President's Report

Open Day

 

The Open Day held last weekend was a little dull due in part to the weather and lack of visitors. It is always easier to arrange the day than to get people to come to it! The aims of the day were:
1. get the club doing something together,
2. involve the public in our sport and
3. raise the awareness of our sport in the greater public.

In the past this has worked reasonably well but in the last few years the available free time of people has reduced, thus the number of new people coming out our way has diminished. The hardened members keep the club going and will continue to be the strength of our club. My philosophy for our club has always been that we should arrange events for the people who come and not reduce events because people don't come. So expect a few more events.

The Open Day saw only a few aircraft taken from their hangars and those that were displayed attracted a good deal of attention from those of public who did show. There were probably around a hundred visitors during the day, most of them older males with an interest in aviation and building planes. Valerie and Graeme Main provided a good variety on the BBQ which was appreciated by all. Thanks to also to Grant Porter for getting the word out via a Coffee circular, and to Stu Bufton, who, with Grant, made some new portable signs for the club.

Altogether a very successful day.

Airfield "Designation"

Council is going through the process to 'designate' our airfield.

This means that the area will officially be an airfield and that people living or wanting to develop around it must acknowledge it's use as such, and so they will not be able to complain in the future about that use.

The 'designation' will probably come with a set of conditions that may be set for hours of operation, type of traffic, and areas for future development. Once the public consultation period is over a hearing will take place and at this hearing the commissioner may impose conditions. These conditions are commonly suggested by the applicant.

All in all it is a good thing to have for the long term future for the airfield. It does not necessarily mean the airfield will become commercial and make life difficult for our club. The club is in favour of designation and supports the Council in its application.

Dave Mitchell attended the meeting for us and his report follows. We have also received suggestions as to how we should make our voices heard, and they, too, are included below.

 

Mike

From The Secretary

Airfield "Designation"

You will recall a couple of weeks back a notice that there was to be a meeting about the future of Rangiora Airfield. The matter at hand was the designation, in the district plan, of the airfield, as an airfield. Some information: http://tinyurl.com/3hb7ff5

This is generally accepted by airfield users as a good thing. In pretty simple terms, it affords protection to the airfield to operate as an airfield. We have all seen airfields be restricted or even closed because of "NIMBY" action. Unfortunately, and perhaps not unexpectedly, there have been objections given to the council by citizens of Waimakariri opposing the designation. Concerns of RPT (regular passenger transport), sealed runways, lighting, night operations etc... to our knowledge are all pretty well unfounded.

Pat Scotter has forwarded some talking points which you may wish to work into your submission to the council, included below.

In addition, we should remember that with Wigram closed, and West Melton gazetted to close, Rangiora will become essential as the non-CTR refuelling stop closest to the northern bad-lands. Planes need turn-back fuel in case of bad weather and microlights in particular do not have huge tanks. So, as refuelling fields close, the distance to the pumps increases which further reduces margins of safety.

Please send the link to this newsletter (http://www.recwings.com/newsletters/2011/July.html) to any flyers you know who would be adversely affected if operations at NZRT were truncated. It may be 'our airfield' but actually it's a national facility - get your friends to help! We are running out of time!

If you want Rangiora Airfield protected, you need to make a (positive, succinct, non-abusive etc, because we want what the council wants in this case) submission NOW to...

 

Rangiora Airfield Designation Submission Waimakariri District Council 215 High Street Private Bag 1005 Rangiora 7440

 

or email records@wmk.govt.nz with a scanned signature if possible (but that may not be essential).

The submission must be dated, signed by you, and include the following information:
• Your name, postal address, telephone number and fax number (if applicable).
• Details of the application in respect of which you are making the submission, including the location.
• Whether you support or oppose the application.
• Your submission, with reasons.
• The decision you wish the Council to make.
• Whether you wish to be heard in support of your submission.

Submissions close at 5 pm on Monday 1 August 2011.

From Pat Scotter

Dear friend of the Rangiora Airfield. You may be aware that the Council has decided to designate the airfield as such in its district plan, and that a vociferous group of people are using this as an opportunity to attempt to place restrictions on the airfield’s operations and future development.

Their submissions to the council on the designation proposal are likely to have adverse outcomes for the airfield.

It is seen to be of the upmost importance that we lodge submissions with the council supporting the designation of the airfield in the district plan.

If we don’t do so I am reasonably sure that restrictions will be placed on the airfield’s use and future.

You should at least put something in writing to the council, and there is an opportunity to make a verbal submission as well if you feel so inclined.

Here are some of the points which you might like to make in you submission, and you may well be able to think of more.
• The airfield has existed for 53 years and deserves the proposed protection of designation.
• Rangiora was recognized as being “behind the times” by local business-men who developed the airfield for the community.
• World wide, residential development grows around airfields which have originally been sited in remote places.
• Residents wittingly move into areas near airfields, meat works, mills, and other industrial establishments then form groups to have restrictions placed on that activity.
• Noise levels at the airfield were far greater in the period 1960 to 1980 during the height of the aerial top-dressing era, than they are today.

Increasing activity at Rangiora Airfield is mirrored in similar changes to such things as levels of road traffic.
• A number of small businesses operate at the airfield which contribute in a small but increasing manner to the prosperity of the district.
• Substantial investments have been made at the airfield by owners of hangars and workshops. (In excess of $5.000,000)
• Subdivision relaxations which have lead to the boom in rural residential dwellings has resulted in many complaints about traditional activities including the operation of airfields.
• The concern that Rangiora is going to see air-service style operations in the foreseeable future is probably unfounded.

Please advise me at scotter@xtra.co.nz when you send something in so that we know we have enough submissions to neutralize the orchestrated campaign of those opposed to designation.

Further thoughts from Stella Duff.

We need to address/counter the gripes of vociferous objectors, and here are some thoughts around that, ie:
• Understand Council has policies in place to control growth so no need to put restrictions to address opposers' fears of over commercialism ie night flying, tourist operations
• Airfield has a history of growing/ebbing to meet demand so as long as the council continues to do that rather than specifically promote there should be a natural progression of growth commensurate with the growth of the district.
• People knowingly bought properties near the airfield and it would be wrong to stifle operations in these fluid times due to the earthquake and we would not wish to see caveats put on now that could be detrimental to future as yet unknown requirements of the district
• Views of current neighbours cannot be deemed to be the views of future neighbours so restrictions put on at the request of current neighbours should not penalise operations in the future
• Designation has been on the table for the airfield for a number of years now and on the basis of that designation many people have invested in the airfield by way of hangars and businesses, as leaseholders surely there should be a commitment on the Council to consider those investors which are not inconsiderable.
• The very people complaining ie who now live on 10 acre blocks are themselves the product of expansion and comercialisation of land that was not such when the airfield started operations almost 50 year ago - therefore the airfield deserves its future protection against NEW neighbours to ensure continuing existing use rights
• As far as we are aware only about 1 or 2 of the opposers have actually followed through on their concerns over some operators who they deem may be behaving unlawfully and their efforts to identify those aircraft could be deemed to be half hearted for if the concern was sufficient surely they would make exhaustive attempts to identify the culprits about whose actions they are so concerned.
• Rangiora Airfield is not the origin of all aerial activity over the properties of the opposers
• If the earthquake has taught us nothing else it is the need to spread infrastructure around the district so that if a central hub is disabled there are other options - restrictions on the airfield now could be counter productive to an area far outreaching the Rangiora District.
• The airfield serves as an excellent base for rescue operations, fire fighting, frost protection and Police/drug surveillance, plus the air force/navy - time restrictions could hamper these operations detrimental to a wider community than those immediately living in the vicinity of the airfield

James Sleeman

CFI's CORNER with Dave Mitchell

Rangiora Airfield 'Designation' meeting notes from 14 July 2011.

Those of you who get The Northern Outlook would have noticed the full page advertisement by the Waimakariri District Council regarding the above meeting. I, along with a small band of aviators, attended more in a listening capacity, to hear what it was all about - Keith Vallence being the spokesman for matters aviation. The Chairman was C.Sarginson.

Well, quite a lively meeting ensured. It appeared that a group of 'lifestyle block owners' who live in the vicinity of the airfield (and some who lived much further away) were unhappy that the Council had not adequately notified them of the intention to 'designate', ( I believe the Council HAD done what was required of them) so, to 'keep the peace', the Council had called this special meeting.

The lifestylers' concern was that further development of the airfield was going to lead to increased traffic, more noise, and for longer periods, to the detriment of the 'country atmosphere' - and thus their 'lifestyle'. They were especially concerned about the possibility of a sealed runway - and with lights. They were certain that inevitably commercial operators would be involved.

It would seem - designated or not - the Council was at liberty to develop the airfield. Once in the District Plan, however, development could only be within the limits set. Designation would put the airfield into the District Plan. One thing this would do for us the airfield users, is protect us from further housing development in the area, in that they would have to formally agree to the airfield being there (noise, traffic and all). Also, the facilities and land would be protected for current and future use.

The meeting concluded shortly after nine with the Chairman suggesting that the 'lifestylers' and other interested parties present their submissions to the Council before 1 August, for consideration by the Commissioner at the Hearing for Designation at a time to be set in the future. I think we had better get used to the fact that the airfield is going to change - and the little old country airfield that many will remember of 20 years ago will be gone - forever.

However, we can have an effective say in that future - provided we send in as many submissions as possible by the due date - and that's only a week away, so get to it, fellow flyers. There are notes below on how to do that.

Safe Flying,

Dave Mitchell

Committee:

Minutes

Items of interest from Committee Meeting at Kaiapoi Working Mens Club, July 1st 2011

GPS

A GPS has been purchased and is to be installed in one of the club planes so that its use can be taught. It will not be available for use during solo cross-country tests.

Membership

The following new members were accepted by the committee..

• Ryan Stevenson
• Andrew Brown

Airfield

After some discussion the Committee concluded that the proposed Council Designation was in the best interests of the club and its members, and should be actively supported

Other

- other items of interest are written up in the relevant sections below.

Safety

We have received the following notice. It's good that there is someone like Pat at the field, to help protect us from the less responsible flyers. If you see someone flying dangerously or inconsiderately, do let me know - especially if it's a CRAC member - otherwise, tell Pat. There are areas, within easy flying distance, set aside for low flying and for aerobatics, and we can obtain specific clearance for air shows. Everywhere else, fly legally - fly sensibly - fly safely.

From the Rangiora Airfield Safety Officer. An update. Safety issues are brought to my attention from time to time and I am pleased to report that there have been very few matters of concern raised since our last safety meeting. There have however, been several complaints which involve bad manners and lack of consideration rather than issues involving safety. These are cases where pilots have been aware of each other’s position and no safety issue has been involved. For example, it’s generally “not on” to simply advise the aircraft on final approach ahead of you, that you will be making a tight approach and cutting in ahead. What is of concern to me is that sometimes I see people deliberately taking stupid risks at Rangiora. I have often remarked that in general, a lack of aircraft handling skills sometimes results in embarrassing mishaps.(The sort of thing that breaks propellers and landing gear.) Generally it is willful disregard of the rules of safe flying which causes fatal accidents. These accidents don’t happen through a lack of knowledge. Education doesn’t seem to have any effect on some individuals. A few weeks ago I watched an aircraft take off on runway 25 when fog was just beginning to clear. The pilot turned right and disappeared from view at about fifty feet. I glanced at my watch so that I would be able to tell the accident investigator the time of the accident, but he got away with it! Previous experience has shown that if pilots such as this guy know that there is someone watching, particularly if that person is someone in authority, they are far less likely to break the rules. We all have a responsibility to convey our concern in an appropriate way to pilots who do silly things. For what it is worth, I will not hesitate to report any stupid behavior I see to the CAA, and will go to court if required. I hate going to aviators funerals, and have been to far too many over the years. Pat Scotter. Airfield Safety Officer 25.5.2011

- we've been warned!

Doug Anderson

Coming Events:

List header
• Weekly Socials - every Friday, Clubhouse.
• RAANZ AGM is to be hosted this year by CRAC, perhaps combining it with a fly-in, probably the third Saturday in November (19th). Preparations to continue.
• Taildragger Day, 17 September 2011, Hastings Aerodrome. Alaskan short take off and landing competition and jail bar bombing.
• Remembrance Day Airshow, 12 November 2011, The Vintage Aviator Ltd, Masterton Aerodrome.
• GORE AERO CLUB INC 50th Anniversary 4 - 6 August 2011
  P.O.BOX 267 GORE. 9740 NEW ZEALAND. PHONE (03) 208-5400. FAX (03) 208-5400

  The Gore Aero Club formerly the Southern Districts Aero Club is holding its 50th Anniversary this year. You will have seen the mentions in the “Jetstream” Newsletter and heard people talking about the event.

  The 50 years have been made up of really great years from when it was started till now and we would like you to be part of the celebrations – all past and present and affiliated members are welcome.

  As part of the celebrations we need the many stories which are out there floating around and need to come home on runway 01 and if you have any memorabilia we would also like to display it. If you can write up your stories and send them to the Club, this will be appreciated.

  The Celebration is on the weekend of 4th (for early arrivals) to the 6th (for those who heading home) of August with a dinner on the evening of the 5th starting at 7:00pm with drinks at the Colony Restaurant situated at the Gore Race Course on the Gore Mataura highway.

  The cost is $60-00 a head, with all other donations gratefully received for the Presidents Flying Fund. Please return the acceptance form to the Gore Aero Club P.O. Box 264, Gore no latter than Wednesday 20th July 2011.

  I look forward to seeing you there,
  John Ibbotson (President)
  
  
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Newsletter:

Thanks to all who have provided reports, stories, and photographs. We're very lucky to have members who are able and willing to volunteer their time 'for the greater good'.

For "Coming Events" please include contact details, and a registration form or request for RSVP if you require that.

Advertisements will be accepted, subject to the approval of the Committee, for the on-line newsletter free of charge provided they are from CRAC members, or would be beneficial to members, are aviation-related, take no editorial time to set them up, and have no cost to the club. Enquiries to editor@recwings.com

Editor

Club Captain's Notes:

For those who are still making up their minds whether to support the Waimakariri Council move to "Designate" NZRT, if you feel the way I do about being able to continue flying here for years, think on this. It's my view that as things stand, residents of a new subdivision right on our boundary would in future years be able to object to noise, or nuisance, or other such grounds, and have our activities seriously curtailed. "Designation" of the field would effectively prevent them doing so, as 'airfield' becomes the designated use.

I gather that listing the elements that designation could encompass makes it possible for those things, if and when they become helpful to us, then to be done without being easy targets for objection in future years. It does not mandate that they must be done.

Please, do write in, now, to Council along the lines noted above!

See you at The Landing Spot where your coffee and ginger (or chocolate for the chocoholic amongst us - you know who you are!) biscuit await you as your reward for club-enhancing ideas!

Grant Porter

Statistician's Corner:

"Staying Alive, Staying Alive" - it's a percentage game

What do percentages mean (and why does it matter)?

Everyone knows what a percentage means - literally, it's parts per hundred.

Is that all there is to it? What do percentages (or proportions) mean in practice? Is there a better was to get a grip on numbers and they way they can affect us personally? Yes, of course. We do know the fatal accident rate for aircraft in New Zealand, however that's deaths per year, which we can represent (with uncertain validity) as a percentage - but hopefully we can find a more meaningful way to present the same information.

This months puzzler, as I hope will always be the case in this newsletter, has an aviation basis. As safety is currently (maybe always) under the focus of the CAA, let's take some figures from the CAA web pages, and see what they mean to us. Be aware that this is a 'small sample' exercise, so in the long run these numbers and conclusions could well prove to have been off by a large factor. However, the general pattern of causes and outcomes will almost certainly stand the test of time. But if you think I've got it all wrong, don't be shy about letting me know.

 

From http://www.caa.govt.nz/Script/Air_Class.asp we find that there are about 4500 aircraft in NZ:
• 2000 standard GA aircraft in NZ, from international jets down to small tourist, sightseeing, feeder, agricultural, recreational GA (if I may put it that way) and retired fighter aircraft.
• 800 helicopters
• 1800 microlights, home-builts, gliders, weight-shift and parachutes, balloons and gyros.
• 3000 of the 4500 are fixed wing (very approximately) over all classes.
• 700 craft are balloons, gyrocopters, weight-shift, powered parachutes and the like, therefore.

Against those aircraft there are
• 80 fatal accidents (reports in CAA Fatal Accident Reports going back to 1998, with typical causes, for the ten years 1995 to 2004, as analysed in the Anthony Wackrow (2005) report on New Zealand Fixed Wing Aviation Accidents)
• in 13 years, that is, with
• 6 fatal accidents per year, if you will.

That's approximately 1 fatal per year for each 750 aircraft.

If you fly in a typical aircraft (whatever that may mean) you as pilot have a 1-in-750, or 0.13% chance of getting yourself killed in any one year. Of course, the number of flights, the flown hours and the type of flying all have an influence. But longer hours, though they may increase the time during which an incident could happen, also increase your currency and so may actually reduce your risk. This can become a very complex analysis, so for the moment, let's keep it simple and accept that we've introduced some lack of precision.

Turning the 0.13% around, and as we already know, it means you can fly for 750 years, on average, before having a fatal. Keep that number in mind, so you can compare it with our final result, which you can personally achieve with minimal extra effort.

Now, the odds vastly favour those flying scheduled in two-pilot, multiple-engined, fixed-wing, IFR machines. The figures are quite clear that the far more numerous single-engined craft, of all types, particularly VFR, have the bulk of the accidents. If we ignore the relatively few line-haul machines, therefore, we may introduce a bias of, say, 10% into our 'calculations', but as you will see, a 10% 'error' on our final figures won't have any influence worth a damn on the significance of our conclusions.

Despite the apparently huge safety advantages of flying line-haul, there is actually a great deal we can do to improve our personal odds, even with just a single engine and pilot, even beyond the 'average' 750 years flying time between now and your fatal accident.

Here's the way it stacks up:
• Have a highly reliable engine and do all maintenance on time and up to standard. Gets you a 10% improvement. Your average safe time goes up to 825 years.
• Fly legally in a stable, modern, factory-built fixed-wing; do all your checks; write up a thorough flight plan - and stick to it; use in-flight information services; wear life jackets; avoid flying low and slow; keep out of competition flying and agricultural operations; have a full set of instruments and the training to use them; have plenty of fuel; avoid cloud and valleys; turn back if uncertain, and use support services, calling PAN if in doubt. This will deal with 95% of the remaining 90%, the "pilot/situation-related". You have now dealt with 95.5% of all fatals. Fly that way and on average it will take you 17,000 years to kill yourself.

But wait - there's more! Those figures are for the average pilots, provided they are careful and legal. Some will hit their personal wall in less than 17,000 years, and others in more than 17,000 years, probably by up to 50% in extreme cases, either way. What will push us out beyond the 17,000 year average, potentially up to 150% of that time? Simple - fly better than average, much better! Preferably extremely well. Consistently.

Here are some simple things that will further improve your odds, based on the 10 years "Accidents and Incidents" analysis of New Zealand fixed-wing reports:
• Learn to fly before you are age 35. Learning later in life isn't quite so good. But you can compensate for a late start by doing these others,
• Fly more than 40 hours every 90 days. This one you can do, and it's quite effective. Three landings in that time may be the legal requirement, but for safety it doesn't even scratch the surface.
• Get ongoing training (and note that being under instruction gives you the lowest death rate of all)
• Learn to fly mountain and learn to fly instrument - even if you never need either they will refine your technique, and who knows, it could save your life. There are some who would still be alive if they had got instruction on how to use the instruments they already had in front of them. Of course we are not permitted to fly in cloud; but if cloud happens, it's not a legal requirement to have a fatal crash. At least learn how to save yourself.
• Be very, very careful when you get up to 200 hours - work hard to get up to 2000 as quickly as you can - in the meantime, don't take any chances. From 200 up to 2000 hours is a real danger interval.

Oh, just as a matter of interest, though 50% of the accidents happen during routine landings, deaths are virtually unheard of at those times. The fatalities happen after take-off, or while cruising or manoeuvring; not realising how close you are to the terrain, running out of fuel or suffering from some other missed check, running into cloud, flying competition or agricultural, flying under the influence of drink or drug, flying illegally low, showing off, or being plain careless - like stalling and spinning into the ground.

There are those who claim that microlights unfairly get a bad press. That there is some sort of bias against us microlight pilots. I don't believe that. But I understand numbers. Here's a question: if you take a group of pilots who have the least training (or were very well trained many years ago but now aren't quite as fit and healthy as when they were at their peak); if you put those pilots into the lightest, sometimes least 'commercial' planes, having the lowest legislated maintenance and inspection standards; if these pilots come to have among the lowest currency figures for the 'industry'; then what level of safety record would you expect? The highest? Or much further down the list?

I consider myself truly privileged to belong to a recreational aircraft club, able to fly affordably, and permitted to decide for myself whether I live or die. For some of us, danger is a spice, and being able to pit our wits and skills against the elements, and the gods of chance, is a huge buzz.

For the rest of us, who just want economical flying that is also safe: remember, it's a percentage game, and every action that improves your odds also pushes the date of your fatal accident still further into the far-off never-never land.

How does is it sound to you - having 25,000 years of fatality-free flying in your future?

Peter Collins

AROUND and ABOUT

Airspace Workshop - and other stuff.

This was held on schedule, at 19:00 on Thursday 21 July, 19:00 in the clubhouse. Our ATO Roger Ward conducted this "not to be missed" workshop on “NZ Airspace - and other stuff”.

Topics included:
• CH INFO
• SARTIME
• Services available on Xcountry
• "If you get lost" -
• MAYDAY
• Flight Planning
• FISCOM
• and more.

Roger provided us with a balanced and interesting presentation, complete with visuals. There was a good attendance of active flyers, all of whom will now be better prepared for dealing with what the 'friendly skies' throw at us when they are in a less-than-friendly mood.

We recorded the evening (audio only) and if the result is of sufficient clarity we'll see if it can be made available to the membership as a whole, or perhaps transcribed as a supplement to the RAANZ training notes.

Thank you, Roger.

Dave Mitchell

SOUTHERN SAFARI

It turned out to be the Queens Birthday weekend that Mike Small had suggested that a Southern Safari take place. I had thought, initially, that I would have to take a couple of days off work as this kind of adventure can often turn into a few more days than planned. As it was the Queens birthday I only had to take one day off. So I decided to go and word was that around five planes would be coming with us. It was decided to go early on Saturday morning. I arrived early and waited and waited. There didn’t seem to be much activity at RT. The weather was marginal and I had decided to go so why were there not other pilots ready to go?

Eventually Mike arrived after a sleep-in, at about 9.30am, and proceeded to get the plane out and fueled. I loaded up my little swag and asked him what the plan was. It seemed we were it and Dave Mac was waiting for us at Forrest Field for breakfast. So we headed off to FF and were greeted by Dave and Duncan, who had had already breakfast. Duncan’s wife Jane insisted on making us breakfast, which was great. I was eager to get going (as I was for the whole trip, always had to get the others to move faster, guess I am a little impatient), Duncan said he would come some of the way with us in Budgie. We both took off and headed for the firebreak where the Budgie turned back and left the two Karatoos. The weather was calm and reasonably clear and we headed for Timaru. This was uneventful but pleasant. We refueled there and headed to Dunedin.

As we progressed South the weather improved. A bad bank of rain was predicted to come down from the North and a Southerly was predicted to come through in a few days, so it looked like we would have a tail wind there and back. Dave stayed behind Karatoo 1 most of the time while Mike pointed out every airfield ever built in the South of the South Island. We had decided to head up the harbour to Dunedin and land at Taieri which was spectacular as the sun was shining and the air calm. We landed at Taieri with Mike taking care of the radio calls, with the Dunedin tower in sight. Dave listening attentively as he had to do some calls into Invercargill later.

We had a cuppa at the airfield and were met by Nigel Forrester and his son. After a chat we took off, heading east, into a pretty claggy-looking sky. It seem to my untrained eye that we would not get very far, but once we got to the coast things looked better and we set the GPS for Balclutha International. The sky brightened as we flew across beautiful rolling green hills, speckled with patches of brown and dark green stands of pine and bush. Mike instinctively flew inland and pointed out landmarks that he had seen previously.

The plane was in auto pilot (me flying it ) and this was conveyed to Dave who confirmed that that was fair enough and it was, after all ‘Air Force One’ the presidential carrier. After a pleasant flight we flew between a few hills, where Mike pointed out airfields in the most inhospitable places. Balclutha appeared, nestled in the curves of the Clutha river. The airfield is placed on the curve of the river making an interesting approach. Land short and you get very wet. It was getting on in the day when we landed and tied down the planes. A friendly group of local club members chatted for a while and then directed us to the Southern Hotel. This was only a short walk from the airfield. So with fuel cans and over night bags in hand we headed to town.

We had only just left the field when a couple of locals cutting firewood in their front garden called out to us and we got chatting. After a few minutes the guy said to his partner that she should take us into town and get some gas for us. We jumped in the car and off we went. She said we would go on a detour to see the sights of Balclutha. After about 30 seconds we had finished that and arrived at the petrol station where Dave and Mike filled the gas tanks. I chatted to the lady (sorry, can’t remember her name) until the lads came back. She was very friendly and couldn’t do enough for us, offering to take the full tanks back to her place for us to pick up in the morning. After taking us to see a house she wanted to buy, she dropped us off at the Southern Hotel.

We walked into the bar and declared we needed 3 single rooms for the night. "Ok" said the barman, "That’ll be $30 each and you share a bathroom". That would do us, we decided, and off we trotted. The room was very small, but comfortable and clean, right out of the '60's. A little single bed, small wash basin, little chest of drawers and a towel on the bed.

We met in the bar a little later and chilled out. We then decided to see the sights of Balclutha before it got dark. The temperature was only about five degrees so we had a walk across the famous bridge, went to the New World to stock up on things and then back to the hotel.

We moved from the bar to the restaurant for a feed (we could have had a feed at the bar but we were going to live it up and go the posh bit.) We all ate very well but Dave couldn’t finish his huge steak that covered most of his plate. After getting kicked out of the posh lounge, because of another function (two people in it when we left) we went to bed. We had ordered a Continental breakfast ($10) to be available in the lounge in the morning.

I arrived at the lounge last and was greeted by Dave and Mike glued to the TV watching ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’, 'The Wiggles' and lots of other great kids' programs. It became apparent Mike was an expert in these programs and told Dave and I of the other adventures the characters had had. After a while we were all engrossed in the goings-on at the island where Thomas lived and how Dave the lumberjack saved the day by clearing a tree from across the tracks. I couldn’t stand the excitement any longer and being the impatient fella that I am, went to clear my room ready for the walk to the airfield.

We walked back to the airfield and dropped in to the friendly neighbours to pick up our fuel.

At the field Dave and Mike ‘burped‘ their babies ready to start up. The Weather was cold and damp and the cloud base low, so we decided to hang around the club house until it cleared. Around 11.00 it looked reasonable so off we went into the low cloud over the hills heading towards the Catlins. The landscape changed to coastal inlets and rugged cliffs. Small settlements dotted the coastline, some with no visible means of access with the tide in. Visibility was about 10 miles and this improved the further South we went. At this point I lost the batteries in my camera so there are no shots of the Catlins!

The coast is very beautiful and eventually levels out to low swamp and beach, with only the beach to land on if needed. As we progressed Tiwai Point and an island off the left which we thought was Stewart Island came into view. But it wasn’t. Stewart Island was another 20 miles south. We headed up the Invercargill inlet and Dave made a call to the control tower followed by Mike's calls. The flight up the inlet is interesting with Invercargill at the end. We were cleared to land by a very clear female voice at the Tower who insisted that she was Invercargill Tower not Invercargill Traffic!

As we got out of the planes into the wintry sunlight and chilling wind we were greeted by Murray Hargar from Manapouri.

He had flown in with a student in an Alpi 300 to do some airspace experience. After a bit of a chat it was decide we would spend the night with Murray and his wife at Manapouri. I decided we should visit Mandeville on the way. Off we went taking off to the South and then to the North. We watched as Dave took off on the sealed strip and followed us. Murray had gone ahead to Mandeville where we would meet again. The cloud was fairly low and the visibility pretty marginal with a lot of haze in the direction of Gore.

Mike knew where he was going and pointed out Gore before we popped over the ridge and landed at Mandeville. As we entered the circuit we could see Dave at high level following us along the ridge. We pulled up alongside the parked Alpi and waited for Dave to taxi up. We wandered off to the café and had lunch with Murray and his pupil before having a quick look around the Mandeville workshops. I was a little disappointed as the workshops were no better than our hangars at Rangiora. It is amazing to see the quality of the restorations that come out of these rather ordinary workshops. We taxied out to the threshold at Mandeville and went through an unmowed area which Mike thought might need a short cut. It was very wet and the Karatoo used a bit of horse power to keep moving.

Next stop was Manapouri and after a circuit over Bob and Christine Oliver’s and seeing Dipton, Josephville, Lumsden and Mossburn we headed for Manapouri.

Murray had already gone ahead and advised that we needed to be three miles south of the end of the strip at TeAnau. We followed Mike’s intuition and ended up directly over the field as Murray pulled up outside his hangar. We landed on his strip surrounded by beet and after Dave had arrived we put our planes into a spare hangar for the night. We then headed off to Te Anau to see the hangar that the club had built. Murray had contacted his wife and informed her he had three quests for the night and true to the friendliness of the county folk we were welcomed. Murray’s wife met us at Te Anau for dinner before we went off to Murray’s home for the night.

Murray runs a deer farm and is an authority on breeding and rearing of this type of stock and is highly regarded in his field. He is addicted to flying and is one of the true pioneers of microlighting in New Zealand. Next day dawned foggy and after waiting many hours for Mike and Dave to emerge from their little granny flat we sat down for a great meal of bacon, eggs, toast and other goodies before we could head off to the field. Murray just went with the flow and never hurried us off even though he had to be places. He and his wife were the perfect hosts and have looked after many an aviator over the years and we thank him and his wife for his hospitality.

From Manapouri the plan was to go to Alexandra. The wind was westerly and I was not looking forward to flying over tiger country in a NW. We climbed to around 7000 and headed for Five Rivers and the southern end of Lake Wakatipu before flying over the Garvie Mts to Alex. This was the scariest for me as the NW created some turbulence. With knuckles whitening and the chrome moly tubing bending we flew over glacial flattened frozen hills into Alex. Not before we entered a patch of sink that made the Karatoo follow the curve of the terrain at about a thousand feet above it. No sweat to Mike but a bit unnerving to me; however I think I held up Ok.

End of PART 1

Mike Sheffield

Aircraft Corner

Classic Aviation Fillup at Rangiora 2 July 2011

Being ferried from Omaka to Rangitata Island Tiger 43 ZK BRL was refuelled on the last part of its journey back to its home base. Owned by Russell and Linda Brodie of East Canterbury Aviation, this Tiger was built at Rongatai and saw war service with the RNZAF as a trainer at Harewood and Tairei during the latter part of WW II. Many will remember it based at Wigram for around 10 years with Barnstormers.

Accompany the Tiger was ZK BTP Piper PA18 Super Cub. This very tidy example is registered to the Lyford Syndicate of Lower Hutt and is currently based at Blenheim.

Also lining up at the pumps was Guy Clapshaw’s Percival Proctor ZK DPP. This was restored to flying conditions back in 2007 by Croydon Aircraft Co at Manderville, Southland, as a replica of Jean Batton’s G-ADPR. This aircraft built in 1940 first flew in RAF service and was later exported to Australia in 1953. It was retired in the late 1970s being shipped to New Zealand in 2000 for a six year restoration. The Proctor has been resident at Croydon for a number of years but on this occasion Guy was taking it back to his home base in Auckland.

Allan Bowman

Trial Flight - IBIS "Magic" GS700

The Giddy Flyer - A personal experience.

Various dictionaries tells us that "giddy" means various things. I think I'm sometimes giddy: "frivolous, lighthearted and flighty"? Maybe. I'm proud oflighthearted, but I do try to avoid frivolous, and I'd run screaming from "flighty" - because it means "lacking stability or steadiness" which far too many instructors have told me is exactly what characterises my flight. It seems that my flying is too flighty.

The other main meaning of Giddy is "having a sensation of whirling and a tendency to fall or stagger; dizzy". Thereby hangs this tale.

The background

Way back a few months ago, I was still convinced that gyros are intrinsically safer than 3-axis (that's another story, for another time, folks), but my problem was that safe or not, they aren't all that practical (in my personal view) for flying me and my lovely lady wife all around New Zealand, finally getting to see the scenery from where all the huge coffee-table books take their magnificent photos - high in the air. If I could find a gyro that had room for a serious cosmetics bag (for her) plus a toothbrush (for me), I'd be in like a shot. Actually, it's not just the cosmetics; they are only the start of the loading procedure, but hopefully you get the point.

Sadly, our gyro (RCW, a bright red RAF2000 - previously living in Hanger 3),while fun (and sometimes unwarrantedly exciting) to fly, isn't anywhere near what I now know our touring machine needs to be. Won't go far enough, for one thing. So, it's now been sold, I fear, because I've reached Passenger and we can think about real travelling, for which we need a truly suitable plane. For various reasons our preference list includes Rotax 912ULS, large baggage hold, high wing, big wheels, large doors, good view, all metal, yokes, 1000km range, heater, and so robust that I would find it hard to break anything, even on the third bounce.

I have received much helpful advice from my fellow members of CRAC, and Bonita and I have been flown in many aircraft - all of which has helped us narrow down our options and generally reduce our short list. Oh, there is one other criterion that apparently (but as it turned out, only temporarily) reduced the list to zero: affordability. There are some gorgeous planes out there that we would love to have, but we would need more money, much more money, and I'd probably have to go GA, which at 73 isn't quite as practical as it would have been some years ago.

Then the local Rotax engineer, young Grant Porter down at "The Landing Spot" told me of a machine that he had seen in Australia in the Rotax works, an Ibis GS700, that might, with very little change, be exactly what we were looking for. It had been selected for suitability Down Under and a couple imported by the late, and greatly missed, Bert Flood, and so by going across to Australia I might now have the chance to try one of them, when the Flood's pilot, Laurie Jones, was available.

A huge amount of web research followed, including You Tube videos, downloading and reading the assembly and piloting manuals, reading the experiences and opinions of other pilots around the world, and noting how many flying schools are adopting this little beast - the Ibis GS700, made in Columbia, South America. There is no truth to the rumour that when you fly drugs out of there you get the plane thrown in with the price. Or so I believe.

Off to do trial flying.

In due course I was advised when Laurie would be able to accompany me, and I made my bookings Harewood to Tullamarine, just in time to be hit by the dust cloud problem. Fortunately, in a fit of unbounded nationalism (this is not a political statement) I had booked Air New Zealand (who it seems had decided to cut their profit margin and burn extra fuel to fly under the ash) rather than choosing QANTAS (for whom one might suspect that the almighty dollar is more important than mere client convenience).

Eventually I arrived at Tullamarine, ready to catch the shuttle bus to Lilydale where Flood Imports have their warehouse. Life being what it is, I arrived at the bus stand only a very few minutes after the last bus that day to Lilydale, had left. Laurie, meanwhile, had driven from his home in Tooradin (south of the city) to Lilydale (north of the city) to meet me and take me flying. As it happens,Tooradin has a sealed, lit runway, whereas Lilydale is mud (usually grass, but the rain had been very heavy) and the nearby Coldstream (where the GS700 was then hangared) is much like NZRT, except narrower, shorter, more shingle, and no grass at all. A few phone calls and we had a good Plan B designed and implemented.

I caught the airport bus to Melbourne and the train almost to Tooradin, and Laurie flew the plane down to Tooradin so we could meet and proceed from there. Laurie's wife Beck met me at the station, and we drove to the airstrip, arriving just in time to see Laurie join (upwind, overhead - parachutes own the non-traffic side) and land.

We still had some daylight left, so to get at least some flying on my first day (Thursday 23 June) we put in some circuits before stopping for drinks and a feed. I should mention that though Tooradin has a great strip (you have to call it great if it is wide and long, sealed and lit!), there seem to me to be far fewer movements than at RT, and it appears to have only two hangars - one of which is used by the repair and maintenance shop. But it has a great bar/restaurant which has a great chef - and its walls are decorated with vast numbers of photographs of planes that have flown there (including an Ibis!). This photo is of Laurie and Beck Jones against that background. There is also an old caravan near the toilet block, to be my home for the next few days with a ton of bedding provided by Beck - just as well, as it got down to 7° C inside, some nights. Tooradin also has quite an active flying school, which uses mainly Jabaru high wing craft, very sleek looking, and they do have the luggage space we crave, but unfortunately they are not available with our preferred engine, and they are composite. However, that's an aside.

First impressions

What were my initial impressions of the Ibis? Well, I'm a nervous flyer untilI'm familiar with my aircraft, so I don't much enjoy the initial flights, especially if there are some big differences to get used to - even if the changes come with big benefits for the pilot and passenger. So, because the Ibis is quite different to the few planes I've already flown, I started out feeling very uncomfortable with it. For example, at first the Ibis yoke felt extraordinarily heavy. Back here I fly the Piper Warrior (ZK-MND, with Sarah Collins - no relation) in which the yoke goes a complete half turn from lock to lock. But in the Ibis, lock to lock is only a quarter turn, and the high gearing requires more strength - ostensibly to discourage over-control. The pitch control is similarly high-geared. As supplied, this doesn't seem the machine for any limp-wristed persons. Later I found out how wrong I was, but that was the first impression.

I had other initial complaints, all of which turned out to be trivial: the seats are too low for a short-arse like me; running the gyros off the manifold means (as I discovered) that in a long climb they don't get enough vacuum, slow down, and roll over; though the cabin is comfortably wide, that's only if you sit back - because of the tapered fuselage the elbow room gets much less if you sit far forward. There are other niggles that initially affected me, but they are all easily fixable: set the seats higher; move the pedals to one of the rearward positions; install a vacuum pump (the power-take-off is set up for that), and so on.

Flight experience

Day 2, Friday 24 June, we fuelled up (120 litres - by actual measure) and headed off to circumnavigate a big chunk of Gippsland. I was handed a million-to-one chart, (higher resolution was available if I needed it but Australia is a big place), plus a pencil and ruler, and given a list of waypoints from Tooradin, to a landing for fuel at Tyabb, then overhead Inverloch, Foster, Yarram, Hazelwood Pond, Korumburra and back to full-stop at Tooradin. The route is marked in red on the chart. I should mention that the compass may have been marvelously set for Columbia but could virtually be considered U/S for Gippsland. My assignment, if I chose to accept it despite the compass, was to fly that route and get us home before we ran out of fuel and options. Well, I thought, I have my watch so I can use that with the sun to help the navigation.

I'm a very lucky guy - I learnt to fly at Rangiora. Chart reading is a very important skill and it's well inculcated here. For that was all I had - no sooner had we taken off than the sun disappeared, and it stayed that way. I usually navigate by sighting the next waypoint and flying there - but Australia, as we all know, is far bigger than New Zealand, and those waypoints, that looked so close on the chart, were actually about thirty nautical miles apart, and under the low ceiling I had no hope of getting high enough to see them in the distance and through the haze. Maybe my 'direction bump' was working, for I did manage to find my way back on route after the one time I got off track. That happened when a pass I was to fly over got socked in and I had to fly around the end of the range and back to that mark. but I failed to draw the deviation onto the chart, so I made the wrong departure angle for the next leg. Fortunately, the error soon became clear.

Navigating our way around the south of Victoria took us about three hours at ninety knots, and gave me the chance to see something of the country. It was mainly green and lush, with quite a lot of surface water visible. Laurie told me that there has been much more than usual rainfall, with many roads and farms flooded. Ironically, the flooded region included the site of the new desalination plant that is being built to serve Melbourne. Apparently, if this wet spell were to continue, and the increased rainfall become typical, the desalination strategy could well become redundant!

The long trip was also a very helpful trial of the aircraft - three hours in the air gave plenty of time to become accustomed to its behaviour, and to experiment with the trim, altering the roll by selecting between the wing tanks, and finding out how much the throttle would change the attitude. Eventually I ended up thinking that maybe it was as good as JOR, in that the Ibis could also be persuaded to fly itself while you got on with your map reading, and keeping your log.

In truth, the Ibis is very nice to fly, with little if any adverse yaw, level in the stall, heavy enough in the yoke to discourage jerky control, amd smooth over the threshold, even in gusty landing conditions.

Characteristics

What makes the Ibis fly as well as it does? The high-lift wing gives it good short-field characteristics, of course, as well as a claimed full-flaps stall at 35 knots. But despite this it's also very comfortable at over 90 knots for just 4800 rpm on the fixed propeller setting. It seems that this is achieved by a number of provisions including the anti-vortex downturns at the trailing edge of the wingtips, and reflex 'neutral' settings of the flaps and ailerons. The aileron reflex also provides a differential aileron effect, which avoids adverse yaw, for the initial movement of the outer aileron decreases its drag while the inner aileron drag increases. The wings have no dihedral, but they appear to be set higher above the centre of mass than some other craft and so can depend to a greater degree on the pendulum effect rather than wing angle for their bank restoring couple. A disadvantage of the flat wing is that fuel cross-flow is unimpeded - resulting in large petrol patches on even an apparently level apron. The demonstrator plane had wing taps fitted, which we turned off during filling to avoid such spills, and we also used them to trim for roll on a long trip. It's my view, however, that flight-adjustable aileron trim would be a useful addition - the tanks extend quite far out the wing; this, combined with the high-geared controls, can mean a rather heavy hand is needed to maintain a level attitude if your tank switching is less than perfectly timed.

The fuel system includes a reserve tank in belly of the fuselage, under the cargo bay. The wing tanks (each with a sight tube in the wing root) both connect into the reserve tank, so they can safely be allowed to drain dry without compromising safety. The belly tank (seen here through the fuselage keel inspection hatch) has a fuel level sensor which triggers a flashing red light on the panel when you are down to reserve endurance. We thought the reserve sensor was set too sensitive on this plane, so we had 'low fuel' flashing at us most of the time. Later, when we looked at the fuel system on the second plane, still only partially assembled, we discovered that the vent pipe had a dip in it causing a vapour lock and that the fix merely required changing the pipe run and so would be trivial.

As part of my heavy weather circuit experience, I was also to find that you can dump the poor machine down quite hard without concern. It almost glues down to the ground - only once in the whole time did I make it bounce, and even then after that first bounce it stayed down firmly and showed no tendency at all to enter that sequence of increasing bounds that has so often characterised my landings. This was probably also a consequence of the unusually rearward placing of the mains. Fortunately, the nose gear is robust enough to accept the extra loads this design feature puts upon it.

Another consequence of the rearward placement of the mains is that flapless take-off requires very firm back pressure to achieve rotation. Applying some flap certainly helped. I didn't have the time to refine this and try the affect of a little more. The elevator could also be trimmed further up to make this transition easier, but then holding the nose down during the climb-out could become very hard work. As I got used to it, this all became less of a problem, and I'm sure that when I'm flying the Ibis regularly I'll soon get sorted out the right combination of trim and flap to make rotation and climb-out more than acceptably stress-free.

The handling in marginal conditions, for me at least, remained easily controllable, way beyond anything I would ever have considered attempting before. For example, when we returned from Gippsland we found that the wind had risen, absolutely at right angles to the main vector, so we landed on a small shingle cross strip (narrow and short) right by the fence at the east end of the field. We spent a half hour doing circuits there, coming down flapless, but still almost as steep as a gyro, the wind was so strong. But for all the wind strength and gusts over the marsh vegetation, still very controllable and forgiving, much nicer than I could possibly have anticipated.

The machine is all-metal, 705 lbs (the paperwork is clearly aimed at the USA market), +5/-3 G, cleared for Spins (slow deceleration), and according to the Pilot's Handbook has a best climb rate at 1254 lbs, of 835 fpm. The advertising claims 1000 fpm. Interesting, however, is that with 190kgs of crew and (only) 30kgs of fuel, we did see 1000 fpm on the dial climbing from sea level in about 7 Celsius air, at 70 knots (best rate of climb is noted as 65 mph - but the ASI is marked in knots - of course!). But then, we were helped by the cold weather (and yes, for New Zealand this plane would benefit from a heater - but at least its cabin is reasonably free of draughts).

More bad weather flying

The following day, Saturday 25 June, we planned to fly up to Echuca, where the Kruza gyro is built, look at the design of the latest model, then fly back to Mangalore where Sam le Bruna teaches in one, so that Laurie (who is also a gyro flyer) could experience this make. But weather intervened. From afar the ceiling was sufficiently high to get through the passes so we flew on, but as we passed Yea, heading up the Goulburn River, maybe fifteen minutes short of the sealed strip at Mangalore, the cloud quite suddenly dropped all around us, so we turned while we could still see and were still safely above the valley floor, and high-tailed it back home. Well, at least we got half-way to our destination.

By now I was starting to feel that this could very well be the machine for Bonita and I keep at NZRT, ready, with a few minor tweaks (read 'heater') for us to take touring when the mood hits us. I was already comfortable with the controls. Though they are firm, once trimmed out they actually need no pressure in the cruise, and very little in direction changes; I also found that pedal use had become automatic, perhaps because it was so minimal because of the differential ailerons.

Weather handling is good. The weather had been very lumpy, and while nowhere as smooth as a gyrocopter, at least the Ibis, in turbulence, was much more solid than the RANS S6. But until I could land it in heavy weather, both aligned and cross-wind, I wouldn't be ready to fly it safely, and Bonita and I are both adamant that the time to be certain you can pilot a machine is before you buy it, because it's our view now that it's a nonsense to be buying a machine in the hope that you will one day be able to fly it, and then find that 'one day' can be far more months away than you ever would have thought possible. So, part of finalising the purchase decision was being able to handle it in all the conditions required for a full rating.

Saturday afternoon, then, back at Tooradin, with low ceiling and heavy cross-wind, we got into some proper training, and spent an hour descending cross-wind up and down fences and ditches, crabbing, side-slipping, combining them, switching from one to the other, and generally working on these techniques with much more discipline than I had previously given them. Maybe I'd finally be able to do cross-wind take-offs and landings.

Professional testing

Sunday 26 June. We do a few early crosswind circuits, applying what we had simulated the previous day, then fly to Coldstream to meet an ATO who has promised to give me an independent view of the Ibis - another tick towards confirming this will be our plane. He climbs in with Laurie and they disappear from my view. A half an hour later they are back, do one final circuit, and full-stop. Laurie tells me he is amazed at what the ATO did with the Ibis, without going aerobatic, to test its stability.

Now, Laurie is no slouch. He is a full-time flyer with the Fire Service, fire-bombing, flying through smoke with tanks full of retardant, coping with the turbulence of bush-fire heat - basically doing a job like any ag-pilot, if you add a big dose of thermal updrafts, limited visibility, and the chance of being burnt alive. Thus, if Laurie (Commercial with Ag1 rating, and an RAA Senior Instructor), flying as he does, thought the ATO was doing clever things, they must have been really smart, and the verdict - that the Ibis is truly stable unless you do something deliberately stupid (as I understand it) - could absolutely be trusted. So, feeling even better about this machine, I climb in with Laurie and we head back to Tooradin. I look forward to working hard on flying technique tomorrow, Monday, then flying the plane back to its home at Coldstream on Tuesday morning.

Medical problems

But flying the machine back to its base was not for me. Physiology interfered. This is what happened:

Monday 27 June. We do two hours of circuits in heavy cross-winds, me sitting on a pillow for vastly improved visibility, and finally I was really getting it. Sharp corners, nice and square, straight sides, precise altitude and airspeed; straight, even finals; slew straight and drop the wing at round-out, and be pointed straight up the centre-line while flaring onto one wheel. Got it!

We call full-stop, taxi to the apron, switches off, I climb out - and the world turns upside down. I grab the door-frame and just hold myself from falling over. I feel fine. No tendency to do a technicolor yawn. I truly feel fine. If only they would keep the ground down and the sky up - I'd be as fine as I feel. I stand by the plane and try to look as though I'm nonchalantly leaning against it. Casual as all get-out. Yeah, right. I can't stand here for ever, clutching the plane like a Linus' blanket; all I need is to suck my thumb and everyone will know.

Fortunately the world gradually comes the right way up, until I look down at my feet - oops, upside-down again. Now there is a whole new set of skills to be learnt. Keep your eyes on the horizon, walk carefully, keep your head very steady.

And just maybe, forget about buying an aircraft.

I go by car back to Lilyfield to look at an Ibis kit, part-way through assembly, to get an idea of its internals. Bending to look in an inspection hatch is not such a good idea - switches off my internal gyro yet again. Eventually I recover and can release my panicked hold on the propeller.

Lying down would be a good idea, I think. Wrong! When I go to bed that night and lay my sleepy head down on the pillow, anti-gravity kicks in. I know that this is so, because the bed and room and all have just inverted but I haven't fallen - anti-gravity is the only explanation. Maybe I'll never be able to pilot without another aviator with me. Maybe I'll never be able to ski again. Maybe I'll never be able to fly circuits again. After all, circuits are just round-and-round, over and over again - but if I'm giddy from that will my medical be pulled? Or, to put it differently, should I disqualify myself?

I would prefer to fly on into the future, of course. There are so many gorgeous planes around, and still being designed, that just beg to be flown. Another that we saw in the warehouse in Lilydale is the Esqual, originally from Vol Mediterrani of Catalonia in Spain, but now produced in Belgium (Sint Truiden). This 912ULS-powered, slippery machine, is one of three currently available in Australasia (though there are more in use in Australia). The other two are still in their crates. Laurie Jones, who I was lucky to be able to fly with, test flew an Esqual back in 2003. He was really enthusiastic about it (http://www.ultraaviation.com.au/bundaberg.htm) - and I bet the later models are even better. If I were more in love with low-wings I think I'd be talking to Grant and going after this instead of the Ibis. Obviously I couldn't give you a flight report, but Laurie's opinion should carry more weight then mine! If you want a Kiwi assessment, someone else will have to go over and do that for us a little later, when the pictured one is ready. Any volunteers? See Grant at The Landing Spot to make your reservation!

Air New Zealand, bless them, don't usually fly circuits, and holding patterns at Harewood are reasonably rare, so when I put my feet down, back on good NZ soil, I was no in worse state than I was at Lilyfield, but I found that even my own bed couldn't be trusted any more - it wouldn't stay level either. I made an appointment to see my doctor. I didn't think I'd had a stroke (gee, I hoped not), but I had sure as hell suffered some bad vertigo. By the end of the week it seemed to be wearing off at last. Perhaps when I was getting checked out the whole problem would have gone away.

Maybe I should just fly less circuits! Or go off-circuit from time to time, and fly an equal number of opposite orbits, before returning to circuit.

Or else get used to being a Giddy Flyer.

But, for sure, if the Doc said 'Yes you can fly', I would be getting me an Ibis!

Epilogue

Now I'm back from the surgery, with a new medical in my hand - I can fly for another two years! I'm just on my way to place an order for an Ibis GS700! Watch this space!

Peter Collins

v7 25 July