Christmas and some big news - my first solo!

Raglan beach - popped here on Christmas day!

My "I can't believe I just got to go solo" grin

Hey everyone! I've had some exciting flying lessons recently, mainly involving circuits here at Hamilton. There have been three lessons on the circuits, each bringing in a new element - for example, engine failures after takeoff. This is basically finding a field and aiming for it as if your engine has cut off.

The circuits here at NZHN are left hand, although I have had a couple of non-standard right hand ones thrown in at various points during the three lessons. I also came in behind an ATR72, which, it turns out, kicks out some crazy wake turbulence!

Today was very exciting - I completed my first ever solo flight! This morning I had lesson FK011, which is a solo check flight. This is when a certified instructor goes up with you and makes sure you
are performing to the expected standard. If all goes well, they hop out at the terminal and you go back to the runway and complete your very first solo! Luckily everything went smoothly today, despite the weather not being at its best and I flew a circuit by myself. Pretty sure I was grinning during the entire flight! On landing I was thrilled to get a "well done" from the control tower, before taxiing back to the CTC apron to refuel and shut down the aircraft. I genuinely think the hardest part of flying the Cessna is parking them! Unlike with the DA20s, you have to use a tow bar to control the nose wheel; pushing the aircraft and lining up the aircraft to be perfectly straight along the taxiway line is no easy feat. I know what you are thinking: "Oh what is he on about, it cannot be that difficult!". I thought that too, but it is actually surprisingly difficult! If I am honest it is still a bit surreal that after so long waiting for it, I have finally flown an aircraft all by myself - I have been waiting to say I have done that for years now! My next flight involves about an hour of solo circuits, so am really looking forward to that one!

ZK-JZM just after my first solo

Christmas in New Zealand was odd. The weather was the main abnormality, as the frost and wind etc was missing. However, unfortunately the grey clouds and rain decided to pay a visit. We had a Clearways Christmas BBQ before heading to Raglan beach for an hour or so which of course involved photos of us all on the beach in Santa hats! We haven't made any official plans for New Year yet, but hopefully we will get up to something exciting!

Stalling and the C130

I had my sixth lesson yesterday, which was all to do with stalling. I had a mass brief in the morning before my flight, which was at 1215. Mass briefs are basically when a few cadets are booked in with an instructor to go over flying lessons which we will all be doing in the near future. Coincidentally, the one I had yesterday was on stalling!

My plane, ZK-JZM, was in maintenance, so we had to push the flight back slightly; as I would be the first flight of the day, this also meant I had to do a full preflight check. This involves checking the lights, flaps, airframe, fuel, oil, control surfaces etc to make sure everything is working as it should be.

Here are a few photos from the walk around...

During the walk around you have to check that everything is working and prepare the aircraft for flight

Making sure the flaps, which give you lift at low speeds, are functioning is important! 

Checking the propeller for any faults and making sure all openings and vents are clear and unblocked is another walk around task

It was quite blustery yesterday, with a crosswind gusting across the airport. I took off from 25L headed towards Raglan, to the west of Hamilton. After crossing Temple View, which is a large white building and a visual reporting point, we knew that we were clear of Hamilton's control zone and so I reported to the tower we were clear before climbing up to about 3500ft on a course to the coast.

Once we got there my instructor, Grey, demonstrated the stall and stall recovery, as well as the various checks we need to do before we practise this exercise. Throughout the lesson I also got to practise my medium turns and climbing and descending, so everything I have learnt so far was put to the test. After about 40 minutes stalling over the ocean, we headed back to Hamilton. On the way back, we slowed the aircraft down and tried manoeuvring the aircraft at low speed (around 65kts) in a clean configuration. Maintaining a speed which being thrown all over the place by the wind is pretty tricky! I flew the approach into 18L behind a Beechcraft Duchess, a light twin aircraft and managed to somehow line us up with the centreline and keep us there despite the wind having different plans. At this stage, the crosswind was 12kts gusting about 21kts and so Grey demonstrated a crosswind landing. Next time there is a crosswind, I will now be able to attempt a landing!

It was a great flight which made me realise just how much I have learnt in a week and it is nice to see everything is coming together nicely from the various lessons I have had so far.

After the excitement of the C17 Globemaster the other day, we had a C130 Hercules at the airport yesterday. After seeing it on approach, some of us donned the very dashing yellow high-vis jackets and went onto the apron to watch the large quad engine aircraft do three touch and goes before rocketing back up and leaving the city's airspace. It was quite a sight, although not quite as thrilling as the monstrous C17!

Finally flying and a very special visitor...

Hey everyone! I have had a busy few days since Friday, so unfortunately I haven't been able to do this blog post any sooner. I had my very first CTC flight on Friday in the aircraft I will be doing my single engine training in, the Cessna 172S. As well as this, I had a flight on Saturday, one on Sunday, and then two Monday. I thought I would tell you a bit about them!!!

First flight: 13/12/13 
My first flight was something I had been looking forward to for a ridiculous amount of time, so safe to say I was extremely excited to get in the air! After the preflight briefing, I went out with my instructor to do all of the preflight checks on the aircraft. This includes:

• Checking the airframe for any defects
• Ensuring the control surfaces are functioning correctly
• Checking any openings in the aircraft for anything that could be blocking them (ie. birds/insects)
• Ensuring there is the correct amount of oil
• Making sure the landing gear is okay
• Checking the fuel. 

Now for the fuel checks, you have to take samples of fuel from the fuel drains on the aircraft. The DA20s have two drains... the C172 has thirteen! Basically, you have to take samples from each, checking for anything floating around in the fuel which shouldn't be there, as well as checking for any water. As well as this you have to climb on the aircraft to check with a dipstick how much fuel is in each wing tank - there is definitely a skill to climbing on those Cessnas without hitting your head on the wing! 

After this, we jumped in the aircraft and began going throughout the checklists. After starting up, completing the engine run up checks and taxiing to the active runway, my instructor took off from runway 18L. Here at Hamilton (NZHN) there are 2 paved runways, 18L/36R and 18R/36L, and 2 grass ones, 25L/07R and 25R/07L. 18L/36R is the largest, whereas the other paved one is quite small - 650x60 (the whole width isn't paved). After taking off we headed east and practised the very basics of flying an aircraft. Although I had only had two hours logged before coming to CTC, it all came back quickly and before I knew it we landed back on 18L and taxied back to the CTC apron (after refuelling). Was a great flight! 

14/12/13

This second flight was extremely exciting for me. After doing all the usual checks and taxiing to the runway, we lined up only for my instructor to say "you have control". It was my very first takeoff ever! With a big grin on my face we lifted up off of 25L and headed north west of Hamilton. This flight was "straight and level" and was also good for spotting the visual reporting points around the city. On the way back Carl, my primary instructor, took us into the low flying zone just west of the city. We were zooming around fields at 200ft at over 110kts and he even gave me control for a few laps. This was a real buzz, as the ground is rather close when you look out under the wing! After this we headed back to the airport, where again, to my surprise, I was given control to land the aircraft on RWY18R whilst Carl talked me through what to do. By far not the smoothest touchdown, but the aircraft wasn't put straight into maintenance after, so I consider that a success!!

15/12/13

Now this flight was possibly my favourite one so far. The flight began at 1945, meaning I saw sunset from the air. Carl took off, showing me a Vx (best angle of climb) takeoff and we headed west to Raglan. The town is on the coast, with lots of large hills and some incredible scenery. This lesson was primarily about climbing and descending and the various ways to go about doing it - we flew way up to over 7000ft at points! After practising Vy climbs, cruise climbs and then a few descents, he showed me some medium and steep turns, as well as how the aircraft handles during a stall. We tried some glide descents as well and after seeing storms, sunset, and fireworks from the air, we headed back over a lit up Hamilton towards the airport, where I had to do a powerless glide in approach before we touched down on RWY18L. We refuelled the aircraft, which is no easy feat in the dark and then taxied the aircraft onto its stand. By this time, it was legally night time, so I have 0.1 hours of night flying in my logbook already. Not much, no, but I didn't expect to have any hours in the night at all for quite a while! 

16/12/13

Although originally only one lesson was planned, things changed at the last minute and I was rostered in for a double lesson. We made our way out to ZK-JMC, which I had already checked preflight, taxied to 18R, and I took off. We made our way east, over Cambridge, towards Matamata, which we flew past and headed further east. We practised medium turns and the odd steep turn for about an hour, before heading towards Matamata Airport (NZMA). Carl talked me through flying a circuit whilst I had control of the aircraft and landed us onto the main runway. All runways at this airport are grass and the main one is extremely wide - 1089x137!

ZK-JMC during our break at NZMA

Apparently a Piper Cub can take off on just the width of it, which is something I would very much like to see! We spent about an hour at the clubhouse there, having a rest as well as going over the lesson plan for the next flight. This flight was called "climbing and descending 2", although a large focus of it is on circuits. We did a practise circuit at NZMA, before flying away and aiming for various points to head for, as if they were a runway. After about an hour, we headed back to NZHN after a couple more practise medium turns, where Carl landed us on RWY18L, right after an Air New Zealand ATR took off - pretty impressive seeing that lift off whilst we were on finals! For this flight and the couple before, I have been expected to do some of the radio calls as well, which is really quite nerve-racking for some reason! I'm getting used to it and not feeling quite as intimidated by it all as I was back during the first flight. I now just need to practise my 'pilot voice'!  

My logbook is filling up!

So far I am absolutely loving flying and have racked up 5hrs 42mins exactly in the five lessons. I have had a few days where I have not been rostered due to RDOs (Rostered Days Off) and I am hoping I will be up in the air again very, very soon! 

We had a great surprise yesterday - an Air Force Globemaster visited the airport! It flew in right past Clearways, so, of course, all of us were outside with our cameras... It did three missed approaches and on the last it retracted its gear before doing a low fly over the length of the runway. It was an incredible sight and certainly a lot bigger than the airline traffic we get here normally! 

A few extra photos:

New Zealand so far

Well we have been very busy the past few days - we have explored Hamilton, been down south to Rotorua and had our first day at the airport.

Bit odd seeing a Christmas tree
in December - and with sunburn! 

Hamilton is the 4th largest city in NZ and when you consider this, you realise just how few people live in this country by how few people you see around town! There are plenty of shops and restaurants and as it is nearly Christmas, a humungous tree in one of the squares.


Yesterday we went to Rotorua to have a go of the luge and Skyswing there. Safe to say it was a great day out! The luge is basically a modified toboggan down a mountain track through trees and tunnels etc. There were three courses, each named by their difficulty - the harder the course meant the faster you would go basically; there was even some airtime on the advanced track! When you get to the bottom, you drop off your kart and then go back up on a chairlift for another go! The Skyswing looks absolutely terrifying. It is a huge metal construction dangling over the side of the mountain. They strap you in your seat, pull you up to the top, and then you, the RIDERS, have to pull a cord to release yourselves and swings back down to the ground and over the mountainside. This was great fun, even if we were absolutely petrified whilst waiting for our turn!

Today we were at the airport for the first day of our induction. We had a walk around the apron and got to know the DA20s, C172s and DA42s a little better and up close. We were given our folders for the VFR stages of flying, as well as the checklists for the aircraft we are going to be flying. I am on the Cessna 172, some of which have analogue instruments, others a G1000 glass cockpit. This means I have two checklists to become familiar with! After a tour of the airport and plenty of photos later, we came back to Clearways to grab some text books for our NZ Air Law PPL exam, which is at some point next week - then it is on to the flying. I cannot wait!

Some photos from Rotorua and CTC aircraft at Hamilton Int. Airport:

Chairlift back up to the top

Rotorua itself

DA20

C172

Trying out a DA42 for ourselves

"Hey look - an aeroplane!" - note: sunburn. 

My aircraft-to-be and I