< PreviousKiwiFlyer Magazine Issue 65 30Ruth Allanson visited some old home territory for this edition’s Place to Go, bringing back childhood memories of landing at a hotel for lunch when flying past. It can still be done. Fly yourself to the Maniototo Maniototo Plains or just ‘The Maniototo’, as it is known, is a large elevated plain of inland Otago surrounded by the Rock and Pillar range to the south east, Rough Ridge to the west, the Kakanui ranges to the north east and the Hawkdun range to the north. The ranges are significant landmarks to pilots for navigation as they NZ art enthusiasts might think this Maniototo image looks like a Grahame Sydney painting. He does indeed live nearby. all have prominent shapes representing the fault lines that they lie on. The round top mountains are high enough to keep the cold in during winter, and attract strong sun in summer. Record temperatures occur at both ends making it a great ice-skating and curling area and a very hot place to visit in summer. I can see why the artist Grahame Sydney was so inspired to paint these amazing landscapes. When I was a child in the back seat of a flying machine, there were airfields all around the area, and I fondly remember stopping at Patearoa Hotel for lunch many a time as we passed by in either Places to Go contributed by Ruth Allanson The Vulcan (formerly Ballarat) Hotel was built of mud brick in 1882. 31 2019 #5 Even older is the 1878 Royal Hotel in Naseby.KiwiFlyer Magazine Issue 65 32 the Cessna or Hughes. These days the strips have mostly gone, as farms advance and generations move on. Many visitors now go about the area on bicycles, after the creation of the Otago rail trail. The train tracks were removed in 1989 and the land purchased by DOC to begin the trail in the mid ’90s. Enjoyed by thousands and revitalising tourism in the area, it was also the beginning of what is now a vast network of bicycle trails throughout our country. With some research I found two airstrips available for the use of our readership. John Mathewson’s field at Kokonga, is 10 miles SE of Ranfurly, where the Kyeburn and Taieri rivers meet, and the other is 10 minutes walk from the Vulcan Hotel. Maniototo is such a vast area that these airstrips make for a great weekend out flying but to really explore the area, you need to spend some time on the ground once you have completed your reccie from above. John has three vectors at his grass Kokonga strip and they are from 500m long to 690m. He has sheep grazing at times and it is available for use at any time. There is no fuel nor facilities, but John is one of the old school; he has a hangar full of planes that he doesn’t have time to use and is well worth landing for a chat. Take your picnic basket and park off the runway as the local club uses the airfield as well. Contact John on 03 444 9345. When the rail line arrived at Ranfurly in 1898 the town boomed, taking over from Naseby’s prior 1860s gold rush success. Ranfurly expanded during the 1930s as a service centre to the local farmers and also the nearest place to the sanatorium where friends and family could stay. The Waipata Sanatorium was a privately owned facility for TB sufferers, as the dry fresh air was though to help those with the disease. My father remembers a flying visit to the hotel in Ranfurly which he described as very grand with a big wooden staircase, when the town was still thriving. He landed his C-180 at the airfield north of the town and had his father-in-law pick him up. Grandad complained bitterly about how far out of town this airfield was – a common complaint and perhaps why this airfield is not longer in existence. Even though Ranfurly is now very quiet, there is a recently opened new hospital in the town and the rail trail does provide for various accommodation and eating options. Another airstrip that is still available for use with permission is just above St. Bathans. It belongs to Tony Enright who can be emailed at: tony.enright@windowslive.com. He can put you in touch with Tom who looks after the farm and can give you a brief on the airstrip and the stock. It is then a ten minute walk down the hill to St. Bathans. Tie the plane down before you walk away; Central Otago is well known for its wonderful lenticular formations and the nor’wester can blow up without warning. When I was growing up, this town had a strong allure to it because it was surrounded by a good old fashioned ghost story. Back in the mining days, the town boasted 13 hotels with 2000 people living there. These days the Vulcan is the last hotel left, built in 1882 and formerly known as the Ballarat Hotel. It still provides meals and accommodation for passers by and Jude, who runs it is a real character, ph. 03 447 3629. She tells me the mystery haunting does still exist in room 1 of the hotel. The story goes that an itinerant young prostitute called Rose was found strangled in the room with her money stolen. Thus the ghost of Rose only hassles men who stay in Room 1, with many reporting waking with a weight on their throat. Rose is also often seen on the couch in the hotel and amuses herself with things like boiling the jug - without turning it on. Alternate accommodation can be found at the local police camp where you can stay in the town’s Phone Paul on 07 843 1200 or 021 743 033 Email: paul@centralaero.nz www.centralaero.nz Ingram Road Hamilton Airport l Comprehensive stocks of Aircraft AN, MS, NAS Hardware l US Industrial Tooling l Covering Products l Aircraft Spruce (NZ) Distributor (fortnightly delivery from USA) AIRCRAFT SALES & SERVICE Also Representing Airmaster Propellers and Spidertracks Providing unbiased support for everything to do with owning and flying light aircraft in New Zealand. Benefit from our decades of light aircraft ownership, our thousands of hours of flying throughout NZ, our extensive experience in the Southern Alps, and our passion for everything aircraft. Contact Ruth Allanson on 03 750 0780 or ruth@aircraftnz.co.nz Places to Go33 2019 #5 F K It’s either very hot or very cold in the Maniototo. historic jail: www.stbathansnz.com St. Bathans attracts many tourists who are interested in the town’s beauty and history which includes numerous gold rush era buildings that are still standing. For the six permanent residences that live here, life can be very busy indeed. Naseby is another town that shrank quickly after the rush (at its peak pop. 5000) but has continued on by diversifying and maintaining its historic buildings – creating a town akin to a working museum. Early on, forestry planting was followed as an economic strategy. The extremes of the hot and cold temperatures mean that trees grow very slowly however this helps to create extremely strong wood which fetches a high price. Naseby is also home to indoor ice rink and hosts many curling competitions. Plus there is the Southern Hemisphere’s only outdoor luge. We visited in winter and I can see now why there is a box of wooly hats at the door…it is just as cold inside the ice rink as it is outside. At 2000ft, there is often snow in winter and you can even go for a sled ride with actual sled dogs; Malamutes and Alaskan Huskies. Nigel and Rose also run a shop that is everything dogs: www.realdog.co.nz I can’t leave this area without mentioning the great food and accommodation on offer at the Dansy’s Pass Coach Inn - one of the very last coach inns which has been preserved and tastefully updated to keep with in its era. Again, there is room for landing a helicopter near the hotel which my parents did on occasion to spend a weekend there. The Maniototo is spectacular with ancient landforms and an interesting history with very hospitable people. Anytime of the year is a good time to visit this Place to Go. Ruth Allanson Brumby Aircraft Australia offers New Zealand Dealership Brumby Aircraft requires a dealer to represent New Zealand in the LSA aircraft market. The Brumby LSA is ideal for the flight training environment, aero clubs, and for recreational flying. Established in 2006, Brumby is now expanding its operations abroad. If you have a proven sales record and are motivated to build your own business in aircraft sales, maintenance and parts supply, then this is an ideal opportunity. Full factory support and training will be provided. Please contact Paul Goard for more information on +61 2 6341 1635, email: paul@brumbyaircraft.com.au or visit brumbyaircraft.com.au Brumby 600 low wing Brumby 610 high wing Kyeburn Diggings. The area is full of gold mining history.KiwiFlyer Magazine Issue 65 34 More and more gliders are coming equipped with a power source for launch and/or sustaining flight. Is this therefore the future of the sport? Jill McCaw considers the options: Power - the future of Gliding? The difference between gliders and power planes is that gliders don’t have engines. Right? Gliders use the energy in the atmosphere to climb and to go places. It’s what makes our air sport different and more challenging than power flying. It seems paradoxical that more and more gliders are now coming equipped with engines. Bernard Eckey, a SoaringNZ correspondent and the Australasian agent for Schleicher aircraft surmises that this may be the saving grace of the sport. He explains some of the reasons for this. “Today’s time-poor pilots expect to fly for as long as they want and explore terrain out of gliding range without risking an out-landing and missing out on a planned evening activity. In other words, just like Stemme S12 motor glider features Rotax 914 power. with foldable variable pitch propeller within a sliding nose dome. The transition is accomplished in 5 seconds. New Zealand Soaring contributed by Jill McCaw power pilots, many of our members prefer total independence and flying with some sort of predictability. Aviating with greater peace of mind is exactly what makes power flying popular and is the main reason why all types of power flying clubs have enjoyed tremendous success over recent decades. Perhaps it would be a good idea to learn from our powered friends and offer our members flying with the individual freedom that only a motorised glider can provide.” For many years there have been some gliders that have had engines, but they were the exceptions, not the norm. Often, the power unit is the familiar light aviation Rotax engine. Mostly these petrol engines have been fitted on a pillar in a bay in the fuselage behind the cockpit. They are raised for use, to self-launch or to self-retrieve, and stow away to allow the glider to be a pure sailplane when not needed. I’ve had several flights with champion pilot Terry Delore in his two-seater self- launching ASH 25. When the engine is running this is LOUD. And, sitting in the back seat, it’s right behind your head. The relief when we’ve achieved an acceptable height and turn it off is huge. There is no way you would run that engine if you didn’t have to and Terry rarely uses it once he’s airborne. It does its job and that’s all that he asks of it. However, in terms of loud, there’s probably no glider that can beat the South African JS stable of gliders, with jet sustainers. It might be a small jet, but it still sounds like a jet. Some gliders, such as the side-by-side two-seaters, the Stemme, the Dymona and particularly the Pipistrel Taurus, are closer to a true hybrid power plane/glider. In fact, the Pipistrel has interchangeable wings – short wings = power plane; long wings = glider. I’ve flown in a Dymona under power and while there was engine noise it was definitely quieter than the ASH and probably on par with a 172. Headphones were still necessary. With a wider fuse and triangle undercarriage arrangement these craft look different from most gliders. Generally though, Simon Rainer image35 2019 #5 power gliders can’t be told apart from a non-powered version unless the engine is deployed. Their performance as pure gliders is exactly the same as their cousins. With better engine technology, self- launching gliders have become more popular and the glider manufacturers include a powered version of most of their standard ships. But the game changer may well be electric engines. Bernard Eckey says, “New battery technologies combined with the latest breed of highly efficient brushless motors leave no doubt that – at least for the recreational aviation sector – the future belongs to electric drive systems. Their simplicity combined with their low maintenance requirements and their unrivalled operator friendliness has them capturing an ever-increasing share of the market. Yes, the usual scepticism towards new technologies may linger for a while but the list of advantages is simply too long to be ignored. Who wouldn’t like to fly super quiet vibration free aircraft, very simple to operate, having no power reduction at altitude and – last but not least – having no fuel smell or exhaust fumes.“ And the engine and propeller don’t have to be behind the cockpit. Front Electric Sustainer (FES) motors have the propeller at the nose, folding back along it when not in use. While a FES equipped glider can’t self-launch (there isn’t enough ground clearance) the benefit of being able to start an engine and get home on a weakening day gives a pilot the reassurance Bernard mentions above. There is no need to face a land-out and all the bother of being retrieved. It allows the pilot to more comfortably fly over difficult terrain or enjoy a marginal day. FES is becoming very popular on ‘club’ type aircraft. They’re easy to use, start at the touch of a button and shut down just as easily. There is no need to feather the prop before folding the engine away, all of which adds considerably to the workload of the pilot. However, it is the gliders with self- launch capabilities that have the biggest chance of changing the sport. Bernard describes Schleicher’s newest multi- purpose glider. “The AS 34 Me cannot be beaten for trouble-free club use. It is equipped with an air-cooled EMRAX motor which give the AS 34 Me self- launch capabilities with an impressive climb rate of 3.7 m/s (7 knots). It gets the AS 34 Me to 2,000 feet in just three minutes. Best of all, it leaves enough juice in the batteries for a further climb to 7,400 feet – more than some 2-stroke petrol engines and more than enough to get cross-country pilots home when thermals quit their services much earlier than expected. At long last, a simple and very easy-to-operate electrically powered glider has come on the market. With integrated wingtip wheels it allows fully independent operation – something many glider pilots have long been waiting for.” The fact that more and more of the new gliders arriving in New Zealand have self-launch capabilities show that powered gliders are becoming mainstream. It seems unlikely however that gliding clubs will disappear as most pilots find the need to gaggle with their kind to share tall tales of thermals to 10,000 feet and waves into the stratosphere. If you’ve be interested in gliding, check out the Gliding New Zealand website to find the club nearest you. Jill McCaw The FES (Front Electric Sustainer) is an option available on several different types. ASG 32 El with retractable 34 hp electric power. F K Simon Rainer imageKiwiFlyer Magazine Issue 65 36 www.avcraft.co.nz Avcraft Engineering NZ Ltd. Feilding Aerodrome 06 212 0920 mat@avcraft.co.nz For a fresh look at avionics, talk to our skilled engineers. We are Authorised Dealers for Garmin, JP Instruments, Avidyne, Aspen Avionics, and more. Ask us about tailoring a package to suit your requirements and budget. CAA Part 115 certified LIVE YOUR DREAM FLY IN A WARBIRD EXPERIENCE THE THRILL OF FLIGHT IN A WWII FIGHTER WITH WARBIRD ADVENTURE RIDES HARVARD l P-40 KITTYHAWK l SPITFIRE WWW.WARBIRD.CO.NZ GIFT VOUCHERS AVAILABLE37 2019 #5 NZ Warbirds contributed by Frank Parker One of the annual events on the NZ Warbirds Association calendar is the Battle of Britain Fly-past over the Auckland cenotaph which this year included a noteworthy guest of honour riding in the back (and at the controls) of Frank Parker and Liz Needham’s Kittyhawk. Frank tells the story of the day: Battle of Britain FlyPast Appropriately, for many years a fly- past by Ardmore based aircraft has been organised to support the service. Back in the 1980s (as far as I can determine) this was arranged by the Auckland Aero Club however for the past 20 years plus, the honour has been bestowed on our NZ Warbirds Association. Pre-planning for The annual Battle of Britain Memorial Service at the Auckland Cenotaph is arranged by the Royal New Zealand Air Force Association to commemorate the sacrifices made now 79 years ago. The Service is held on the closest Sunday to the 15th September which is acknowledged as the height of the Battle. Bryan Cox and P-40 Kittyhawk. Bryan trained on Harvards and the P-40 before going on to fly Corsairs in WWII. Stuart Russell image Seven Harvards and numerous other warbird aircraft participated.Doug Brooker’s Tr.9 Spitfire led the formation.KiwiFlyer Magazine Issue 65 38 the event starts a month or more earlier, establishing what aircraft and pilots are available after the winter hiatus. A week out the weather watching commences as September in Auckland is anything but predictable and finally a couple of days out the detailed planning begins. The task of ‘Herding the Cats’ is passed to NZWA Chief Flying Instructor, this year once again Dave Brown. On the ‘Day’ it’s an 0730 start to get aircraft out of the hangars and pre-flights completed before the General Brief at 0900. This is followed by individual element briefs before first engine starts at 1045 for an 1110 time on target at the Cenotaph. This year we had 16 aircraft participate in the fly-past which was led appropriately by the resident Spitfire along with the P-40 Kittyhawk (representing Pacific action), seven Harvards, and a composite group of mini-warbirds and civvies. To get this number of aircraft airborne from Ardmore, to suitable holding areas, conduct the fly-past and then recover to the field requires sound planning and adherence to that plan. Once again this was achieved with little or no fuss, a testament to the professionalism of all concerned. It is also worth noting that the participating pilots do so ‘free of charge’; in fact we all view it as a privilege to honour ‘The Few’ who in the skies over England preserved our freedom two generations ago. Regards, Frankly@xtra.co.nzF K CFI Dave Brown conducts the briefing. ARDMORE HANGARAGE Full Service Hangarage available now at Ardmore Airport 20m x 5.5m Power Doors Large Apron Sealed Taxiway Long Term or Short Term Corporate Jet Services Limited P: (09) 298 6249 Call Liviu: (09) 296 2354 or (09) 268 1199 or 021 048 7055 e: liviu.filimon@liviuavionics.com www.liviuavionics.com For All Fixed Wing or Rotary Avionics and Instruments Requirements l Repair, Calibration, Tests, new units l a/c 24 month inspections l New installations: Mode S, ADSB, a.o. Est. 200339 2019 #5 The Battle of Britain September marks the beginning of spring in the southern hemisphere, autumn in the north and 79 years ago the height of the Battle of Britain. The Battle of Britain was the first major military battle waged almost exclusively in the air. The English recognise it as starting on 10 July 1940 and ending on 31 October 1940 with the main action being the ‘Blitz’, the large scale night bombing of English cities from 7 September 1940 until 10 May 1941. The Germans recognise the dates as July 1940 until June 1941, the end of their bombing offensive over England. Following the conquest of Western Europe the German objective was to compel Britain to a negotiated peace settlement. To achieve this they commenced a sea blockade of coastal shipping and major ports in July 1940. On 1st August 1940 as a prelude to Operation Sealion, the proposed invasion of England, the Luftwaffe was directed to achieve air superiority over the RAF, targeting airfields and infrastructure. Germany’s failure to destroy Britain’s air defenses and force an armistice, or outright surrender, is regarded as the first major defeat of the Nazi forces. The ‘Battle of Britain’, takes its name from a speech by Winston Churchill; “what General Weyland called the ‘Battle of France’ is over. I expect the ‘Battle of Britain’ is about to begin”. The Guest of Honour At this year’s fly-past it was my honour to have well known aviator Bryan Cox ride ‘shotgun’. As many of you will know, Bryan was a RNZAF WWII pilot who served in the Pacific Theatre and then the Japan Occupation Force. He had learnt to fly in New Zealand, the Harvard and P-40 being part of the training programme en-route to flying the Corsair in operations. Post WWII Bryan had a distinguished career as a flight instructor. Bryan’s first flight in the P-40 was his first solo on type. It literally was: fly the Harvard, receive briefing on the P-40, go flying ... Accordingly it was a privilege for me to have him on board during this fly-past which also included some air to air photography. Once the formal part of the flight was complete it was of course appropriate to offer the maestro the opportunity to have a play with his old horse; a question I didn’t need to ask twice! Medium turn left, then right, steep turn, wing over, “how about an aileron roll Bryan” “Okay” and “best have one to the right” ! All too soon we were back at the field. What a morning; a fly-past in formation with the Spitfire, air to air photography, antics with a legend... Some days you get lucky ! Post flight, after a 10/10 landing (I must say) I asked Bryan “did I pass?” He cheekily replied, “well not quite”. I think he wants to come back next year ! Bryan Cox Bryan and Frank NZ WarbirdsNext >