Gallery
Leo's Harvard Flight - March 2011
White Island Trip - February 2011
RNZAC Nationals - February 2011
Spot Landing Competition - December 2010
Leo's Harvard Flight - March 2011
photos and blog by Leo Pardon;
Recently I had the opportunity to join a Warbirds Harvard formation flight as the “backseater” in Harvard 57, flown by Auckland Aero Club instructor JK. After a briefing in the Warbirds hangar we made our way to the aircraft – the objective for today a fly past of the Buckland’s Beach Yacht Club. My first impression of the Harvard is it is not a small aircraft – you lower yourself down into it and the floor is a long way below! After the usual run-ups and checks we took off in formation and headed towards Howick. While we waited for the right moment to commence the fly past we flew around several of the gulf islands, and circled one of the harbour ferries briefly. Down to 500 feet over the waterfront as we passed in front of the yacht club, and after a second pass in the other direction it was back to Ardmore for a military style formation overhead join. Back on the ground at Ardmore, we refuelled the aircraft (JK informs me the Harvards burn two litres of AVGAS a minute!) before putting them back in the hangar. A fantastic experience, and one which has certainly given me a new interest in perhaps learning to fly these aircraft myself at some point in future!
White Island Trip - February 2011
by Andy Mundy;
The usual pre-flight preparation and briefing started what was to be a perfect day for the trip to Bay of Plenty. With myself and John Ashman in FVR and Jason with Knud Pinholt and David Mellow in JRA our first stop was Whakatane to refuel, where we shared the apron with two Air New Zealand link planes. Then it was off to White Island. Its only 30nm off the cost from Whakatane but JRA and FVR felt very small and lonely that far out to sea. Although when we got to White Island I counted five helicopters on the Island. After a couple of circuits around the island (during which we were able to savour the aromas of fresh sulphur on the down- wind side ) we headed to Tauranga for lunch. Jason was making us all hungry telling us about the great food they serve at the Classic Flyers Museum café. After landing and refuelling we taxied over to the museum and were chased down the taxiway by a classic Stearman by-plane. Just managed to duck into a parking space before the Stearman swaggered past. How dare these modern tricycle gear planes get in the way of a “real” aircraft !! After a great lunch the museum was well worth a visit but needed more time to do it justice and I made a mental note to come back another day. The trip back to Ardmore included some useful instruction on lost procedures and revision of instrument flying (for me at least) with John Ashman providing much good advice as well as many tips on flying in general.
RNZAC Nationals - February 2011
by Jason Woodger;
A small but enthusiastic team, Bianca and I in JAZ, Greg in FLF and Scott in FVR, made the trip south to West Melton on Monday the 14th February. All were exhausted after the six hour flight stopping at New Plymouth, Paraparaumu, Kaikoura, and finally at West Melton. It‟s a long way in a Grumman, 152 and a 172! That night saw the Auckland crew crash out with pizza that Wayne kindly bought and a few quiet beers...then it was time for some well earned sleep!
The Tuesday and Wednesday were practice days which saw me jumping in and out of aircraft and completing a variety of competitions and critiquing our crew including spot landings, life raft dropping, and flying around low level over the Waimakariri River practicing low flying for myself and Greg.
The Thursday and Friday saw the bulk of the competitions completed. The Thursday night consisted of a mass BBQ feast in the Canterbury Aero Club hangar at the International airport, the hangar opened out to fantastic views of the international airport terminal and tower. The Friday night was / is the traditional „break out night‟ where, with the absence of competition flying on the Saturday, a chance to let loose a little. The Auckland crew enjoyed a good night out enjoying the night life Christchurch had to offer. The next day was spent preparing for the competition award dinner in the evening which all enjoyed. It wasn‟t a late night as we had to fly the aircraft back the next morning. The good weather meant a slightly less stressful home flight via Omaka and Wanganui.
Thanks to all for a fantastic trip, there was and always is an extremely high calibre of flying from our crew and sportsmanship which was most definitely noticed.
Highlights of the trip
-Munching on jet planes on the way down ... and back, thanks Bianca!
-Searching for taniwha in the Waimakariri
-Negotiating airspace inland of Peagusus Bay to find West Melton
-Greg's great controlled airspace radio calls
-Hyundai Getz Rental with 6 POB.... try work that one out!
-Jim Fraser enjoying a few red wines on the last night at the dinner.....
-A good night out on Friday (what goes on tour stays on tour)
-A certain instructor singing on what he thought was 133.7 but turned out to be Chch Info.
Spot Landing Competition - December 2010
The 12th of December was decided to be the day where the whole airfield could come together and prove they could land on the spot. I would like to sincerely thank Ian Holmes for taking time out to help with the mowing of the grid, Tim Steele for devoting his day to being the ground judge, the air judges Nicola Evans and T.K. Lee, Adam Eltham for organizing the Ardmore Flying School boys and for sponsoring the prizes, Alan Bostock for his help in Unicom and B.P. for sponsoring prizes also. We had some brilliant airmanship and landings but there can only be one winner. The winner of the Pre-PPL category was David Underwood from Airline Flying Club. The winner of the post PPL category was Jim Fraser and the winner of the instructor category was Nicola Evans both from the Auckland Aero Club. Thank you to all those who entered and I hope you all had an enjoyable day.