Firsts and Lasts

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!

Last Cessna flight - flying to New Plymouth (aerodrome bottom left) with Mt. Taranaki in the distance.

Rather damp morning walk-around

The Twinstar

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.

The Katana

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!

Last solo and flight on the Katana

The Boat

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!

Preparing the boat for a sail at sunset on Lake Karapiro.

Tongariro

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!

Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom) was a definite challenge!

Balloons over Waikato

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....

Blue Spring - Te Waihou Walkway.  The water was crystal clear (and very cold!)

Backseating a night flight on the Twinstar

Bubble football at Clearways (mostly rolling around)

"Beacon Bashing"

Just over a month through the IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) training I've now completed the first batch of sims and the first 5 flights in the Cessna.  All five flights were done overhead Hamilton using the VOR beacon here - hence the term "beacon bashing" as it's a little repetitive, but really useful practice at this stage.  I'll try to keep some of the jargon to a minimum from here on in, but I'll do my best to explain what it is we are doing currently!

We learn to fly IFR because that's what we'll be using daily as part of commercial flying - the whole point is to fly along published routes or procedures to keep us away from any terrain and set us up on a suitable profile for landing when visibility is poor or flying in cloud.  It is also easy to get disorientated when flying in cloud, so it's important for us to get to grips with trusting and flying off the instruments.

I Can't See!

The first experience of flying in cloud is a little surreal, and goes against what was ingrained in us during the VFR stage (staying visual!) in keeping clearance from cloud. All the training in the sim did prepare us well though, and once you get used to flying off instruments it all seems a bit more manageable.  I must admit that it was an awesome feeling to fly through and then above clouds for the first time - hopefully we'll have plenty more opportunity to do that over the next few weeks.

Watching a coursemate fly a fine holding pattern in the sim.

The Sims

The Simulators we have here are DA42s (The Twinstar) but we don't actually fly the Twinstar for the first 8 flights - instead we're in the single engine Cessna 172.  However, at the moment the focus is learning the IFR procedures and how to use the Garmin Glass Cockpit (the two large screens shown in the picture above) which the Cessna is equipped with so although it might seem strange to swap aircraft from the sim to the first batch of flights, it's not been that bad.  Plus it's been good fun flying a different aircraft!  The other bonus of the Cessna and the Twinstar is that they come with 2 extra seats in the back for passengers (but alas, no on-board service) so I've managed to backseat a few flights that my coursemates fly and vice versa - meaning plenty more pictures to follow!

Our aircraft to start IFR flying  - the mighty Cessna 172

Back in the skies

As good as the sims were, it was great to be back in the air again and it allowed us to actually fly what had been practised in the sim. These past few lessons have tended to be very busy, using either the Hamilton VOR (to put it crudely, think of it as a homing beacon which we can navigate to) or GPS coordinates.

For either of these approaches we have a specific point to a hold above before commencing the approach.  Holding is just that - waiting around flying in a racetrack shape until we are cleared to proceed further - something I imagine we'll get used to while flying commercially, so I guess it's a good thing we are getting plenty of practice now!  I've put a picture of the approach plate we use for one of the runways here, and you can see the hold is the racetrack shape above the beacon (with the 3000' in the middle).  I'll give a skeleton overview of how we would fly this approach.

A guide for flying IFR - one of the Hamilton Approach Plates

If you can imagine this is directly above the airport - so we are often circling 1000s of feet above in the hold, waiting for our clearance to descend for the approach.  Once cleared, we track 'outbound' on the approach, for our aircraft, is the line with 344^o heading up the page away from the aiport and descending as we go.  We then effectively do a "U-turn" back towards the airport on the 'inbound' on the 176^o line to the runway to land.  In this example we have a minimum decision altitude (MDA) which means if we are not visual with the runway at this point, we can't land.  As the weather has been fairly good recently, we are often simulated in cloud and it's not until we look up at 50 feet before the MDA that we are suddenly visual again and can proceed to land.

That's a VOR approach in a very basic nutshell which hopefully gives an appreciation of what goes on without all the detail involved!  Each runway here has VOR and GPS approaches, so depending on what we are doing in the flight we will use a different plate to fly the certain approach.  In addition to this we are managing radio calls, going through checklists and making sure we are flying accurately - it can be a very busy time.  I do notice my capacity to process all this information is getting better with each lesson, however it does take a lot of concentration and after each flight there are plenty of little areas to work on to improve for the next flight.

Beacon Bashing in action - two hours tracking overhead hamilton practising entries to the hold and various approaches

Flying above CTC - lots of aircraft not in the air on that day!

Watching on in the hold above Hamilton airport.  Clearways is on the far right, the runway is over to the left.  The white-ish circle in the middle of the field in the centre of the photo is the Hamilton VOR.

Next up for the flying side of things are IFR routes, where we plan to go to various aerodromes around the North Island practising flying along the set airways and doing different approaches - this should allow us to get away from the familiarity of the Hamilton procedures to try something new and consolidate what's been learnt thus far.  There are now only 3 flights left on the Cessna before I move onto the Twinstar....  I've also clocked over 100 hours flight time with CTC now - how has that come around so quickly?!

Flying through the clouds!

Flying between the clouds

Ahoy there!

As usual we've managed to keep ourselves busy inbetween flights, spending a few days in Raglan, a day at Waihi beach on the east coast, and a comedy night and the usual weekly quiz here in Hamilton.  A few of us have also invested in a small catermaran - now you may think that's a rash purchase given we've only got 2 and a bit months left, but it seemed like a good idea at the time!  We are yet to launch her on a maiden voyage having towed her back from Rotorua, fingers crossed on her seaworthiness and our sailing abilities.

Our new acquisition

Katana on approach to Hamilton, New Zealand never fails to impress!

It's also great news to hear the BA FPP is currently open for 2015 - best of luck to those applying!

Until next time...

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! 

The Luge at Queenstown

Blue Pools (very cold!)

Lake Matheson

Franz Josef

Castle Hill

As we were in Marlborough country we had no choice but to tour a few vineyards...

Volcanoes and Mo's

I've now progressed onto the 'nav' phase of my single engine training - it's been a rapid progression from my first solo flight a few weeks ago through to where I am now, and there is still plenty more to come!

First Solo

After a couple of cancellations for my first solo flight the day finally came when I had my solo check with an instructor before being let loose for my solo.  The solo check was pretty straightforward, I did a few circuits with the instructor until he was confident that I could give it a go alone.  When the actual moment came I wasn't really nervous, more excited!  The instructor jumped out and then it was down to me - running through the checks I went to turn the engine over and...nothing happened.  The battery had died immediately and the instructor (who was waiting nearby) was as equally perplexed as I.  We parked the aircraft out the way and headed in to get another one - first solo on hold for a little longer.

As it was a new aircraft, the policy was to do the whole solo check again but it wasn't long before I was back by the side of the runway and on my own.  This time all worked normally, and I taxied out past my previous aircraft to line up on the runway.  I completed my first circuit with no problems, and it felt like a real milestone to have achieved.  Something I'll remember as a real highlight of my aviation career.  Of course, it's a very small starting point, going from one circuit in a single engine propellor onto eventually navigating in a commercial jet, but it's another onward step!

Solo Circuits

The next few lessons were hours of solo circuits practising various approaches alongside a standard approach such as simulating flap failure, or engine failure.  The flapless landings are basically just that - landing without any flaps set so you come in slighty faster and lower, while a glide approach (should you have had an engine failure) means judging your approach to make sure you don't fall short of the runway.  Of course, we don't actually cut the engine power we just bring it back to idle to simulate a failure and if the glide looks short then we simply apply full power and rejoin the circuit.  These lessons were pretty busy, however things like incorporating the checklists and talking to ATC became much easier and are now more like second-nature. 

First out-of-circuit-solo

After two more lessons with an instructor doing PFLs (Practice Forced Landings) and Steep Turns it was time to go outside of the Hamilton control zone alone.  PFLs are another safety drill, simulating an engine failure while away from an airfield - the drill helps you to prioritise finding a suitable landing area (a field) and flying the aircraft to give yourself more time in the air to get sorted.  The DA20s are really good gliders, so you do get a decent amount of time to plan and work through checklists.  

I went out to the east of Hamilton for my first out-of-circuit-solo, and it was an awesome experience.  The aim of these lessons is to practice all the techniques that we've learnt to refine our flying skills, called General Handling (GH) lessons.  This meant doing turns, stalls, PFLs, navigating all whilst keeping a good awareness or other aircraft and managing the arrival and departure procedures out of the Hamilton Control Zone.

GPS track of my first out-of-circuit-solo

GHs, Navs

After completeing a few more solo GHs going to the east and west you move into the Nav phase.  This is where we plan a full route, calculating wind, heading, speeds etc for each leg.  This involves keeping an accurate time log of the flight to make sure you reach the turning points when you expect to, as well as being ready to plan a diversion should weather mean you can't make a certain turning point.  Nav 1 & 2 are with an instructor, then Navs 3 & 4 are solo but the reverse of the two done with the instructor. 

I then progressed onto planning my routes around NZ, and this is the part that a lot of people look back fondly on.  I can see why!  Already I've had some incredible experiences, landing at different airports around the North Island, passing down the east coast of Auckland at around 800 feet in a transit lane (this keeps us clear of all the busy, commercial and military traffic and airspace), flying over Mt. Ruapehu which is a Volcano topping over 9000 feet near Lake Taupo.  The list goes on! 

I was also fortunate to be able to reposition an aircraft from Napier back to Hamilton meaning I could explore a little further afield than one could normally do as I had 2.5 hours to fly a nav from Napier to Hamilton, whereas normally it would not be possible to go to Napier and back in one nav starting and finishing in Hamilton.  Part of the deal meant I could get a 'taxi' ride down to Napier in the form of a backseat in a Twinstar (this is the aircraft I'll be flying in the next phase of training) - this was a huge bonus as well.  The Twinstar is a definite step up from the Katana and started to give me an appreciation for the transition we will make from this single engine phase to the multi engine one.  Once back in the katana, my flight from Napier to Hamilton took me to a Wanganui (a beach on the west coast) before tracking up past Mt. Ruapehu and onto Hamilton.  The views were incredible - like nothing I've ever done before.

Cross Country Qualifier

Next up was the cross country qualifier - part of the criteria for our CPL (Commercial Pilots License) involves a flight over 300nm and landing at two airports en route.  My flight took me over Mt. Ruapehu, back towards Napier where I had lunch in the terminal.  Then I flew up towards Gisborne, refuelling there before heading back to Hamilton via Rotorua.  The total flight time was around 4 hours, so it was a long day with all the stops, but really good fun to head into different airports and go to new places.  Having done that I can now appreciate how far we've come in a couple of months - it's now a handful of navs to go before PT1 which is a test at the end of the VFR (visual flight rules) phase.  Crazy!

Other News

We've been fairly busy with the flying over the last month, but managed to see more of NZ in the form of a trip to Taupo in October, Auckland and Raglan more recently to see some friends from home.  We also experienced NZ bonfire night and fireworks, a local cricket match, and took part in a treasure hunt style challenge across Hamilton as part of a charity event organsied by two instructors here.  The build up to Christmas is well and truly under way here, I'm still adjusting to the fact the weather is warming as we get closer to Christmas Day.  Yesterday we went kayaking in the morning then BBQ'd before heading to the Christmas Lights switch on in Hamilton - definitely a summery festive period!

Ohaupo fireworks on Bonfire Night

A fine evening for some local cricket!

View from Auckland Sky Tower

Misty morning on the apron

Our collective Movember effort!

View from the backseat of the Twinstar, looking down towards Napier

Completing the Circuit

A couple of lessons until I go solo and things are starting to get serious down-under.  I've had a good run of lessons over the last week or so, and with the weather being mostly kind I'm now fast approaching my first solo flight.  

No instructor, just me. 

It's a nerve-wracking-yet-thrilling prospect at the same time, and I do just about feel ready to go it alone.  By the end of the single engine phase in around 2-3 months time I'll have notched up around 40 hours of solo flying, so this maiden voyage also marks start of what should be some really interesting flying. The 'first solo' does sound quite adventurous, but the run-up to it is three consecutive lessons of circuits and then a 'solo check'. A standard circuit in itself can be fairly simple - take-off, four left hand turns, final approach and landing.  Of course, as well as the flying  there are checklists to run through and radio calls to make while maintaing a good lookout for other traffic around you.  Once all that is thrown together the flying gets a little tougher... but I am feeling fairly well practised now.  

The key mantra is to 'aviate, navigate, communicate', and in the circuit the first few attempts focus on the aviating - i.e. making sure you fly accurately at the correct altitude, with steady approaches and landings.  The radio calls are then added ( the navigation is not too bad seeing as we have a nice large runway in sight at all times) and I can now manage the lot together.  The next few circuit lessons will be about refining my technique, before the last lesson where I spend the first three quarters with an instructor at which point he hops out and I complete one circuit all alone - first solo complete! Hopefully I can report back with that good news early next week. 

Thanks to Matt for capturing me from his room as I made an approach to land

Stalling

The lessons before circuits have involved getting to grips with the general handling of the Katana (the aircraft I'm flying, see above picture), specifically how to execute different types of turn, climbs, and descents.  

The stalling lesson was also highly enjoyable.  Stalling is where the lift produced on the wing is no longer sufficient to support the weight of the aircraft - not a good place to be when you are trying to fly and hoping to maintain altitude.  This typically occurs when the nose points upwards too much and the aircraft speed is too slow, although we are taught to identify that the aircraft is stalling in various situations. 

However, stalling is not as dramatic as it sounds if a standard recovery is used.  The aircraft gives us plenty of warning that we are nearing a stall situation with a loud warning and a buffeting felt through the controls, so as soon as these symptoms are noticed the aircraft can be quickly returned to normal flight.  In this case it's simply to point the nose down and apply full power.  If done well then there is not even any height loss which is the ultimate goal - an important skill to have when approaching a runway at low level and there is not much height to play with.   We practiced this in various configurations (different stages of flap, etc) to simulate stalling at different stages of flight.  Hopefully my fairly brief and crude explanation of stalls gives a picture of what goes on, if your interest has been piqued then this video shows the idea behind stalling and the recovery and clears up the difference between stalling in a car and in the air (mum!)  -  ( ~3:10 mins in http://youtu.be/-s8QeKNTY1E ).

Enjoying the View

I managed to jump on a flight with one of my coursemates who is flying on the Cessna 172, which is another single engine prop aircraft.  The advantage of the Cessna is 2 seats in the back, so I hopped in to help orientate myself with the local area as well as using it as an excuse to take my camera up and enjoy the scenery - only a taster of what NZ has to offer from the air I hear.  We should get to see some stunning scenery once we start our navigation flights. 

Backseating in the Cessna, taking in the view...

And finally...

Life outside of flying continues to be a mix of exploration and watching films / reading books / table tennis - not a bad lifestyle by any means! We've visited a couple of local markets, including the Hamilton night market which had quite a buzz around it, and today myself and a coursemate went hiking around Pirongia again, this time with the aim of crawling through limestone caves (the Kaniwhaniwha Caves). We returned caked in thick clay mud but it was well worth it... Although I fear the stain remover wasn't up to the challenge as I've acquired a rather unsubtle mud-finish to my top.  Seven of us also took a trip to the velodrome just down the road from us which was a great experience and very hard work. Something I hope to do again while I'm here!

Kaniwhaniwha Caves - no turning back!

Can't miss an opportunity for some night shots, especially when there are aircraft on approach into Hamilton Airport.

Clearways accomodation

The Avantidrome, Cambridge

Clear Prop!

It’s just over three weeks in and I’m happy to say I’ve had a couple of flights and I’m looking forward to progressing with my flying.  Had the weather been a little better, then I would have had a few more flights under my belt but I had four cancellations even before I managed my first one. It's a start, anyway!

Following the weather has now become part and parcel of life here – trying to gauge what to expect as different weather patterns come through and where we might expect opportunities to get airborne.  The morning of my first flight there was a significant weather warning for turbulence, so I was geared up to cancel yet again, however things had settled down a little and having been mid-lunch suddenly it was time to get going.  That seems to be a common theme of life here – long periods of inactivity punctured by moments of intense busyness and steep learning.

First Flights

It was a real thrill to get back in the air again after so long, and despite there being plenty of turbulence still around and without much of a horizon, we managed to complete the lesson.  A nice clear horizon is needed in the early stages as pretty much 95% of the flying is done visually, meaning you set the attitude of the aircraft against the picture through the windscreen – a nice clear horizon makes this much easier!  At this stage the instructor takes care of most of the radio and the take-off and landings, but from my next lesson I should start incorporating elements of these into my skill set.  I did enjoy my second lesson a lot more, the more you fly the quicker you develop your “sea legs” (maybe there is a more apt aviation version – air legs perhaps?) so I felt much more settled second time around.  I also managed to find more time to focus on orientating myself which is an essential part of being a pilot.  There are various layers of airspace which have different classifications, some of which you need permission to enter, others can be classed as Restricted or Danger zone, etc. – this basically means you need to know where you are, as there is no sign in the sky telling you that you are about to “bust airspace”. 

Venturing Out

As I mentioned, there has been plenty of downtime here and we are rostered in for 6 days on with 1 day off each week.  As there hasn’t been much flying, there has been lots of opportunity to explore the local area and a little further afield.  We have the Pirongia Forest Park nearby here, where we took the opportunity to walk up to the Ruapane Lookout which looks over the Waikato Basin (that’s the area we are living currently).  It was a pretty eventful and beautiful walk, through thick forest then at the lookout some 700+ metres up we walked along the ridge where the weather was alternating between glorious sunshine, rain, pelting hail and even a touch of snow.  No wonder that there wasn’t much flying that week with such changeable weather!

Ruapane Lookout

The weather struggle to make up it's mind...

I also enjoyed a New Zealand birthday, where we took a trip east to coast at Tauranga and walked up Mt. Maunganui giving yet more amazing views down the beaches.  Yesterday saw us head east again to Rotorua which is famous for natural geothermal activity - and accompanying smell of rotten eggs given off by hydrogen sulphide emissions!  Rotorua is a bit of an adventure playground (well, I guess most of NZ is really, but lots seems concentrated here) and we have earmarked a few activities to come back and try.  We mostly spent the day wondering around various hot pools, and through a Giant Redwood forest which were both very impressive – we’ll be back!

View of Tauranga from Mt. Maunganui

Hot and Steamy in Rotorua

Hopefully I’ll be scheduled in to fly a fair bit this week as the weather is improving – the last few days have felt pretty Summer-like and it looks set to stay for at least the time being.

Sore necks, Giant Redwoods.