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Taranaki Trip GPS track

November 10, 2009

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Courtesy of Aaron Martin.

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Test driving the new Archer 3

My instructor Rocky called the Aero Clubs new Archer III ZK-WIT "the Mercedes Benz of our fleet". To be honest, I must agree. Everything inside is new (it has around 340 hours total time on the airframe), it even has a new car smell from the plush leather seats. The seat adjusts in 6 different directions, has lumbar support, pre-tensioned seatbelts, the aircraft even has air-conditioning! The major difference between WIT and the two Archer II's I fly FWS and UFS is the start up procedure. Unlike the Archer II, WIT does not have a key turn starter. Instead it has a push button starter (very English I thought). You must also start the engine on one magneto and turn the second one on once the engine starts. The pilots control column has a lot of hands on functions. Two axis electric trim, push to talk (PTT), autopilot disconnect, and a button that I didn't use and didn't ask about either. Doing a walk around I notice the improved wing with a few aerodynamic ai

No passengers allowed

I've booked a 172 for a trip to Pauanui with Susan for Wednesday. The forecast rain for today (Saturday) hasn't arrived yet so it was a beautiful spring morning that greeted me as I arrived at the Aero Club to do my 3 circuits to pass the currency test (according to my logbook I have not logged PIC time in a 172 since August). Thats well outside the minimum 3 takeoffs and landings required every 90 days to satisfy the legal requirements of carrying passengers. I got to fly WAM again for the first time since it had the 180hp STC conversion performed (according to my logbook it was way back in February that I last flew WAM), and it also had some nice leather seats replacing the old velour ones. An instructor asked me to treat the new engine with care, no glide approaches and to try to keep the revs up. I got in to find that half the radio stack was missing, and so I had to give myself a crash course on how to use the radio function of the GPS. Then there was maneuvering fo

Twin time

The club has obtained a shiny new (well, not really new, but fairly low time) Diamond DA-42 Twin Star. I'd been telling myself that I was going to buy an hour in a twin engined aircraft to broaden my horizons a little and check off somethings on my New Years list. The clubs previous twin was older than I am and had become a little temperamental in its advanced years. The new aircraft promises a 21st century approach to multi-engined flying that in a lot of ways is both easier and harder to fly. I wasn't particularly apprehensive prior to getting into it and flying it for two reasons. One, I have a chunk of hours flying the Arrow which has retractable gear and a CSU. The mindset behind flying it would come in handy, namely the sheer speed at which it gets through the air means mentally you have to be at least 10 NM ahead of it because you need to slow it down well before you arrive. Here's what DA42 ZK-WGA looked like on the morning I flew her: Those of you with

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