Friday, December 28, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Tauranga in the Arrow
On Saturday myself and a couple of the lads ventured over to Tauranga in DQV, our Arrow. I hadn't flown for a month so went and did some circuits first, to make sure I was sharp, then by the time I got back they were there waiting for me.
We checked the weather again at ten, and it hadn't changed from the 7am weather - Tauranga's METAR was showing broken at 2500, forecast to increase to 3000 ft, with wind 040 @ 15 kt, although Hamilton was showing showers in the vicinity, which we could see to the north east, steadily moving south, so we decided to go while we still could. Some dodging of showers was required near Mt Ruru, then it was clear straight to the Kaimais. The gap was more than enough to fit over the hill, and we could see the Mount, so over we went, and got clearance straight to the city, and a short time later we were landing and taxiing round to the museum. We wandered in to the museum and had a look round, and since nobody asked us for money, it was nice and cheap :)
After a look round the museum we jumped back in the plane and shot back to Hamilton. Not much to report except for an average ground speed close to 160 kt. The good news was the whole trip was only 0.8, so it was nice and quick, not to mention cheap, and this is why I like going to Tauranga as it's far enough away (43nm) to get a good bit of speed up, but still quite a quick trip...
Anyway, enough from me, I think the lads enjoyed themselves and we returned the plane undamaged, so it's got to be a success aye!
We checked the weather again at ten, and it hadn't changed from the 7am weather - Tauranga's METAR was showing broken at 2500, forecast to increase to 3000 ft, with wind 040 @ 15 kt, although Hamilton was showing showers in the vicinity, which we could see to the north east, steadily moving south, so we decided to go while we still could. Some dodging of showers was required near Mt Ruru, then it was clear straight to the Kaimais. The gap was more than enough to fit over the hill, and we could see the Mount, so over we went, and got clearance straight to the city, and a short time later we were landing and taxiing round to the museum. We wandered in to the museum and had a look round, and since nobody asked us for money, it was nice and cheap :)
After a look round the museum we jumped back in the plane and shot back to Hamilton. Not much to report except for an average ground speed close to 160 kt. The good news was the whole trip was only 0.8, so it was nice and quick, not to mention cheap, and this is why I like going to Tauranga as it's far enough away (43nm) to get a good bit of speed up, but still quite a quick trip...
Anyway, enough from me, I think the lads enjoyed themselves and we returned the plane undamaged, so it's got to be a success aye!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Arrow Landing gear retraction
So *that* is what the gear retraction sequence looks like from the outside on an Arrow (a bit newer than the one I fly but it should be similar)
Aerial photography and camera gripes
This morning I went up in a 172 to do some aerial photography with my Canon DSLR and 70-300 lens. I left the lens hood at home as it's massive and would probably act as a big parachute in the airflow. I found that the window will stay open by itself, surprisingly, although putting your hand out to grab the window to shut the airflow feels like it's going to rip your arm off!!!
I also found that I wished I'd brought my Nikon 35mm SLR.. I wanted to keep the shutter speed up, and because the Canon is lacking the Nikon's high-speed program mode, I selected the widest aperture I could, which I then realised wasn't the best idea as that lens is quite soft when it's wide open. Oh well....
I also found that I wished I'd brought my Nikon 35mm SLR.. I wanted to keep the shutter speed up, and because the Canon is lacking the Nikon's high-speed program mode, I selected the widest aperture I could, which I then realised wasn't the best idea as that lens is quite soft when it's wide open. Oh well....
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Anyone see on TV last night...
On last night’s “I shouldn’t be alive” on TV, we had the story of an English guy studying wildlife in Zimbabwe. He sets off in a microlight to track some rhinos, and then while watching the rhinos and not flying the aeroplane, he gets into trouble.
When he described what happened next, all I could think was.. This guy shouldn’t be alive – he’s too stupid to live!!!
He said “I had what is known as a wing stall” (wingdrop for the rest of us). He then said “I pushed the rudder right in and pulled back – I did everything right but it wasn’t working”. And then he hit the ground. WTF????? This guy’s a frickin’ idiot!!!!
For anyone out there who hasn’t done stalling yet, when you get into a stall, DO NOT PULL BACK!!!!! This guy must have had no training before he got into a microlight, which makes him a dumbass, and if he had training, then it makes him a lying sack of shit to go on a documentary and tell us to pull back when the plane stalls. For people who are afraid of flying already, we don’t need to give them another misconception about flying – people hear enough bullshit about flying without this guy adding to it!
When he described what happened next, all I could think was.. This guy shouldn’t be alive – he’s too stupid to live!!!
He said “I had what is known as a wing stall” (wingdrop for the rest of us). He then said “I pushed the rudder right in and pulled back – I did everything right but it wasn’t working”. And then he hit the ground. WTF????? This guy’s a frickin’ idiot!!!!
For anyone out there who hasn’t done stalling yet, when you get into a stall, DO NOT PULL BACK!!!!! This guy must have had no training before he got into a microlight, which makes him a dumbass, and if he had training, then it makes him a lying sack of shit to go on a documentary and tell us to pull back when the plane stalls. For people who are afraid of flying already, we don’t need to give them another misconception about flying – people hear enough bullshit about flying without this guy adding to it!
Did Syria get hacked?
Apparently, rumours are spreading that in Israel's mysterious air raid against Syria in September, the reason the Israeli planes got through Syria's radar network is someone hacked into the network and shut it down for the duration of the attack... Click here for an article on this...
Friday, November 30, 2007
Bush's entourage
From Boingboing - a graphic showing President Bush's entourage when he flies somewhere:
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Bonsai Kittens
From Bonsai Kitten's website:
For centuries, people in the West have marveled at the delicate beauty produced by Oriental artists and sculptors. From gardening to tattooing to dance and martial arts, these craftsmen have enthralled us with complex forms and simplistic perfection. One of the most fascinating of the visual techniques to emerge from this highly cultured region is the Oriental art of miniature sculpture. Who has not been stricken with the expressive grace of Japanese Bonsai? Though once the sole province of Bonsai masters within Japan, Bonsai plants have been available to fortunate consumers throughout the world for some time. With this in mind, we are proud to now offer to you the animal complement of this art form; the Bonsai Kitten.
At only a few weeks of age, a kitten's bones have not yet hardened and become osseous. They are extremely soft and springy. In fact, if you take a week-old kitten and throw it to the floor, it will actually bounce! We do not recommend that you try this at home. The kitten may bounce under the furniture and be difficult to retrieve, as well as covered in unsightly household dust. However, the flexibility of the kitten's skeleton means that if the bones are gently warped at this early age, they can be molded into any desired shape. At Bonsai Kitten, we achieve this by placing the kitten into a rigid vessel soon after birth, and allowing the young cat to grow out its formative time entirely within this container. The kitten essentially grows into the shape of the vessel! Once the cat is fully developed, it is removed (or the vessel broken to remove it!), producing the lovable, furry pet you've always wanted, but it remains in the shape you've always dreamed of! There is virtually no limit to the eventual shape of your pet.
P.S. For those who haven't figured it out, no, these people are not being serious...
For centuries, people in the West have marveled at the delicate beauty produced by Oriental artists and sculptors. From gardening to tattooing to dance and martial arts, these craftsmen have enthralled us with complex forms and simplistic perfection. One of the most fascinating of the visual techniques to emerge from this highly cultured region is the Oriental art of miniature sculpture. Who has not been stricken with the expressive grace of Japanese Bonsai? Though once the sole province of Bonsai masters within Japan, Bonsai plants have been available to fortunate consumers throughout the world for some time. With this in mind, we are proud to now offer to you the animal complement of this art form; the Bonsai Kitten.
At only a few weeks of age, a kitten's bones have not yet hardened and become osseous. They are extremely soft and springy. In fact, if you take a week-old kitten and throw it to the floor, it will actually bounce! We do not recommend that you try this at home. The kitten may bounce under the furniture and be difficult to retrieve, as well as covered in unsightly household dust. However, the flexibility of the kitten's skeleton means that if the bones are gently warped at this early age, they can be molded into any desired shape. At Bonsai Kitten, we achieve this by placing the kitten into a rigid vessel soon after birth, and allowing the young cat to grow out its formative time entirely within this container. The kitten essentially grows into the shape of the vessel! Once the cat is fully developed, it is removed (or the vessel broken to remove it!), producing the lovable, furry pet you've always wanted, but it remains in the shape you've always dreamed of! There is virtually no limit to the eventual shape of your pet.
P.S. For those who haven't figured it out, no, these people are not being serious...
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Pauanui photos
Some random photos from Pauanui the other weekend for you all..
DQV parked at Pauanui (took longer to squeeze it into a gap than it did to fly there :0)
Houses / Hangars right on the airfield.. Woo hoo!
Yak-52 parked beside us
Follow the steps...
To the beach...
DQV parked at Pauanui (took longer to squeeze it into a gap than it did to fly there :0)
Houses / Hangars right on the airfield.. Woo hoo!
Yak-52 parked beside us
Follow the steps...
To the beach...
More photo from the other weekend
I have more photos to upload from the other weekend - some Harvards stopped at Hamilton after doing a display over Cambridge at Armistice 2007, so I snapped a few shots, plus some of a Mooney M20 I've seen at Hamilton before. Some Pauanui shots to come shortly
My set from Armistice itself is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dirtyolechris/sets/72157603286474432/
My set from Armistice itself is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dirtyolechris/sets/72157603286474432/
Monday, November 19, 2007
Photos from Saturday Morning
Just a couple of shots from my first flight on Saturday in a 172
Some old country church
A couple of Waikeria Prison. I had no idea it was so open - no wonder the bastards escape!!
Some old country church
A couple of Waikeria Prison. I had no idea it was so open - no wonder the bastards escape!!
Another fantastic day for flying...
When I did the bar on Friday night last week, one of the lads asked me if I wanted to come flying with him the next morning. Hell yeah! was the reply, and then he told me we had to meet at the club at 6:30 AM !!! I don't think I've ever been anywhere that early in my life :) Anyway, we piled into a 172 and went for a blast over some of the lakes and rivers south of Hamilton, which was just awesome! Cold, still air made for a very nice flight and a total lack of air traffic made our coming and going easier. Being in the plane with a very experienced pilot was good too... All in all, a fun flight, and we were back before 8am, which is about when I'm normally getting up on a Saturday....
And as if that wasn't fun enough, I already had the Arrow booked for the rest of the day. I needed a passenger, and since I haven't taken the old lady for a fly for a while, I went and grabbed her for the day. We hadn't been to Pauanui for ages, so I thought that might be a good place to go.
We had clearance to 2500 feet in the Hamilton area, so I climbed as high as I could under the cloud - 2000 feet. It was pretty bumpy at 2000, and the cloud was only a hundred feet or so above us, so I decided to try to climb over it when I could. Once we were clear of Hamilton airspace, class G went to 6500, so I was able to climb us up over the broken cloud. At 5500 we were well clear of the cloud and at the appropriate cruising level for northbound flight, and the air smoothed right out, as you'd expect. Nearing Paeroa there was a gap in the cloud and ahead what looked like 8/8 cloud everywhere, so we ducked down under it and went up the coast by Whangamata then around the corner to Pauanui. My landing was more than satisfactory, we parked up, pushed the aircraft back out of the way, and went off for lunch and a walk around the beach.
A while later we returned, started, and took off. Remembering the dire predictions of some people about taking an Arrow to Pauanui, I did a max performance takeoff, and with 2 POB and 2 hours gas, we used less than half Pauanui's 850 metre grass runway. I flew ahead in order to clear the circuit before turning right on track (I don't like non-standard turns at uncontrolled airfields). As we climbed, we saw that this time the solid looking cloud had moved southwest and it looked like we'd be going to have to stay below the clouds and endure a very bumpy flight home. I found a hole in the cloud shortly after, so we zig-zagged up through the gap and found ourselves at 4500 feet over seemingly endless beautiful puffy white clouds, and once again found perfectly smooth air. It wasn't quite 8/8, although it was close, however there were sufficient gaps to remain VFR. I could see the sea to the left and ground to my right, so we had plenty of options, and boy was it good to escape the usual scud running I'm inclined to indulge in. Sorry there are no photos, I was that awestruck I forgot to get the camera out :)
Just like on the trip over, I had my chart out and course plotted, I had set the bug on the DI, plus we had the moving map on the GPS as a backup to both, so I felt relaxed and confident. The clouds were just gorgeous, maybe moreso because we were above and beside them, and the aircraft was quiet, smooth and fast. Wow!
Coming near to the zone we descended and got the crap beaten out of us as we came close to the airport, and after being made to come in the long way we finally landed and taxiied back. I then had to get gas which of course meant doing a hot start, which I am pleased to say I managed much better than I did last time.. And we just had to put the aircraft away and we were done. Nice!!!!
I wish all flying trips worked out that well!!!
And as if that wasn't fun enough, I already had the Arrow booked for the rest of the day. I needed a passenger, and since I haven't taken the old lady for a fly for a while, I went and grabbed her for the day. We hadn't been to Pauanui for ages, so I thought that might be a good place to go.
We had clearance to 2500 feet in the Hamilton area, so I climbed as high as I could under the cloud - 2000 feet. It was pretty bumpy at 2000, and the cloud was only a hundred feet or so above us, so I decided to try to climb over it when I could. Once we were clear of Hamilton airspace, class G went to 6500, so I was able to climb us up over the broken cloud. At 5500 we were well clear of the cloud and at the appropriate cruising level for northbound flight, and the air smoothed right out, as you'd expect. Nearing Paeroa there was a gap in the cloud and ahead what looked like 8/8 cloud everywhere, so we ducked down under it and went up the coast by Whangamata then around the corner to Pauanui. My landing was more than satisfactory, we parked up, pushed the aircraft back out of the way, and went off for lunch and a walk around the beach.
A while later we returned, started, and took off. Remembering the dire predictions of some people about taking an Arrow to Pauanui, I did a max performance takeoff, and with 2 POB and 2 hours gas, we used less than half Pauanui's 850 metre grass runway. I flew ahead in order to clear the circuit before turning right on track (I don't like non-standard turns at uncontrolled airfields). As we climbed, we saw that this time the solid looking cloud had moved southwest and it looked like we'd be going to have to stay below the clouds and endure a very bumpy flight home. I found a hole in the cloud shortly after, so we zig-zagged up through the gap and found ourselves at 4500 feet over seemingly endless beautiful puffy white clouds, and once again found perfectly smooth air. It wasn't quite 8/8, although it was close, however there were sufficient gaps to remain VFR. I could see the sea to the left and ground to my right, so we had plenty of options, and boy was it good to escape the usual scud running I'm inclined to indulge in. Sorry there are no photos, I was that awestruck I forgot to get the camera out :)
Just like on the trip over, I had my chart out and course plotted, I had set the bug on the DI, plus we had the moving map on the GPS as a backup to both, so I felt relaxed and confident. The clouds were just gorgeous, maybe moreso because we were above and beside them, and the aircraft was quiet, smooth and fast. Wow!
Coming near to the zone we descended and got the crap beaten out of us as we came close to the airport, and after being made to come in the long way we finally landed and taxiied back. I then had to get gas which of course meant doing a hot start, which I am pleased to say I managed much better than I did last time.. And we just had to put the aircraft away and we were done. Nice!!!!
I wish all flying trips worked out that well!!!
Friday, November 9, 2007
Some recent photos
Sorry I've been quiet guys, haven't really had a lot to blog about, so I thought I should post some photos I took recently at the club, including WAM in it's new colours. All shot using my TLR on Velvia 50, which makes them very hard to scan..
Monday, October 15, 2007
ATR crash video
On this page here is a rather startling video of a SAS ATR landing with a gear problem. Glad I wasn't on that plane!!
Friday, October 12, 2007
The TRUE story of Laika, the first person in space
At the end of this month is the 60th anniversary of the first person in space. I say 'person' because dogs are people too. This is her story:
http://www.novareinna.com/bridge/laika.html
http://www.novareinna.com/bridge/laika.html
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
I know this is nothing to do with flying but...
I am so damn happy with my Rolleicord medium format camera, that I decided to run an informal test between it and one of my digital SLRs (Canon 350D). The photo I pulled up for the test is very similar to one I shot with the Rollei last week, so will be a good test. Details of the cameras are:
Canon 350D, 8MP, shot in RAW, 17-85mm lens, with the saturation cranked up (as I used to like it), sharpened as much as possible, probably over-sharpened, but it's too late now :)
Rolleicord III, 75mm Schneider-Kreutznach Xenar taking lens, Kodak Portra 160VC medium format film, 6x6 frame scanned at 3200dpi on an Epson Perfection 4490 flatbed scanner as a JPG, lightly sharpened, saturation increased to match the digital. A drum or Imacon would pull far more information out while reducing the grain substantially, as my scanner is really only producing noise, it's not really getting down to the grain like the photo would suggest.
I've matched the zooms as close as possible, bearing in mind the Canon photo is at 100% magnification and the Rollei image is at about 30% due to it's massive dimensions, and taken a screenshot. You will need to look at the full size to appreciate just how utterly mind blowingly sharp the Xenar lens is on the Rollei!!! Bear in mind my scanner is pretty average compared to an Imacon, and from all accounts a medium format drum scan is the equivalent of over 100 megapixels, and don't get me started on 4"x5" or 8"x10" - imagine that, a negative the size of a piece of A4 paper :-)
I also see that besides being far far sharper, it also has much more natural colours, esp. the red, on the digital it's sort of a yucky orange-red.
Here is the screengrab of the comparison of the two images.
Canon 350D, 8MP, shot in RAW, 17-85mm lens, with the saturation cranked up (as I used to like it), sharpened as much as possible, probably over-sharpened, but it's too late now :)
Rolleicord III, 75mm Schneider-Kreutznach Xenar taking lens, Kodak Portra 160VC medium format film, 6x6 frame scanned at 3200dpi on an Epson Perfection 4490 flatbed scanner as a JPG, lightly sharpened, saturation increased to match the digital. A drum or Imacon would pull far more information out while reducing the grain substantially, as my scanner is really only producing noise, it's not really getting down to the grain like the photo would suggest.
I've matched the zooms as close as possible, bearing in mind the Canon photo is at 100% magnification and the Rollei image is at about 30% due to it's massive dimensions, and taken a screenshot. You will need to look at the full size to appreciate just how utterly mind blowingly sharp the Xenar lens is on the Rollei!!! Bear in mind my scanner is pretty average compared to an Imacon, and from all accounts a medium format drum scan is the equivalent of over 100 megapixels, and don't get me started on 4"x5" or 8"x10" - imagine that, a negative the size of a piece of A4 paper :-)
I also see that besides being far far sharper, it also has much more natural colours, esp. the red, on the digital it's sort of a yucky orange-red.
Here is the screengrab of the comparison of the two images.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Missing photos from Thames trip
I got my first roll of Velvia 50 back and there are the photos from the Thames trip I was waiting for. Damn I love that film!!!!
Preparing to leave
Hamilton from the air
Ardmore from downwind
Turning finals, Ardmore
Long finals at Ardmore
Parked up at Ardmore
Auckland Aero Club - that white dot is a plane in the circuit, not a speck on the film :-)
Cessna 180 @ Thames - plus sprockets and labels on the film, just to prove it is shot on Velvia :-)
Something large and yellow at Thames
Departing Thames ontrack Hamilton
Euan flying us home...
Preparing to leave
Hamilton from the air
Ardmore from downwind
Turning finals, Ardmore
Long finals at Ardmore
Parked up at Ardmore
Auckland Aero Club - that white dot is a plane in the circuit, not a speck on the film :-)
Cessna 180 @ Thames - plus sprockets and labels on the film, just to prove it is shot on Velvia :-)
Something large and yellow at Thames
Departing Thames ontrack Hamilton
Euan flying us home...
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
From today's NZ Herald
In 1943 Mass Transportation magazine offered an article titled Tips on Getting More Efficiency Out of Women Employees to its readers, including:
1. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.
2. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.
3. Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they'll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous proprietors say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.
4. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.
5. Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can't shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.
6. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl's husband or father may swear vociferously, she'll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.
7. Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed too much in keeping women happy.
1. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.
2. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.
3. Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they'll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous proprietors say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.
4. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.
5. Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can't shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.
6. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl's husband or father may swear vociferously, she'll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.
7. Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed too much in keeping women happy.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Just a little flight...
I wasn't planning on going flying last weekend, but after a few texts back and forth, they convinced me to come flying with them. Them being Euan and Aaron. I won't recount the whole flight when Euan has done so well with it on his blog, and I also won't post most of the photos I took, mainly because they're shot on slide film which is away getting developed, dammit!! Here's a couple of the the ones I did using print film, and I'll post the shots I took using the much sought-after Velvia 50 when they come back (if they're any good)
JGP's panel
Euan flying
Just an aerial shot...
Another aerial shot...
And a tight crop to let me brag about how good my rangefinder's lens is :-)
JGP's panel
Euan flying
Just an aerial shot...
Another aerial shot...
And a tight crop to let me brag about how good my rangefinder's lens is :-)
Crescent
Well folks, I've been quiet lately it seems.. And now with Phil Rossi graciously leaving a comment on my blog, I realised... Gosh, I haven't plugged Crescent here yet!! I have told everyone about it, but I need to put something here as well..
What's Crescent?? It's a kick-ass podcast novel, a sci-fi horror, gory and gruesome, and a hell of a lot of fun!! I can't wait for my fix each week :)
Here's the link to the website for Crescent, I really recommend you all go and have a listen to the first chapter - you'll love it!
http://www.crescentstation.net/
What's Crescent?? It's a kick-ass podcast novel, a sci-fi horror, gory and gruesome, and a hell of a lot of fun!! I can't wait for my fix each week :)
Here's the link to the website for Crescent, I really recommend you all go and have a listen to the first chapter - you'll love it!
http://www.crescentstation.net/
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
My first night flight..
After talking about it for five years or so I’ve finally started my night rating. I don’t know if I’ll get it done by the time summer arrives but at least I’m having a bit of a go at it, and it’s something different!
Several of us turned up last night for a mass briefing, then one by one flew with an instructor on our first night flights. One person opted for a 172, the others and myself decided we’d take an Archer. Problem was, the landing light on the Archer was unserviceable, so when it came time for me to go – 8:30PM last night, we took the 172.
I have only been flying at night on Flight Sim, so it was a huge shock for me to get up over the city and find that, yep, it looks exactly like it does on Flight Sim!! A web of yellowy dots and that’s a city!! Fantastic!!!! The whole experience is different, from flying with panel lights to seeing your landing light in the sky in front of you.. Awesome experience!
Now some details:
The whole thing of taxiing at night takes some getting used to, especially as we don’t have a sealed taxiway on our side of the airport. So we taxi through the grass hoping to avoid bogging down. Then we line up and go, and it’s straight onto the instruments. In my case the turn coordinator is not working in that plane, so it’s onto the AH and away we go.. I didn’t have too many issues last night as I’m happy flying on instruments, and there was a little horizon we could see so no worries. For the first 15 mins or so we flew over town, I flew over what I thought was my house, and then we went out and did some exercises, including steep turns while looking at the blackness, and found I pulled back way too hard! Have to work on that next time.
We then went back and did some circuits, and I found I was way high on base leg then after going down fast, we were too low on finals. Also something to work on. My landings weren’t too bad, considering it was might first night flight, and I didn’t break the plane!!
On my second circuit, as we were climbing out, the artificial horizon started a slight bank on it’s own for a few seconds and then, WHAM, just fell over to about 60 degrees angle of bank and sat there. My instructor saw it at the same time as I did and pointed out we’d just lost our AH. Bearing in mind the turn coordinator was also not operational, and we were climbing out at 9PM at night, pointing away from the lights of town, with no turn coordinator and no AH. Yay!
We were able to pick out enough horizon to allow us to continue, and I flew the rest of the circuit and landed, unfortunately having to cut the lesson short, but it was fun all right!!!
It then occurred to me that they talked at length about having a torch and to use it immediately if you have lights or electrical failure, but there was no mention of what to do if the instruments aren’t worth looking at!!
Anyway, a good fun lesson, a bit of drama, and I hope they fix both planes soon!!!
Several of us turned up last night for a mass briefing, then one by one flew with an instructor on our first night flights. One person opted for a 172, the others and myself decided we’d take an Archer. Problem was, the landing light on the Archer was unserviceable, so when it came time for me to go – 8:30PM last night, we took the 172.
I have only been flying at night on Flight Sim, so it was a huge shock for me to get up over the city and find that, yep, it looks exactly like it does on Flight Sim!! A web of yellowy dots and that’s a city!! Fantastic!!!! The whole experience is different, from flying with panel lights to seeing your landing light in the sky in front of you.. Awesome experience!
Now some details:
The whole thing of taxiing at night takes some getting used to, especially as we don’t have a sealed taxiway on our side of the airport. So we taxi through the grass hoping to avoid bogging down. Then we line up and go, and it’s straight onto the instruments. In my case the turn coordinator is not working in that plane, so it’s onto the AH and away we go.. I didn’t have too many issues last night as I’m happy flying on instruments, and there was a little horizon we could see so no worries. For the first 15 mins or so we flew over town, I flew over what I thought was my house, and then we went out and did some exercises, including steep turns while looking at the blackness, and found I pulled back way too hard! Have to work on that next time.
We then went back and did some circuits, and I found I was way high on base leg then after going down fast, we were too low on finals. Also something to work on. My landings weren’t too bad, considering it was might first night flight, and I didn’t break the plane!!
On my second circuit, as we were climbing out, the artificial horizon started a slight bank on it’s own for a few seconds and then, WHAM, just fell over to about 60 degrees angle of bank and sat there. My instructor saw it at the same time as I did and pointed out we’d just lost our AH. Bearing in mind the turn coordinator was also not operational, and we were climbing out at 9PM at night, pointing away from the lights of town, with no turn coordinator and no AH. Yay!
We were able to pick out enough horizon to allow us to continue, and I flew the rest of the circuit and landed, unfortunately having to cut the lesson short, but it was fun all right!!!
It then occurred to me that they talked at length about having a torch and to use it immediately if you have lights or electrical failure, but there was no mention of what to do if the instruments aren’t worth looking at!!
Anyway, a good fun lesson, a bit of drama, and I hope they fix both planes soon!!!
Monday, July 16, 2007
A fantastic aviation short film
I heard about this in one of the many podcasts I subscribe to.. It's a 10 minute short film about breaking the sound barrier, and it's damn fantastic. Just bear in mind when you watch this that 1) it's made in Ireland. 2) you tell me which bits are CGI, and 3) ALL the CGI shots were designed and rendered by the one bloke who made the movie. And he did it out of his own pocket as well, no government grants here!
Have a look here and see for yourself...
Have a look here and see for yourself...
Friday, July 13, 2007
Some rules to remember
I was listening to this week's episode of The Finer Points, an excellent flying podcast, and I thought it was worth sharing what he said.
His first rule was regarding deciding what altitude to fly a trip at, and he reckons you should use a maximum of 1000 feet of altitude for every ten minutes of flight. So for my usual trip to Tauranga of 25 mins, we're looking at 2500ft. Whakatane at 50 mins would be 5000 ft. This all sounds logical and commonsense to me..
His second rule is more a rule of thumb, I guess. This is something that I've forgotten, that's if I ever knew this. He says True Airspeed increases over IAS by 2% every 1000 ft. We were doing 125kt indicated in the Arrow the other day at 5500ft and the GPS and DME both read 137, which is bang on, at least according to my feeble maths skills..
His first rule was regarding deciding what altitude to fly a trip at, and he reckons you should use a maximum of 1000 feet of altitude for every ten minutes of flight. So for my usual trip to Tauranga of 25 mins, we're looking at 2500ft. Whakatane at 50 mins would be 5000 ft. This all sounds logical and commonsense to me..
His second rule is more a rule of thumb, I guess. This is something that I've forgotten, that's if I ever knew this. He says True Airspeed increases over IAS by 2% every 1000 ft. We were doing 125kt indicated in the Arrow the other day at 5500ft and the GPS and DME both read 137, which is bang on, at least according to my feeble maths skills..
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Some videos you might enjoy...
Yeah, I know the first couple of videos aren't flying related, but they're that awesome I just had to share them...
1158HP Skyline on a dyno - just listen to the sound - OMG!!
The tunnel of death - a good reason not to drive in Russia!!!
And a couple of flying videos to keep you all happy...
A very very close call in a Yak 3
First time in a jet...
1158HP Skyline on a dyno - just listen to the sound - OMG!!
The tunnel of death - a good reason not to drive in Russia!!!
And a couple of flying videos to keep you all happy...
A very very close call in a Yak 3
First time in a jet...
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Hawkes Bay for the day..
At the AGM on Tuesday, Aaron asked me if I wanted to come with him on a trip to the Hawke's Bay on Thursday in DQV. I was dubious because it didn't give me much time to arrange time off work, but I asked my boss who very kindly gave me the day off. Thursday rolled round and the weather didn't look too bad, so off we went. I was a bit dismayed that Aaron wanted to go at 7:45am, not being an early riser and all that, but since there's not many hours of daylight this time of year I agreed..
We got the aircraft out and got going, and we realised that although the day was quite dismal, the high cloud was much higher than it looked, and as we climbed up we easily made it to 6000 feet, and trucked along nicely, all the way to Napier. To my delight the horizon was lit up with a fantastic sunrise. My only bummer was my GPS wouldn't acquire any satellites, so I made a note to drop it in to Ham Avionics when I got back.
Our trip to Hastings was so smooth it was almost scary - much smoother than any flight I can remember for a long long time. I've only been to Napier once and it was ugly weather, this time we were nice and high, and I got some nice pics on the way. We descended and arrived at Hastings, and Aaron did an excellent landing. We parked up and our ride arrived, and off we went into town. At this point Aaron had work to do, and I wanted to have a look around town, so I grabbed my camera and headed off.
Aaron suggested I might want to go for a fly, and after a couple of hours mucking round town I was ready to go flying, so I shot off back to the airport, and had a look at the chart and VFG to get myself familiar with the area. As per Aaron's suggestion, I took off out of Hastings and headed east. Using the DME to ensure I remained clear of Napier airspace, I flew round Te Mata, then out to Cape Kidnappers which I flew round at 2200 feet to stay above the 2000ft high restricted area. I then requested and was granted clearance into Napier airspace. I flew over Napier city and did a couple of orbits, then did a touch and go at Napier airport before heading back to Hastings, did an overhead join and landed. Wind was calm so I picked the runway that would allow me to roll out and not have to brake hard or backtrack to taxi off, and after the best damn landing I think I've ever done, which of course no bastard was watching, I taxied back and parked up. A wonderful little experience, and I now have much more of an idea about the geography of the area. I also am much more relaxed about flying around there now I have the lay of the land. Shortly afterwards, Aaron txted me and asked how much fuel was in the aircraft, and after checking, I thought 90 litres was cutting it a bit fine, so I went and filled it up, and as I was doing that Aaron arrived.
Shortly after 3pm we took off, and headed back to Hamilton. This was another wonderful smooth, fast flight, the aircraft went beautifully, but I wish the heater didn't just cook your feet - as copilot I was in charge of the heater and spent the flight adjusting it to and fro, as we'd go from cook to freeze and back again.. When we arrived at Hamilton we were told to hold at Mystery Creek as there were 5 in the circuit, and I counted six orbits by the time we got clearance to descend and join. Shortly afterwards we were all instructed to land and get clear as there was an ATR in trouble on approach. We parked the plane and ran back to the runway with probably everyone else on the airfield, only to watch the aircraft in question land normally. The paper today mentioned something about hydraulic problems, but it looked fine to me!!
I ran over to Ham Aero with my GPS, and managed to catch them before they went home. They had a look at it and pronounced it had probably lost it's almanac due to not being used for a few weeks, and I remembered the batteries had been flat after using it last time. I didn't realise they can lose their almanac but now I do, and if this happens, I know all I have to do is choose New Location->Automatic, and leave it by the window for half an hour and it will pick up the local satellites. Much relief was to be had when it started working again!!!
Thanks to Aaron and my manager at work who let me take time off at such short notice, I had an absolutely fantastic day. I was just thrilled how it worked out, and I managed to take lots of photos and videos, my favourites are all on a flickr set. A couple of the good ones are here, but by all means go and check out the set. Most of these photos and videos were shot using a Canon A570 IS
Sunrise over a sea of fog, somewhere near Taupo I think
Some snowy looking mountains - no idea what they're called, sorry
160kt IAS - yeah!!
Taupo Racetrack
Napier city
Taking off at Hamilton
Landing at Hastings
Landing at Hamilton
Flying round Te Mata peak - at least I think it was Te Mata, I kinda just headed east for the rockiest looking hill I could find :-)
We got the aircraft out and got going, and we realised that although the day was quite dismal, the high cloud was much higher than it looked, and as we climbed up we easily made it to 6000 feet, and trucked along nicely, all the way to Napier. To my delight the horizon was lit up with a fantastic sunrise. My only bummer was my GPS wouldn't acquire any satellites, so I made a note to drop it in to Ham Avionics when I got back.
Our trip to Hastings was so smooth it was almost scary - much smoother than any flight I can remember for a long long time. I've only been to Napier once and it was ugly weather, this time we were nice and high, and I got some nice pics on the way. We descended and arrived at Hastings, and Aaron did an excellent landing. We parked up and our ride arrived, and off we went into town. At this point Aaron had work to do, and I wanted to have a look around town, so I grabbed my camera and headed off.
Aaron suggested I might want to go for a fly, and after a couple of hours mucking round town I was ready to go flying, so I shot off back to the airport, and had a look at the chart and VFG to get myself familiar with the area. As per Aaron's suggestion, I took off out of Hastings and headed east. Using the DME to ensure I remained clear of Napier airspace, I flew round Te Mata, then out to Cape Kidnappers which I flew round at 2200 feet to stay above the 2000ft high restricted area. I then requested and was granted clearance into Napier airspace. I flew over Napier city and did a couple of orbits, then did a touch and go at Napier airport before heading back to Hastings, did an overhead join and landed. Wind was calm so I picked the runway that would allow me to roll out and not have to brake hard or backtrack to taxi off, and after the best damn landing I think I've ever done, which of course no bastard was watching, I taxied back and parked up. A wonderful little experience, and I now have much more of an idea about the geography of the area. I also am much more relaxed about flying around there now I have the lay of the land. Shortly afterwards, Aaron txted me and asked how much fuel was in the aircraft, and after checking, I thought 90 litres was cutting it a bit fine, so I went and filled it up, and as I was doing that Aaron arrived.
Shortly after 3pm we took off, and headed back to Hamilton. This was another wonderful smooth, fast flight, the aircraft went beautifully, but I wish the heater didn't just cook your feet - as copilot I was in charge of the heater and spent the flight adjusting it to and fro, as we'd go from cook to freeze and back again.. When we arrived at Hamilton we were told to hold at Mystery Creek as there were 5 in the circuit, and I counted six orbits by the time we got clearance to descend and join. Shortly afterwards we were all instructed to land and get clear as there was an ATR in trouble on approach. We parked the plane and ran back to the runway with probably everyone else on the airfield, only to watch the aircraft in question land normally. The paper today mentioned something about hydraulic problems, but it looked fine to me!!
I ran over to Ham Aero with my GPS, and managed to catch them before they went home. They had a look at it and pronounced it had probably lost it's almanac due to not being used for a few weeks, and I remembered the batteries had been flat after using it last time. I didn't realise they can lose their almanac but now I do, and if this happens, I know all I have to do is choose New Location->Automatic, and leave it by the window for half an hour and it will pick up the local satellites. Much relief was to be had when it started working again!!!
Thanks to Aaron and my manager at work who let me take time off at such short notice, I had an absolutely fantastic day. I was just thrilled how it worked out, and I managed to take lots of photos and videos, my favourites are all on a flickr set. A couple of the good ones are here, but by all means go and check out the set. Most of these photos and videos were shot using a Canon A570 IS
Sunrise over a sea of fog, somewhere near Taupo I think
Some snowy looking mountains - no idea what they're called, sorry
160kt IAS - yeah!!
Taupo Racetrack
Napier city
Taking off at Hamilton
Landing at Hastings
Landing at Hamilton
Flying round Te Mata peak - at least I think it was Te Mata, I kinda just headed east for the rockiest looking hill I could find :-)
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Tom Cruise's P-51
I didn't know Tom Cruise owns a P-51, but here is a photo of it. Whatever I might think of him, anyone who flies a Mustang can't be all that bad, right?? :-)
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Mac vs PC with a twist.
Yeah, I know, I am one of those odd types who uses a Mac. The rest of the world thinks we're a bit funny in the head, I think, but I sure love my Mac. And I love to see when the Mac kicks the PC's ass.
Only, in this article, it's a 1986 Mac Plus versus a 2007 Windows XP box. You'll never guess who wins!!
Makes me want a classic Mac so badly right now it's not funny :-)
Only, in this article, it's a 1986 Mac Plus versus a 2007 Windows XP box. You'll never guess who wins!!
Makes me want a classic Mac so badly right now it's not funny :-)
Accidental gear up landing in a 182
This was apparently on a flight test or some such. I wonder if he passed?
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
White Island trip.. boy oh boy!
Well, Sunday dawned nice and fine, and hopes were high for a fantastic club trip to White Island, how were we to know how it was going to turn out??!!
Purely by chance I ended up in a plane with Euan and a couple of others in a very arse-heavy JGP, unfortunately for us the chap sitting to my left was a non-flyer who unbeknowns to us suffered from motion sickness. This did not become apparent until the very rough air on the way to Whakatane smoothed out, and less than one minute from landing this turkey blew chunks everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. I discovered then that the difference between a pilot and a non-pilot is that when a pilot is sick in a plane he moves the microphone out of the way first!!
After landing at Whakatane, we were overcome by the smell, and cleaning the aircraft was the first order of business. Unfortunately, thanks to the smell, neither Euan or myself felt well enough to attempt to fly the "Vomit Comet" out to a forecast-severe turbulent White Island, so we ended up staying while the others flew out, in an attempt to rid the plane of the guy's lunch. Not that I remember him helping us much, mind you.
By the time the others returned, we were feeling better and the Comet was much nicer to stick your head in. Soon after that we had to leave to make it home in time, so several old Air NZ magazines on the back seat and many sprays of the deodorant we thieved from the mens room at the terminal later, we headed off, myself PIC this time.
On a whim, almost, I decided that having never travelled in controlled airspace except for airfield control zones, this would be a perfect time to try it out, and once again, thanks to Aaron, I was armed with everything I needed to get back at 5500 feet through controlled airspace, which may or may not explain why the trip home was smoother. Thanks to a howling tail wind, were were averaging 150kt ground speed in the cruise while only showing 115kt indicated!!
Here's a video of Euan's takeoff and a couple of photos I took on the day...
Purely by chance I ended up in a plane with Euan and a couple of others in a very arse-heavy JGP, unfortunately for us the chap sitting to my left was a non-flyer who unbeknowns to us suffered from motion sickness. This did not become apparent until the very rough air on the way to Whakatane smoothed out, and less than one minute from landing this turkey blew chunks everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. I discovered then that the difference between a pilot and a non-pilot is that when a pilot is sick in a plane he moves the microphone out of the way first!!
After landing at Whakatane, we were overcome by the smell, and cleaning the aircraft was the first order of business. Unfortunately, thanks to the smell, neither Euan or myself felt well enough to attempt to fly the "Vomit Comet" out to a forecast-severe turbulent White Island, so we ended up staying while the others flew out, in an attempt to rid the plane of the guy's lunch. Not that I remember him helping us much, mind you.
By the time the others returned, we were feeling better and the Comet was much nicer to stick your head in. Soon after that we had to leave to make it home in time, so several old Air NZ magazines on the back seat and many sprays of the deodorant we thieved from the mens room at the terminal later, we headed off, myself PIC this time.
On a whim, almost, I decided that having never travelled in controlled airspace except for airfield control zones, this would be a perfect time to try it out, and once again, thanks to Aaron, I was armed with everything I needed to get back at 5500 feet through controlled airspace, which may or may not explain why the trip home was smoother. Thanks to a howling tail wind, were were averaging 150kt ground speed in the cruise while only showing 115kt indicated!!
Here's a video of Euan's takeoff and a couple of photos I took on the day...
Saturday, June 16, 2007
DQV to NZMA - Again!
Well, I wasn't going to go flying this morning, but Euan rang, and the weather was good... And before long I was out at the aero club. There was a slight scheduling conflict so the only aircraft free turned out to be DQV:
Last weekend's Matamata trip was quite enjoyable, so I thought that would be a nice place to go to... This was the takeoff at Hamilton - see, I have improved!!
And this was my landing at Matamata:
And while we were there, we saw a couple of meatbombs have a bit of a nasty landing - big time faceplant! They were both fine though...
Oh, and this has nothing to do with flying but is quite cool nonetheless - a test of a truck going 55 mph into a barrier - ouch!
Last weekend's Matamata trip was quite enjoyable, so I thought that would be a nice place to go to... This was the takeoff at Hamilton - see, I have improved!!
And this was my landing at Matamata:
And while we were there, we saw a couple of meatbombs have a bit of a nasty landing - big time faceplant! They were both fine though...
Oh, and this has nothing to do with flying but is quite cool nonetheless - a test of a truck going 55 mph into a barrier - ouch!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
DQV to NZMA
I had booked the Arrow for the whole of last weekend to go to Tauranga and possibly take my friend over there flying. Turned out, though, that the weather had other ideas. The forecast for Sunday progressively deteriorated, and I decided in the end to just do my Matamata trip on Saturday to check on my friend’s glider trailer, and that would give me a good reason to take DQV for a short hop. One of the club members who was hanging around when I got there came with me, and we went and extracted the plane from the hangar. I must remember next time to try and do my pre-flight on a hard surface – the knees get quite muddy from crawling underneath to check on the landing gear :-)
After pre-flighting we got in and taxied out and did a run-up, then we got clearance to backtrack and line up on the sealed runway. As we were rolling for takeoff, I took Aaron’s advice and began raising the nose as I do in a Cessna, rather than the way I’ve gotten used to in Pipers, which is to wait until about 60 before raising the nose. The problem I found with doing that in the Arrow is the nose seems incredibly heavy and I end up wrenching the thing off the ground. This time I began pulling back from probably 40kt and found that although the nose is still heavy, it’s much more manageable and you can get the nose to start coming up so when it gets to the speed it’s happy to fly at, we’re away. Thanks Aaron!!!
When we got to Matamata we did an overhead join and found there was a glider operating off runway 22, and I wasn’t keen to land anywhere near him, so I checked out runway 28, which had a bit of crosswind, and I decided that not only would it be good to get crosswind practise in the Arrow, but using 28 kept me away from the gliders, and put me closer to the part of the airfield I wanted to go to. So I joined for 28, and found the crosswind not too bad. I did my normal Arrow landing which involved bleeding power off in the roundout and flare, until you touch down as the power is brought back to idle. In this case I still had a smidgen of power on, and that made for a super smooth touchdown.
After checking out the trailer we wandered back to the plane and took off, once again trying to raise the nose as the airspeed built up, which was once again a great success, and once airborne we headed back to Hamilton. I was given a South arrival, which basically entailed flying south in order to fly north, and in we went, with a clearance on the seal, which I am getting more used to. Once again I bled the power off as we flared which made for a nice soft landing, and off back to the hangars we went.
A good way to waste an hour, and yet more proof that flying is a way to convert large amounts of money into small amounts of forward thrust!
And if anyone decides they want to fly to Matamata and can’t find it when they get there, a really good way I have only just clicked to, is to look for where the main road and railway from Matamata part company. Exactly the point they diverge is where you’ll find the airfield.
After pre-flighting we got in and taxied out and did a run-up, then we got clearance to backtrack and line up on the sealed runway. As we were rolling for takeoff, I took Aaron’s advice and began raising the nose as I do in a Cessna, rather than the way I’ve gotten used to in Pipers, which is to wait until about 60 before raising the nose. The problem I found with doing that in the Arrow is the nose seems incredibly heavy and I end up wrenching the thing off the ground. This time I began pulling back from probably 40kt and found that although the nose is still heavy, it’s much more manageable and you can get the nose to start coming up so when it gets to the speed it’s happy to fly at, we’re away. Thanks Aaron!!!
When we got to Matamata we did an overhead join and found there was a glider operating off runway 22, and I wasn’t keen to land anywhere near him, so I checked out runway 28, which had a bit of crosswind, and I decided that not only would it be good to get crosswind practise in the Arrow, but using 28 kept me away from the gliders, and put me closer to the part of the airfield I wanted to go to. So I joined for 28, and found the crosswind not too bad. I did my normal Arrow landing which involved bleeding power off in the roundout and flare, until you touch down as the power is brought back to idle. In this case I still had a smidgen of power on, and that made for a super smooth touchdown.
After checking out the trailer we wandered back to the plane and took off, once again trying to raise the nose as the airspeed built up, which was once again a great success, and once airborne we headed back to Hamilton. I was given a South arrival, which basically entailed flying south in order to fly north, and in we went, with a clearance on the seal, which I am getting more used to. Once again I bled the power off as we flared which made for a nice soft landing, and off back to the hangars we went.
A good way to waste an hour, and yet more proof that flying is a way to convert large amounts of money into small amounts of forward thrust!
And if anyone decides they want to fly to Matamata and can’t find it when they get there, a really good way I have only just clicked to, is to look for where the main road and railway from Matamata part company. Exactly the point they diverge is where you’ll find the airfield.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Our weather forecasters are doing well...
According to the NZ Herald, our weather forecasts in New Zealand are right less than half of the time! NIWA clocked up an unimpressive 48% hit rate on forecasts.
That explains why the last two weekends the weather hasn't matched the forecast at all! Bummer for those of us who actually need forecasts that are half accurate! Last Sunday, for example, up until the night before, the forecast was for sunny skies, and only on the Sunday morning did they revise the forecast to fog then sun. Turned out to be fog until lunchtime then low cloud (400ft base) all afternoon - by 3pm it was a sloping 800ft cloud base, still not enough for me to be comfortable about going flying..
I might as well just ignore the forecast and look out the window on the day!!
That explains why the last two weekends the weather hasn't matched the forecast at all! Bummer for those of us who actually need forecasts that are half accurate! Last Sunday, for example, up until the night before, the forecast was for sunny skies, and only on the Sunday morning did they revise the forecast to fog then sun. Turned out to be fog until lunchtime then low cloud (400ft base) all afternoon - by 3pm it was a sloping 800ft cloud base, still not enough for me to be comfortable about going flying..
I might as well just ignore the forecast and look out the window on the day!!
Monday, June 4, 2007
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