Canterbury Recreational Aircraft Club

Rangiora, New Zealand

From the President

I recently attended the RAANZ AGM at Hamilton with the aim of finding out what was happening with the changes in the RAANZ procedures manual ,CAA regs regarding Micros and generally what rule changes would affect our members.

Around 30 people attended from mostly the North Island except the executive members from Timaru and Rangiora.

Since I started to write this article you all would have received a copy of Recreational Pilot which has a summary of the new Operations and Procedures manual. This is located on the RAANZ website in full and you should all have a read. A copy of it will be posted in the clubhouse. I think everyone will agree that we are involved in a sport that is changing and the new rules are part of this change. Take on board these changes as they are aimed at making the sport safer by up-skilling ourselves while still retaining the sprit of microlighting .

While we, the microlighters ,are taking steps to improve our safety record and improve our skills we must be aware of others in the airspace who might not regard us as air traffic and simply don’t see us . Our training relies heavily on ‘Lookout ‘ as a means of identifying other aircraft in the pattern but we must not assume that the ‘tin tops ‘do the same (as we know they are blind).

Make sure you are always in a position to allow for those who might not see us.

As part of safety strategy we need to report all incidents involving any aircraft that is seen to be contravening any safety or common sense flying rules. We all will learn from mistakes ,whether ours or someone else’s.

With the improvement of our runway the way becomes clear for ‘heavy ‘traffic’ to visit our field. While the new strip is an improvement it is also a step towards a time when we might be singled out as an ‘unwanted’ or.’ Undisciplined’ group of flyers who are just a nuisance on a field used by more and larger traffic. It is therefore imperative that we continue to lead and not be lead ,be seen to continue to be a responsible group of flyers that are capable of keeping up with the times and are instrumental in improving the quality of flying at OUR field.

We have a good, keen group of professional people that will ensure that we stay at the forefront of our sport and that we are seen as a group to follow rather than a group that continually need to be pulled into line. In the short time I have been with the club we are clearly a group that is held in high regard locally and nationally . Keep up the good standard and fly safely over the holiday period.

It is now January 2005 and I have to finish this news letter.

6.45pm Jan 25th 2005, just come back from the beach ,conditions perfect, water warm and warm sun. Just making my way up the beach and hear the faint rattle of a two stroke engine ,look up and there it is . FJF in heaven ,clear sly ,slight cross wind and the sky to himself -wow what more could you ask for .

So What has been happening out there?

Well it has been sometime since my last confession ,probably because I have been a good boy or more to the point not much has moved me (or anyone else for that matter, except Mike Jones) to produce a news letter. But things are moving out there and here are some of the highlights;

Dave McPherson had a wings on BBQ just before Christmas to celebrate a mile stone in the construction of his Karatoo. Engine is next and the 1st flight not far behind that . Looks really good and the guys at Kiwi Karatoo are doing a fine job.

Barry Gurdler put a new engine in his Jodel and should have a bit more get up and go.

Good to see Mick up and about again after his health problems earlier in the new year. Mick you are an inspiration to all of us ,keep up the enthusiasm and get some flying in your new Kolb. Brent has painted it and given it a new screen and it looks great.

Nick Key and I have purchased a Pober Pixie from Leigh Middlemiss of Russell. It has complete wings , fuse and tail. It is a metal fuse and wooden wings.

Procuring Pober Pixie

We flew to Auckland ,then to Whangarei and were met by Logan McLean of Alpi who had just purchased a new horse float truck. So we tried it out to see how good it was for carting aircraft. I t was very good. We were lent a new Skoda station wagon in which Nick and I followed Logan through to Russell. After leaving the Skoda on the shore we went by ferry on the truck to Leighs house where we proceded to load the Pixie into the truck. Leigh was sad to see the plane go as he had worked on it under his house for 6 years. He is unable to get a medical so decided to part with the Pixie and build a boat. He lives only a short distance from the beach so it seemed a more logical thing to do than finish a plane.

Nick and I then followed Logan back to his house in KAUKAPAKAPA where we were welcomed by his partner Helen and daughter Sarah. They are great people and we spent a couple a great evening in the Northern warm evening talking planes and horses and downing a few ales. The Pixie was due to be put into a container along with Mike Small’s ride on roller on Monday .We therefore had Sunday to look around. Logan put aside anything he was doing and spent the whole three days with us . He is such a generous guy and is only to happy to help people in the micro family. We were certainly made to feel welcome. We headed North to catch up with a mate of his who has a Challenger and a single place all enclosed micro that I can’t recall the name of.

We arrived at a dairy farm and saw a bright red plane taxing around the paddock of cows . As we got closer it was obvious that the plane was not in good order as one half of the Elevator was madly flapping up and down while the other stayed level. Chris stopped the plane and got out and we were all introduced and shown over the plane. Both planes live in an open hangar that the local dairy herd is capable of breaking into and it was obvious that on occasions they had broken in and proceeded to eat the fabric from the elevators and anywhere else they could reach . Paint was missing and the airframe damaged in some minor ways. The other plane had faired a little better but had a prop missing. Both planes were in pristine and airworthy condition when purchased and taken to the dairy farm but had deteriorated to the state we saw them. The Challenger is for sale and would make a goo project and could be purchased for as little as $3000 . Freight from the North could be around $1500. Call me if you need a good sound airframe and engine and feel like a little covering and giving it the TLC it deserves.

After leaving the dairy farm we headed for Murawai Beach where Logan first started flying hang gliders. The beach front is now housed in and only a few paragliders use the site now. We visited another of Logan’s friend who had a great house and strip a short distance from the beach . We ended the day by site seeing and having a few more ales in the garden.

The next day we inspected the last Terrier that Logan has built. It is beautiful and he has done a fine job on making a very nice plane from a very ordinary kit. He was not impressed by the kit or the backup service of the agent and he consequently spent many hour and money making the plane into something it should have been in the first place. He ,and his friend Jim are first class tradesmen and produce excellent work that anyone would be proud to own.

After we had also inspected Jim’s Micro we headed for Auckland and the container. This is where things went slightly wrong in that the container did not arrive until mid afternoon by which time I had to be on my way back to Whangarei to take the Skoda back. So I left Nick ,Jim and Logan to load the trailer while I had a leisurely drive back to Whangarei Airport . My plane left 20 minutes after I arrived and I headed back to Auckland on a very clear scenic flight. Nick met me at Auckland then we flew home. A long weekend but worthwhile. The following Monday Nick, Pete Small, Mike

Small and myself unloaded the Pixie at Lyttleton and then dropped the fuse off at Nicks and the Wings at my place. We have spent a week looking over the plane and comparing it to the palns. We are happy with our purchase and are now looking for a VW 1800 or 2000 cc motor to power it . We have a lot to learn before it flies but are lucky to be surrounded to knowledgeable people who are only to willing to lens a hand and offer advice.

Thanks to Logan , Helen ,Jim ,Mike and Peter for help getting it here and to Barry for pointing it out to me on Trademe and Trisha who has to live with it.

Events

Sunday 31st January 1.30pm- RAANZ Seminar on the new Operations and Procedures manual and other rule changes. Come along and have your opinion listened to .This is your chance to have a say in the final form of the manual.

Don’t forget the Sport Flyers flyin at Ashburton in early February. This is a good opportunity to see a wide rage of aircraft types and is a good place to get some ideas for your next project.

A Trip to Harwera
Mike Jones

I had an invitation to visit Hawera for their 75th Anniversary fly in and air show - held over Labour weekend - now that’s an offer too good to miss, the only questions - the weather and work. The early week forecast was iffy and work was frantic, the decision to go was made and I really got stuck into the work, go back after tea etc. By Thursday it became apparent the weather just might be OK but bloody work was pouring in and everybody wanted it yesterday. The air show was scheduled for Sat so the plan was to finish early on Friday and get to Hawera for tea with much pushing and pressure I left work at 2pm - plenty of time to get home get packed and get to Rangiora - Jackie was coming too and she doesn’t know the meaning of travelling light.

The traffic on Friday at 3.15pm is hell so I take the least congested route up Marshlands road and guess what I actually picked the right route the gods are with me - Rangiora by 4pm get the Storm out the hangar, carefully load the bags and taxi for fuel - with 120 ltrs on board just time to ring my friend at Hawera to give him our ETA - you wont make it he says its 4.45 - Bugger - were did that half hour go, still we decide to set off and overnight at Fox pine if necessary. I had 2 flight plans with one tracking round the coast from Wanganui and one cutting across the bay - the coast route was favorite as I am not fond of getting my feet wet even though we had life jackets and an ELT.Visibility was unlimited and the wind was light, Kaikoura was reached on schedule so was Cape Campbell, the North Island was clearly in sight so out we coasted at 2500ft heading for Mana Island, the wind dropped and we arrived at Mana 5 minutes early, I decided to be brave and cut across the bay all 87 nautical miles of it climbing to 5500 abeam Paraparaumu - the Gps said 47 minutes and so it was, Mt Egmont at over 8000ft is a really good landmark for those who like something to aim at!! The airfield is on the inland side of town just by the racecourse and it has 3 vectors - little wind so I go for 32 - lots of length and smooth as a grass billiard table - Waimakariri council please note. We taxi to the clubhouse to a welcome party who must have been in on my friends doubts of us arriving before dark - its only 7.30pm - yes the Gods are definitely with us, even the engine sounded the same over water as over land for a change.

We put the plane in the hangar and retire to my friends farm for a feed and chat - he is building a Cobra Arrow - plastic fantastic from Oz - I hope to report fully when it is completed - I refrain from guessing when as you all know how much longer it takes despite good intentions and manufacturers promises that the kit will only take 10 minutes to finish!!

Saturday dawns with an overcast and Mike Jones - my friend - (yes they have one on the N Island too I will tell you more on that another time) Is due to go to Norfolk gliding club were he is the Glider tow pilot of their Wilga to collect a couple of Gliders and tow them to Hawera for the air show, we arrange to drive over together and for me to bring the car back to Hawera - but hang on a minute

Why don’t we fly in the Storm - what a good idea - why didn’t we think of that before. It is only a 15 minute flight but Norfolk is 1100 ft AMSL and the cloud base is 2000ft so it seems like we are low flying, arrival at Norfolk is OK with bags of runway length. The Wilga is a purpose designed tow plane and what a big ugly beast it is, looks like a big stick insect with its huge legs and even bigger 285HP radial engine. The glider boys have a self launching glider and a tow machine that they intend to fly in semi formation at the show and do a low level pass so a bit of practice is on the cards, not quite together on the first go but what a lovely whistle they make and my how those wings bend as they pull up. Practice over so off they go for Hawera and I take another glider pilot in the now spare seat. Although we set off 10 minutes after the Wilga we see it in the distance with Glider in tow but cannot see the other glider - small white things against a white sky are really difficult to see even when you know one is behind a big tow plane. The Wilga is not fast 80Knts says Mike but boy can it climb, Mike reckons with a single seater in tow he hardly notices when it releases and he just points the nose at the ground with everything hanging out for 60/70Knts, I didn’t like to ask what its fuel consumption was but I swear I could see the fuel gauge dropping even at idle??

More arrivals at Hawera and the organization gets into 3rd gear with food appearing and BBQ fired up - smell makes me hungry and its only 11.30. Mike tells me the Air force were invited and had promised to come but due to one of their pilots stubbing his toe only half the air force could come so just one airtrainer was at the field and it did not fly in the display -thanks Helen. The flying display had the usual albeit impressive displays of formation flying and aerobatics with a couple of Yaks demonstrating some very interesting maneuvers with a solid noise which is music to the ears of any pilot. The Cresco of Wanganui Air Works gave what must be an almost unbelievable show, it seemed to roll about 50 meters then climb almost vertically, landing was helicopter like, I suspect the use of reverse thrust reduced landing distance to almost nil. The Grande finale was the Vampire flown by Brett Emery and what a demonstration that was 350knts in a beat up of the airfield with a zoom to what must have been 6000ft, what a feeling it must to have almost unlimited power and that from a 40 year old aircraft, I just wonder what a Tornado or F16 would be like, but we are unlikely to witness that whilst Helen is in charge.

The weather held out just long enough with only the locals departing afterwards, we planned to leave Sunday but more of that later. The final event was a celebration dinner in the evening which 60/70 attended and apart from the excellent food the after dinner speaker was both interesting and funny, Hawera Aero Club is a well supported club that owns its airfield and has facilities that are 1st class and the kind of support that you dream about, it also owns a Tecnam Golf used for training so it has seen the light that Micro lights are the future. Sunday weather was awful - Fog - visibility 200 meters at best so we go out for a ride around Mt Egmont hoping for the fog to lift - some hope - never saw the Mt once still the company was great and the afternoon tea on the cliffs great even though we could even see the sea!!

Monday and the weather is better, not brilliant but good enough to fly so we say goodbye to Mike and head off taking the route around the bay and landing at Fox pine for lunch., this is another great place with a great welcome and John Lester provided some advice on the Jabiru Motor which has already resulted in better performance - read more speed, thanks John. Fed and watered time to make for Canterbury, visibility gets worse as we approach the South Island although we could see it from Mana island, I decide to take the coast route as at least I can land at Kaikpoura if the Vis gets worse but it hold out and we eventually turn inland at the Hurunui river were the vis gets better and soon its an overhead join at Rangiora. What did I learn from this trip - leave more time to get fuel and ready for the flight, have an alternative route, life jackets are not the most comfortable things to wear for 3 hours at a time.Hawera is a great club, so is Norfolk, try them sometime I will be happy to help anyone thinking of paying them a visit, perhaps we could extend an invitation to fly in to Rangiora perhaps on the way to Ashburton - sportavex is there next Feb - I think. What do I now want to learn - how to use my Gps more effectively - Ross - I will be asking you for some practical instruction, I’ve read the book and poked the buttons and now I have opened up the worldwide database - help I only wanted NZ - just shows reading the book gives a little knowledge and boy can that be dangerous.