doom). I think my legs have only just recovered
though, and attempting to do both Mt. Doom and the crossing was a bit
ambitious. However, it was well worth it
– the views were incredible and it’s just another reason to love New Zealand!
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| Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom) was a definite challenge! |
And finally… this morning we awoke at sunrise to see the
annual Balloons Over Waikato event, where they have around 20-30 hot air
balloons launch in a ‘mass ascension’. It
was a foggy start, but an impressive sight as they started launching into the
air. Not a bad way to start the day!
A few other adventures over the past few weeks....
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| Blue Spring - Te Waihou Walkway. The water was crystal clear (and very cold!) |
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| Backseating a night flight on the Twinstar |
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| Bubble football at Clearways (mostly rolling around) |
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