| My name is Andrew Nicol. I live in Hamilton, New Zealand. My aim is to lead and encourage organisations to vividly live People Matter. This is my blog of random thoughts. My main blog is lead2live.com, check it out. |
© 2006 – 2008 Andrew Nicol. All Rights Reserved.
Now that I have my pilots licence for planes, I have started thinking about how inconvenient they are. A helicopter would be so much better. I could drop into the vacant land next to agóge HQ. It would be great.
Well on Friday a Robinson R44 dropped into our neighbours CKL. It encapsulated all of my dreams. The sign by the tail rotor, with agoge in the background, is a warning in more ways than one...
The Helicopter HLG is owned by Meridian Holdings Limited in Auckland.
This is classic. Have a watch.
Took the whole family flying for the first time Saturday. We flew from Hamilton to Tauranga, took Mun and Dad for a fly, then flew back.
My Son is under 4 so sat with a lap belt on his mums knee. This meant we had 5 people on board (POB) in a four 4 seater plane. Air Traffic Control in both Hamilton & Tauranga both doubled checked when I told them 5.
As always with flying and me at the moment. I learn heaps from each flight and this was no exception.
A great day though!!
Hamilton based Alpha Aviation has been put into liquidation this week by it’s Australian Parent (Inventis). They produce the aircraft in which I did most of my flight training and sat my PPL exam.
It is disappointing as it leaves the aircraft that the Aero Club and CTC brought effectively unsupported.
Another blow to the Hamilton Airport and Government as well.
I would love to have a look at their books. They are reported to sell aircraft at around $250,000 (which is cheap) and are producing around 10 per year. 2,500,000 million is turnover is not much to support 70 staff and pay for the costs of production. It is has 20 aircraft, has orders for 16 with a further 14 options. The parent company announcement to the ASX is worth a read.
It proves the saying correct “The best way to make a small fortune in aviation … is to start with a huge one.”
... this one is particularly good. From the Herald yesterday
Battered pilot Bob Robertson waits in shock for rescuers to cut him free from his plane after it disintegrated around him.
The 34-year-old had a miraculous escape after his 1960s light plane lost power and crashed on to a motorway.
Firefighters had to cut Bob free from the wreckage of the aircraft after it clipped a building and crashed on to the busy road in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He suffered head, arm and leg injuries and was airlifted to hospital.
How does your cockpit completely rip off, and you end up sitting up waiting for help. WOW!!
What’s that distant scream I hear?
WARNING this post is full of Acronyms. It’s a pilot thing, definitions are below.
More screams…
After almost 3 years in the making, yesterday I passed my flight exam for my PPL.
It was a weird day. Initially I was mean to fly to NPL, so I got up early and did my flight planning. As the sun came up, NZNP tower woke up and issued a METAR and TAF and it became self evident that for the second attempt in a row I was going no where.
At 08:00 I called the Aero Club and told them I was clearly not going down and they told me to get out to the club as Wayne (the Flight Examiner) was coming up IFR. The weather was still crap, but we would aim for a break.
Around 11:00 Wayne arrived and I did the ground school component, questions about the WX, NOTAM, SPARs etc. Then I was asked to calculate TO and LDG distance, blah blah.
Now for the hard part, out to the Flight Exam in WCD.
I pre-flight WCD, do the briefs and checks, go to start the plane and NOTHING. A flat battery! I arrange for an external power pack and get the plane started, get taxi clearance and taxi to the other end of the airport to do engine run-up checks. The oil pressure was showing NOTHING. The aircraft at this point is OS, so I taxi back to the club. On the way back, the gauge comes to life but it is too late. (For interest oil pressure dropping is one of the things you would do a forced landing for, so not a plane you should take flying)
Now for the hard part, out to the Flight Exam in WKF, but this time the nerves are at an all time high!
Once we got back on the ground I honestly thought I had failed.
It was clearly one of the worst flying days I have had. My selection of paddocks in the FLWOP was not good and I came in high (the lack of wind got me). My steep turns were not that sharp and my wing drop was decidedly average.
Over all though I was very competent at most things, and competent in the above.
Net result. I PASSED!!
3 years, 77 flying hours, 96 flights, well over 100 TO & LDG. Self studying the theory, easily 300 hours ground work, and countless hours going through checks while driving my car, sitting at my desk.
I need to do some more FLWOP practice and it takes 4 – 5 weeks before I get the actual licence, and I need to pass a fit & proper person test (which fortunately has nothing to do with fitness) but the hard work is done.
Thanks to all my instructors at the Waikato Aero Club - Roger, Paul, Greg, Dave, Ash, Marie, Lorreen!
Definitions
Last week I saw video footage at the "Flawless Execution" seminar I attended, of the Blue Angels doing aerobatics in fighter jets at 900km per hour, 45 cm wing tip to wing tip. It was amazing.
This week I see in the NZ herald the below picture of the NZ airforce doing aerobatics in their training aircraft.
Not quite the same is it!
"In short I thought I would start shouting into the wind..."
And with those words my blog began. Like most things in my life my blog has proven to be random, distracted thoughts. It comes and goes depending on my mood and has had three major changes to its look and feel.
It will continue to change because I love change. It will continue to be random and change in writing style because I am always learning and experiencing different things.
Anyway here are a few of my favourate posts etc from each month since Aug last year.
Old Posts
Old & New ... Lost after 3 years is the new car smell, it now has one of those car airfreshener smells . A smell that you know is hiding a potentially more potent odour, the way lighting a match in the toilet tries to hide a foul stench... read more [nb this is my most commented post a whole 3 comments]
Origin Pacific falls from the Never Never Land ... In my opinion Origin was doomed to failure before their first flight left the ground. They tried to behave and act like super powers, then align themselves with super powers like Qantas, rather than establishing profitable niche markets ... read more
Authentic Community ...I think this small business called agóge. This business with people from all over the world, with varying educations, from different religions and diverse upbringings is starting to become an authentic community ... read more
Woolgathering at 17,000 ft about the Marlborough Sounds ... I sit in the ATR, transfixed at the sight of the Marlborough Sounds out my window and grateful for the relief from a tiring day that woolgathering about the Sounds allows. ... read more
Flying an Alpha 160 ... "It is like climbing into a new car when you have been used to driving a car that is 25 years old." ... read more
Most enjoyable book
Blue like Jazz - Donald Miller.
Best quote
"I’ve always thought smack in the middle of a contradiction is a great place to be!" Bono - U2
A brief update on flying in the clubs other Alpha (ZK-WJH) which I flew this morning. I did some glide approaches then went solo in the Alpha.
Observations
- The stall warning seems to function heaps better in this plane. I only heard it when I expected to.
- Only having two flap settings 10 & 35 Degrees is a pain on a glide approach. I duffed the first one because I put full flap down to early.
Still great aircraft to fly. Since I have done a solo I am back to normal PPL lessons.
