September 2008
Welcome to the September newsletter. As I write this it is raining outside, again. Not good flying weather. At least it was ok over the Queens birthday weekend, which I shall tell you about later. JOR is on line once again. This is good news as there are a number of pupils who are itching to get out there and practice their skills.
W e have a report from President Mike. This was supposed to be in a newsletter last month but I am sorry, I didn’t get it done in time. We had a SGM (special general meeting) last Monday 1 st Sept to decide if we should purchase a Trike for training purposes. This was something that the committee had recommended and it was duly passed at the SGM..
W e have two new members. Welcome to Jason Brown and Alexander Chernradvskiy . We just need some good weather for you get a chance to fly.
S ubs are now due. Please pay these promptly as it helps James to keep things in order. Remember that to be a current pilot you need to be a current member of a microlight club. Subs are $63 and can be paid into the safe at the club hanger. Make sure you identify your payment clearly for James. On the subject of paying, please pay your debts in the IOU book in the club rooms. Phil needs this money to keep the supplies up to date in the clubrooms.
F rom the operations manager: Please park JOL and JOR back in the hanger if they are not being used. You can see the difference in colour between the two. This is because the sun does damage, so it makes sense to keep it out of the sun as much as possible. Also make sure you park it with the brakes off. This goes for all aircraft in hangers as if they need to be moved in a hurry you don’t want to be messing around with the brakes.
Jason Brown went solo in JOR recently
From the rumour mill:
The Kiwi Karatoo factory is busy at the moment. There is a fuselage being built for Nigel Forrester and there are some pieces of wood that are starting to look like wings. Caroline Trevella has decided that a Karatoo is a good thing to have so she has put in an order as well. KTC ( Caroline has reserved this rego)has the spars laid out and the wings for her are starting to come together as well.
Meanwhile alongside, Kermit is getting closer to flying. Dave Mitchell’s Rans S6 has a date at Russell Brodies to keep, so the pressure is on to get Kermit in the air. It is going to be a great aircraft and I can’t wait to see her flying.
Jason Brown after 1 st solo
T here is a trip planned to go up to the Avex at Mystery Creek in Hamilton, leaving Rangiora on Oct 8th. At this stage there are four or five aircraft planning to go. If you are keen to go see Mike Small .
A working bee is planned for the Saturday 4 th Oct at the Oxford airfield. There are several jobs that need to be done. We want to make the CRAC shack bird proof so we can put more gear in there. We also need to gather up the branches that are under the trees and clean up some blackberry to make it better for camping It would be good to tidy up around the outside of the shed as well. We want shape the ground around the campfire area, so that needs clearing as well.
Presidents Report
Rain, rain and more rain, aren’t you just sick of it? Well I am. Not much flying going on but as soon as the sky is clear JOL is up and away. She is up to over 1500 hrs done and is again joined by JOR with its new tricycle undercarriage.
Paul has done a great job putting her back together and she looks as good as new. With two aircraft now operating we hope to generate more new pilots and with that new instructors.
While not a lot of flying has taken place in the last few weeks the committee has been busy preparing the club for the future.
You will have now received your invitation to the special general meeting to be held next month to discuss the purchase a Trike. This is a great opportunity for the club to cater for some of the grass roots flyers in the microlight world. We have always had Trikes in the club but never had a club aircraft. To date the Trike guys have trained new members who have then purchased a Trike. If we buy a Trike then Trike pilots can learn in the club aircraft then hire it for solo flying as others do with JOR and JOL. This is how it should be, we are all one club and each member should have the same opportunity to solo in an aircraft of their choice. We understand that we will be the first club to offer this facility in the country and I feel proud that we are leading the way.
We are about to introduce a new refueling system. About time you may say. The handling of fuel can be tricky but after a lot of investigation by Colin Marshall, myself and Mike Small we have come up with a new 200l tank, 30m hose reel and electric pump. This will be mounted on a trailer that can be wheeled out to the plane. We also have now received full certification for the handling of fuel in our hangar and a number of others. Thanks to Colin for the donation of a trailer and Grant Loader for the donation of a fuel tank.
Good news on the new hangar. We have received a resource consent to build the hangar and we are waiting for the building consent. The kit is being manufactured and should arrive in 4-5 weeks. We now need your help.
We are in the process of putting out a tender for the building of the concrete floor. If you have building contact we want to know, especially if you can get concrete at a good price. Once the floor is down we need the members help to bolt together the portal frames and many other parts. We hope to construct it ourselves but if we need help we will get it. There is a growing demand for hangarage and I am sure we will have little trouble filling our new hangar. I will keep you posted.
Soon the rough weather will be over and the summer flyers will come out.
Make sure you are current with RAANZ, have a medical and have had a check flight in the Rans. Everyone gets a little rusty after not flying for a time so be sensible and have a check flight.
I see now that RAANZ offer a Human Factors course and exam. I strongly encourage you to visit the RAANZ web site and down load the text and take the exam. We will be running a special course for pilots that have all the exams (except Human Factors) soon and I ask you to take the course, it is invaluable and is a good self check to make sure you consider factors other than. mechanical when you fly.
Mikes Magical mystery mission
T he 30 th May was pencilled in as the departure date for Mike’s magical mystery mission. Anxious eyes kept an eye on Toni (TV3’s weather girl) during the week before. A big high covered the country. Would it last till the weekend?
Departure morning. Very cold
Friday 30 th May dawned clear and frosty. Planned departure time was 7.30am. There was plenty of activity in the dark preparing aircraft for the flight south. The plan was to fly to Timaru first and then on to Omarama. Paul Woodley was to be my passenger in KTP and he hadn’t arrived yet. His excuse was that Karen wouldn’t let him out of bed. There were four aircraft, two Karatoo's, a R80 Tiger Moth and a Ragabond.
Mike Small with Dave Mitchell in KTO was ready to go. Peter Parkinson was busy climbing out of LIF. We all wondered what he was doing, as he was undoing all his gear. He had the key to the aircraft in his pocket and had to undo his snowsuit to get at it, and then get himself all tucked in again. KTP was ready to go but there was a lot of activity around MGS (Budgie). Duncan Fraser along with his son Angus was having trouble-getting Budgie started. Mike’s truck was pressed into service and Budgie was given a jump-start. Eventually we were all started and ready to go.
The sun was just appearing over the horizon as we took off and headed south. Once we passed Rangitata Island it was all new territory to me. We needed to stop at Timaru to get gas. Mike arrived first, then me, Peter and then Budgie. It amazed me how close we managed to arrive to each other. This was to happen throughout the trip, with Budgie taking off first followed by the tiger and then the two Karatoo’s. It was uncanny how many times we arrived overhead an airfield together.
Our next stop was to be Omarama for lunch. We headed over the very dry South Canterbury farmland towards Mackenzie’s Pass. It is incredible the change in landscape in such a short distance. One minute you are over productive farmland, the next you could be flying over a moonscape, the contrast is remarkable. One of our missions was to stop at as many airfields as we could. We were going to go to Pukaki but with no facilities and a hefty landing fee we decided to bypass Pukaki. Being a farmer I was amazed at the number of pivot irrigators in such hostile land. Even the rabbits used to have to take a cut lunch. Eventually Omarama came into view and the though of lunch with it.
At Omarama airfield
Omarama was bathed in sunshine and is just a short walk from the airfield. We were each assigned a 10-litre container from budgie. Our mission was to have lunch and to get fuel for budgie. This we managed to do. Budgie was refuelled and ready to go. With a “which way do we go” from Duncan, budgie was on her way to Wanaka. This became a standing joke as every airfield we left, Duncan would yell out, “which way do we go”. Five pairs of hands would point towards the next airfield on our list. This was probably the leg that I was most nervous about. I don’t have a GPS so map navigation needed to be accurate. I needn’t have worried. With unlimited view and with Paul doing the navigation it was quite easy. We all arrived about the same time. We all landed on the grass except Mike who landed on the seal. We had to wait for him before we could cross the runway, so he managed to pass us all and get to the fuel pump first. Duncan stopped in front of a building site with Budgie. A worker looked up and said, “ Watch out mate. Down here, the cats are so big, they eat Budgies like yours”. Mike and I stopped at the first pump we came to. I think it was more used to filling up DC3’s and Mustangs than Karatoo’s. The pump nozzle was humungous, and only just fitted into the tank filler. You had to be careful not to squeeze the handle to hard.
So after a stretch and look around, and a “which way do we go from Duncan” we were on our way down the Clutha River and heading for Alexandra. This was a fantastic trip. The scenery was absolutely stunning with the river a deep clear blue and the contrasting barren land around it. Paul and I decided we had to have a good look at Cromwell and the Clutha Dam so we were the last to arrive. The runway was huge. Mike and Dave were already making themselves know to the locals.
It was starting to get late and our mission for the day was to get to the “Croyden Aircraft Company” at Mandeville. With a “which way do we go” and a toot on the horn Duncan and Angus were on their way. We cruised down the Clutha past Roxbough looking for a set of power lines that would lead us to Mandeville. We were heading towards Mandeville with the visibility deteriorating towards where we wanted to go. All the others had a GPS, so Paul and I were hatching up a plan to flog them and send them home by courier. We had to abandon those thoughts as we were being fully occupied with our situation. I was starting to look at alternative airfields when we managed to get ourselves to the river that we knew Mandeville was beside. The clouds lifted enough for us to do an overhead join and land.
Everyone landed safely and thoughts started to think about where to tie aircraft down, where to eat, and where to sleep. The people at the “Croyden Aircraft Company” could not have been more helpful. While we were given a look around the place, they were on the phone organising us some digs for the night. We didn’t realise that the “Golden Guitars” weekend in Gore was on, so that was out as she was a full house there. They organised some rooms in the Riversdale Hotel. All we needed now was a taxi. “No worries mate. Take the Pajero”. So seven of us, along with our gear, including about five 10 litre containers for fuel, as well as the battery out of Budgie, and a battery charger, and we were ready to take Riversdale by storm. We arrived at the pub safely, in spite of Mike’s driving, and were shown to our rooms. It was like a blast from the past, it was fantastic. We even had an old fashioned bath in the bathroom. We decided to go down to the bar and have a drink. We were there on the right day. The next day was “gipsy day”. For those that don’t know, the first of June is the traditional day that dairy farms change hands and sharemilkers change jobs and so there are lots of cows and people shifting around. The Riversdale pub was farewelling a couple, so they put on some eats for everyone. Well our boys were not backward at coming forward and they were soon in boots and all. We had a great night.
The next day had low cloud and a slight drizzle so we were in no hurry to get back to the airfield. We went down to the garage and filled Duncan’s containers and then headed back to Mandeville. On the way we called in to Bob and Christine Oliver’s place. Bob was away but Christine invited us in and we had a cuppa beside a nice warm fire. Don’t you just love southern hospitality. After a look around their hanger we headed back to Mandeville.
The weather was lifting so after a thorough pre-flight we headed west to ?????????? place. The grass had been eaten down nicely by //////??? Cows but what they had left behind left a fair mess on our aircraft. A Westerly was starting to get up so it was time to head to Gore. Duncan took of first and headed west. “Look at me. I can hover” There was about a 35 knot head wind and Duncan was hanging off the prop. It did look quite impressive. We all headed to Gore. Mike was skiting that he was doing a ground speed of 140mph. Even so we arrived overhead around the same time. It was time to refuel and to clean all that cow crap off. I tried to explain that it was only grass with the milk taken out, but it still stuck like you wouldn’t believe.
The next destination was Balclutha. The ceiling wasn’t very high but neither was the ground between us and our destination so we made the decision to go. Paul and I went IFR (I follow railway line) and managed to find Balclutha safely along with everyone else. We tied down and ordered a taxi into town. We were duly delivered to a hotel that had a house for rent. This was perfect for us so we settled in. It was important that we could find a bar with a TV as the Super 14 final was on. This we did and enjoyed a good night with the Crusaders getting another title.
The next day wasn’t much better as far as visibility went. A local was going to go flying so we thought when he came back he would be able to give us some accurate information. Meanwhile Dave Mitchell did some circuits so that Paul could get some photos of KTO over the Clutha River. Our local duly reported in and said that we should be able to go if we went up the coast. So off we went heading for Tairei. After talking to the locals at Tairei we decided to go to Dunedin Airport and do a touch and go. I needed to go into controlled airspace to get my “advanced national”, so this was a good opportunity. The doing of it was easier than thinking about it. I must admit I was a bit tongue-tied on the radio. When we got back to Tairei, the locals there were still laughing as they had listened in on their radio. Never the less I have done it. The interesting thing was that when we left Tairei and headed north we had to talk to the tower again, and that seemed to be no worries at all, in fact it was quite fun and put a bit of extra excitement into the flight.
So we headed north to Oamaru, where we were hoping to get fuel. We didn’t have a Shell card but there was somebody there from the aero club that could get us some gas. We had to pay cash so we only got 20 litres. We had been paying around the $1.73 a litre so I thought we would round it up to two bucks. No way, they had a price list and we ended up paying over $90 for the 40 litres that Mike and I bought between us. Talk about Ali Baba and the forty fuel attendants. Never mind, that gave us enough gas to visit Waimate before we went to Timaru to refuel.
So it was on to Waimate, It was only about a ten-minute flight so we were there in no time at all. We had parked up for a photo shoot, when one of the local club members came over and introduced himself. He invited us to have a club flyin some time. They have a good clubhouse and plenty of interesting places to fly around. Time to move on. It was getting late. Next stop Timaru to find some accommodation for the night. We got a great welcome and a look around the clubrooms while we waited for our taxi to arrive.
The next morning was a bit grotty. Our hosts at the motel were quiet happy for us to leave our gear there and have a late checkout.
We were all ready to head for home now, but we couldn’t go past Rangitata Island without calling in and seeing what Russell Brodie was up to. That would be just rude. We headed north, but the visibility was getting a little out of my comfort zone. Fortunately we had been there a few times before so we knew where to find it. Fly to the Rangitata River, turn left and it will be right there on your left. We did that and fortunately it was there right where we left it last time, only much harder to see this time. It was drizzling and my windscreen was fogging up. Maybe it was the heavy breathing. This made for an interesting approach. “Can you see Paul?” “No” “Neither can I”. The interesting thing was I made a good landing. I think if I shut my eyes every landing I might get on better. Russell made us very welcome, as always.
The weather was lifting slightly so Duncan and Angus decided to make a break for Ashburton. “Which way do we go?” Six pairs of hands point in six different directions and Duncan was on his way.
We still had to fly around with a cloud base of around a thousand feet but we were in familiar territory and got to Ashburton no problems. We still had more airfields that we could visit on the way home but everyone was ready to go home so we set a course for Rangiora. It was a fantastic weekend and a trip I would love to do again. Perhaps we will make Stewart Island next time
Home once again
Things to Remember
Anyone who wants to do their licence examinations please give Mike Small (0274362609) a ring so he can organise the papers for you. We are planning to have lecture nights starting September 16th
Oct 4th. Working Bee at Oxford strip.
Oct 8th. Trip to Avex in Hamilton. See Mike Small.