< PreviousAfter a recent flight in his Chipmunk, KiwiFlyer friend and occasional contributor Mark Woodhouse declared it to be “a while since I had enjoyed a flight more”. Here’s why: Share what you love His name is Mike (not changed, because he’s not likely to mind) and he is in his forties. Mike is a very talented and dedicated graphic designer, who’s been helping us at Waypoints improve our textbooks for a few years. He’s good bloke and I enjoy working with him. He has also been battling the dreaded big C for a couple of years and has recently been told they have done all they can for him. But he’s stalwart. Showing the sort of “just get on with it (life)” that so many brave folks do. It’s not much fun. But what can you do? The other day I offered him a ride in our Chipmunk. The look on his face clearly said, “Do I trust this man?” But quickly the look changed to “What have I got to lose?” and with a smile he accepted. Mark Woodhouse’s DHC Chipmunk at Motueka KiwiFlyer Magazine Issue 62 30 As you do, I picked a nice clear calm day. We met at the hangar and I chatted casually as I began the process of bringing the Chippy out into the sun. It wasn’t a surprise to me that Mike hadn’t been in a light aircraft before, let alone an aircraft who’s 70th birthday we had recently celebrated. I took plenty of time to show him the seat he’d occupy, how the belts worked etc., and where the various bits and pieces were. Mike was slowly but surely relaxing and beginning to enjoy the experience. Much of the enjoyment of such flights are what I call the foreplay. The time taken around the aircraft chatting about one thing or another and asking what they would like to do - usually they have no real idea. Go flying and come back in one piece would be a good start! Our Chippy is Canadian, with a bubble canopy. Ideal for sharing what we love with others, with a fantastic view perfect for photography. So, while I’m concentrating on departing the traffic pattern, Mike is eyes out, taking heaps of snaps. But quiet… Seems that first time fliers get F K Kiwi Flyer Stories contributed by Mark Woodhouse overwhelmed by what, just maybe I’d begun to take a little for granted. We flew over Rabbit Island, round Richmond township, looked down at his home (nice), then at his workplace (not so enthusiastic!) and generally saw his world from a unique perspective. As we meandered back toward Motueka, I wondered… Would you like to loop the loop? And given his initial reservation I fully expected a “no thanks”. “Oh, yes please, can we?” Right-o. Check a few things and into it. Another? “Heck yeah!” How you feeling? More? Okay then… I even pulled off a half reasonable touchdown. Now, Mike is a fairly reserved gent, but it was clear he’d had an experience of a lifetime. His work mates said they’d never seen him so animated. For me, it had been a while since I had enjoyed a flight more. Share what you love. Mark Woodhouse www.avcraft.co.nz Avcraft Engineering NZ Ltd. Feilding Aerodrome 06 212 0920 mat@avcraft.co.nz From a 50 hour inspection on a Cessna 150, to a KingAir Phase Inspection or a Pilatus PC-12 Annual, our experienced engineers have the skills, knowledge and tooling to assist you with all scheduled and unscheduled maintenance requirements. Plus: Aircraft recoveries, Insurance repairs, Rebuilds, Sheet metal work, Corrosion repairs, Paint refinishing, Fabric work, Maintenance Control, and Avionics. Phone Paul on 07 843 1200 or 021 743 033 Email: paul@centralaero.nz www.centralaero.nz Ingram Road Hamilton Airport Dr Anton Wiles & Dr Jon Nelson - ME 1 (New Zealand) - Australia (CASA) - U.K. and Europe (EASA) - AME (Canada) - United States (FAA) - Fiji Your Experienced Aviation Medical Services Team 31 2019 #2Top: John Mathewson flying the L-39 Albatros operated by Fighter Jets NZ based at Tauranga. It is always lovely to fly around the Wanaka area towards the end of the day when the light is good, however what you cannot see is the bumps - it was rough at times! Above: This flight came out of nowhere! There are only three of these Airtruks flying worldwide and here they all are. Steve Death phoned me while I was at Temora where they had all been flown to and I couldn’t wait to get going. Gavin Conroy’s Gallery Favourites from 2018 (Part 2) We know KiwiFlyer readers enjoy the outstanding photography we include from Gavin Conroy in each issue. Here’s some of his personal favourites from 2018. Part 1 appeared in our previous issue.Matt Denning restored this immaculate CT-4A Airtrainer in its past RAAF colour scheme. Matt also restores Boomerang fighters including the one operated by the Temora Aviation Museum. He sold it to them and is lucky enough to be able to go there and fly it at air shows which keeps him very happy indeed. Two Italian Eurofighters break from the camera plane on their way to RIAT. There were only three photographers on the Skyvan in England for this flight. England was playing in a soccer World Cup semi-final that evening so the rest of the photographers stayed behind to watch that. I was amazed as I would cut an arm off to take part! They lost the game and were gutted the next day to see how perfect the conditions were and how the photos looked! One of my Warbird Heroes, John Romain flying the Hispano Buchon at Warbirds Over Wanaka 2018. It is always such a pleasure to fly with John; he makes it look just too easy. The Buchon is wearing the scheme it flew with in the Dunkirk movie so this was a wonderful flight to record a bit of history – a primary driver when photographing these aeroplanes.“ People are the foundation of my photography; I enjoy that element first, flying second, and the photos just happen to be a by-product of the first two! ” Gavin Conroy This photo was 10 years in the making. To photograph an iconic Spitfire with the only flying Meteor F.8 was pretty special. Both are operated by the Temora Aviation museum. The photo was taken from a P-40 Kittyhawk flown by Andy Bishop; tough life eh! Two of my favourite camera plane types flown by two of my favourite people; Mark O’Sullivan in the Harvard leading Jay McIntyre in a Nanchang. I have used Harvards or Nanchangs more than 200 times for photo flights. They are great camera platforms but only as good as the pilot up front.Above: The beautiful Hawker Fury operated by Air Leasing based in Sywell, England. The beast is flown here by Richard Grace and looking resplendent in a prototype Fury scheme. Left: Bill Reid and Ryan Southam flying the Anson on a beautiful evening in the Awatere. We flew around in circles for about 35 minutes waiting for the sun to appear from behind some clouds and fortunately it did. The camera plane was a Nanchang flown by Jay McIntyre. Right: Charles Davis and Dave Brown formed up for a few photos before heading back to Ardmore to fly a display during one of the Ardmore Open Days. The aircraft got an updated colour scheme for its birthday, and well done to owner Charles Davis - it looks fantastic.KiwiFlyer Magazine Issue 62 36 Wings Over Wairarapa 2019 The fight is on. An RE.8 chases a Fokker D.VII while three Albatros fighters circle in the background. There are nine seconds to impact Can you spot the airplane? Fly Safely with FLARM traffic awareness and collision avoidance. Contact Mike: 021 422786 mike@holistec.co.nzEvent Report contributed by Jared Le Roy (text) and Gavin Conroy (images) 37 2019 #2 W www.redfortgroup.com E operations@redfortgroup.com F facebook.com/redfortfreightlogistics I instagram.com/redfortgroup P 09 445 9883 This year the biennial Wings Over Wairarapa Air Festival at Masterton celebrated its 20th anniversary and incorporated a spectacular night show for the first time where aircraft festooned with lights and pyrotechnics thrilled the evening crowd. Once again however, the event was threatened by an exceptionally unfriendly weather forecast which resulted in some of the display aircraft not being able to attend. In a further stroke of bad luck, the show’s major drawcard, a USAF Boeing B-52 Stratofortress left its base in Guam only to be damaged by a landing incident at Avalon, Australia. Sadly its show-opening appearance at Masterton had to be cancelled. In spite of the setbacks, the show went ahead (sans Sunday due rain) and was widely praised as an excellent aviation spectacle. KiwiFlyer was ably represented by Paul and Jared Le Roy, and by the consistently outstanding photographic efforts of Gavin Conroy. Jared writes: The Vintage Aviator Limited (TVAL) WWI Multiple displays throughout the day from The Vintage Aviator Limited (TVAL) collection included the first airshow outing of the Airco DH.4 light bomber. Painted in stunning USAS colours, she flew with an escort of a Sopwith Triplane named ‘Black Maria’ and two S.E.5a against a flight of German Albatros fighters, (one D.II and two D.Va) in a mock dogfight. The sleek Albatros fighters have a fuselage that is skinned with wood instead of fabric, unlike many SE.5a locked on to the Albatros D.II. DH-4 leading a Sopwith Triplane and SE.5a. The gunner in the back of the DH-4 is ready for battle! SE.5a with a Fokker D.VII in its sights. Gavin Conroy imageKiwiFlyer Magazine Issue 62 38 Wings Over Wairarapa 2019 aircraft of the time. The earlier D.II can be distinguished from the D.Vs by the square wing struts, where the D.Vs are V shaped, because of the re-designed wing on the later models. All three are painted period camouflage and match those of individual pilots in WWI. Also on display were two Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2f two-seat Scouts which were used for a wide variety of mission roles throughout the early and mid- stages of WWI. The Bristol F.2b two-seat fighter also performed a mock dogfight against a Fokker Dr.I Triplane and Fokker D.VII Biplane fighters, again with the help of escorting S.E.5a. A variety of Sopwith Biplanes also took to the skies, including two agile Sopwith Pups, the legendary Sopwith Camel, and the powerful Sopwith Snipe. All three designs are powered by rotary type engines. The Rotary design features the slightly odd idea of having the entire engine block spin around with the propeller, which does mean the engine has good cooling and is very simple, but also means that there are notable gyroscopic forces on the airframe. The throttle only has two settings, Full or Off, which makes for an odd but also charming sound in flight as the pilot essentially turns the engine ‘on and off’ to control his speed. RNZAF The RNZAF demonstrated their T-6 Texan II and performing a detailed scenario of how the Airforce and Police would cooperate in order to deal with the theft of a helicopter by armed assailants - using the Agusta-Westland A109LUH and NHIndustries NH90, then the Navy’s Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite demonstrated its anti-submarine warfare, plus search and rescue capabilities. The Armed aircraft theft scenario was spectacular. The scenario started with the pilot of a Hughes 300 helicopter landing to ask for directions while leaving the aircraft running, and an opportunistic bandit jumping into the pilot’s seat while the owner’s back was turned. The following flight performance was jaw dropping; giving the impression of an out of control helicopter, whilst of course every move is intentional and easily within operating limits. The bandit pilot then landed the helicopter and attempted a getaway with some armed associates in a ute, and that’s when the call to the RNZAF was made. The NH90 and A109 arrived swiftly and started working in tandem to get the situation under control. Each helicopter made alternating passes to assess the situation. The A109 carried a police sniper to provide cover, and the NH90 brought a unit of police armed responders, including a German Shepherd, who deployed via winch and fast rope, and then apprehended the assailants on the ground. Kiwi Blue’s parachute display Jumping from the C-130H Hercules at 9000 feet, the Kiwi Blue team held onto each other in a star formation. At around 5,500 feet they broke away and deployed their ‘chutes at 4,000 feet. All of the members of the Display team are full-time instructors from the Parachute Training Support Unit. Once the members are ‘free fall’ qualified and have gained the appropriate experience they are gradually introduced into the display team. P-3 Orion There was a quick showcase of their P-3K2 Orion. The long-range maritime patrol aircraft performed a few passes before returning to its base at RNZAF Whenuapai. de Havilland American DH-4. Allies outnumber the Germans who fight on anyway! Best of British. F2b Bristol Fighter leads a pair of SE.5a. SE.5a fighters in formation at dusk. Magic to see. Paul Le Roy image Paul Le Roy image39 2019 #2 View the whole Lightspeed range at www.lightspeedheadsets.nz 0800 116 741 phil@lightspeedheadsets.nz SPECIAL DEAL on ZULU.3 and TANGOs for instructors and professional pilots CONVERT your ZULU.2 to ZULU.3 TRADE IN your old set See Website for details PILOT FLIGHT BAGS Let us sweeten the deal ! Ready to move from passive to ANR ? FROM 1 st APRIL to 30 th APRIL YOUR OLD STANDBY HEADSET HAS LIKELY SERVED YOU WELL. But we are so confident that the performance and advanced features of our Active Noise Reduction (ANR) headsets will transform your flying experience, that, for a limited time, when you buy a new Lightspeed Zulu.3 headset, we’ll pay $300 for your old David Clark passive. That’s as much as you may have originally paid! MORE DEALS RNZAF P-3K2 Orion on show before returning to Whenuapai. RNZAF NH90 with AOS Officer (and look closely there’s a dog too) on the winch. Kiwi Blue Team in a 4000 foot freefall.RNZN SH-2G Super Seasprite. AOS team in pursuit of an aircraft thief. Paul Le Roy imageNext >