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: