Last year I only had time for my first night flying lesson, this year I'm going to finish off the rating. This Monday I had a lesson booked, which looks like it's going to be the only good night this week.
Anyway, I had an Archer booked, and my instructor had to go get current first, so by the time he got back it was well dark. I started up and then found that even with the landing light on, I couldn't see squat in the dark. The aero club has a very bright automatic floodlight that makes it very hard to see to taxi, especially with the windscreen fogging up.
I'd had a joyride last year, so this time we got straight into circuits, and to begin with I was really crap. Thankfully after a solid hour of circuits, lots of orbits (thanks to Air NZ and a certain Rice Rocket), some short approaches, approaches with and without the PAPIs, and lots of landings of various levels of violence, I was starting to get almost good at it!! I found it interesting that the landing technique at night seems to be a case of: raise the nose and wait for the 'arrival' :-) This is the closest we will get to carrier landings, methinks...
I have 2 hours of solo night flying remaining, plus 1 hour of either dual or solo and I'm rated. Woo hoo!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
DC-3 at Aeromotive
As I was arriving for work on Sunday evening at the club with my old Olympus SLR in hand, the Auckland DC-3 landed and parked at Aeromotive so I thought I'd take a photo. The light was fading so I'm quite pleased with it, really.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
FAA plan to reduce runway incursions: Install traffic lights!!!
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Aviation Administration announced measures Monday to improve runway safety, including the installation at major airports of lights that signal pilots when a runway is safe to enter.
Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell said at a press conference that severe runway incursions are down.
The announcement by Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell comes amid criticism of FAA officials by federal lawmakers and others over an alarming rate of runway incursions at airports.
"Severe runway incursions are down," Sturgell said in remarks prepared for delivery at a morning press conference. "And, we're putting technology and procedures in place to keep it that way. We're making changes on the runway and in the cockpit that are going to make a significant difference."
Sturgell was also expected to face questions about two near-collisions in less than a week at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
The near-collision on Friday -- involving a Delta Air Lines and a Comair flight -- prompted the agency to immediately change the way takeoffs and landings are sequenced on perpendicular runways.
In December, congressional investigators warned that air travelers face a high risk of a catastrophic collision on U.S. airport runways because of faltering federal leadership, malfunctioning technology and overworked air traffic controllers.
Since 1990, 63 people have died in six U.S. runway collisions. Monday's announcement was aimed at reducing runway incursions, defined as an event in which any aircraft, vehicle or person intrudes in space reserved for takeoff or landing.
2nd possible near collision at JFK in a week
The FAA's previous definition of "runway incursion" did not did not include serious runway errors such as the one that led to the August 27, 2006, crash of a Comair jet in Lexington, Kentucky. The pilots mistakenly traveled down a runway too short for takeoff and the aircraft crashed, killing 49 of the 50 people aboard.
The runway safety system announced Monday involves lighting systems to be installed at 21 airports over the next three years. The lights change color to signal when a runway is safe to enter or cross, according to a description posted on the FAA's Web site.
Airports selected for the program are Atlanta, Baltimore-Washington, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston Intercontinental, John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle and Washington-Dulles
Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell said at a press conference that severe runway incursions are down.
The announcement by Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell comes amid criticism of FAA officials by federal lawmakers and others over an alarming rate of runway incursions at airports.
"Severe runway incursions are down," Sturgell said in remarks prepared for delivery at a morning press conference. "And, we're putting technology and procedures in place to keep it that way. We're making changes on the runway and in the cockpit that are going to make a significant difference."
Sturgell was also expected to face questions about two near-collisions in less than a week at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
The near-collision on Friday -- involving a Delta Air Lines and a Comair flight -- prompted the agency to immediately change the way takeoffs and landings are sequenced on perpendicular runways.
In December, congressional investigators warned that air travelers face a high risk of a catastrophic collision on U.S. airport runways because of faltering federal leadership, malfunctioning technology and overworked air traffic controllers.
Since 1990, 63 people have died in six U.S. runway collisions. Monday's announcement was aimed at reducing runway incursions, defined as an event in which any aircraft, vehicle or person intrudes in space reserved for takeoff or landing.
2nd possible near collision at JFK in a week
The FAA's previous definition of "runway incursion" did not did not include serious runway errors such as the one that led to the August 27, 2006, crash of a Comair jet in Lexington, Kentucky. The pilots mistakenly traveled down a runway too short for takeoff and the aircraft crashed, killing 49 of the 50 people aboard.
The runway safety system announced Monday involves lighting systems to be installed at 21 airports over the next three years. The lights change color to signal when a runway is safe to enter or cross, according to a description posted on the FAA's Web site.
Airports selected for the program are Atlanta, Baltimore-Washington, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston Intercontinental, John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle and Washington-Dulles
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Fun with cross processing
I've been having fun with cross processing (E6 slide film processed as C41 print film). The colours and contrast go haywire, it's awesome!!!
The first few photos are related to the aero club - the first one is two of our regulars standing in front of the new bar, but I think I should probably post some normal photos of the bar at some stage, it's a bit hard to tell from this !!!
The rest of the photos are just random shit I thought might look interesting.
Enjoy!
The first few photos are related to the aero club - the first one is two of our regulars standing in front of the new bar, but I think I should probably post some normal photos of the bar at some stage, it's a bit hard to tell from this !!!
The rest of the photos are just random shit I thought might look interesting.
Enjoy!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Some photos from the truck protest
Okay okay, so what if Auckland had 2000 trucks and we in Hamilton only had 100 ??? Still was cool to see a line of 100 trucks driving past my work.
All these photos shot at 7:30AM on Friday morning on nice grainy 800 speed film...
All these photos shot at 7:30AM on Friday morning on nice grainy 800 speed film...
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