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!!!
Monday, November 19, 2007
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.
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