Robin Type Rating

Well having flown the Robin2160/HR200/Alpha160/whatever a few times this week I can now wholeheartedly recommend it. Nosewheel steering, comfy seats, a powerful engine, stability, fantastic viz, a trim wheel - the list goes on. The down side is I have to learn a whole lot of new checks and a bunch of anal facts about Alphas, but it is well worth it.

So what is the state of the Robin fleet? Currently CTC operate three Robin built R2160s, TZD, F and M. These aircraft are shown in the photos below.

In addition, CTC occasionally borrows the Alpha 160 prototype, FXY, which is known as Foxy...

CTC plans to introduce the Alpha 160 as its primary single engined trainer over the next 18 months.

What of the Katanas you might ask? Well they are currently sitting outside the training centre looking very sorry for themselves. Serious offers only please.....

New Mount

This week has been rather eventful, in spite of the fact I havent managed to fly this week due to illness.

On Wednesday one of the Katanas suffered an engine failure during a circuit lesson, fortunately the crew managed to glide onto Hamiltons' main runway without too much difficulty. As a result, CTC have (rightly, IMHO) decided to ground the Katanas until the engine gremlins that have plagued the fleet can be solved.

This leaves us with quite a problem, in that a large number of us have no aeroplanes to fly! The staff at CTC have swung into action fairly fast in order to get us type rated on other aircraft, and I am due to start conversion to the R2160/Alpha 160 as of tomorrow. This suits me fine, as the photos below show the Alpha is quite a machine! If you fancy buying one, the manufacturer can be found at http://www.alphaaviation.co.nz/index.asp.

Conquering Pirongia

Yesterday a couple of us got bored and decided to climb Pirongia, a 3000ft mountain South West of Hamilton. Here are a few of the pictures.

And congratulations to Martin from CP40 who soloed this week.

Raglan

Thought I would post a few pictures of my trip over to Raglan yesterday, the scenic beauty can be quite a distraction!

Another Busy Week

Hi folks, it has been a busy week again so far, as I write this it is Wednesday night and I have had four flights already, and I am scheduled for two more tomorrow! This week has included PFLs, my first out of circuit solo and an introduction to instrument flying. Also included has been a birdstrike, a terminally depressed group of sparrows that hang around the runway threshold having been reduced by two during a landing on Tuesday.

Anyway, I have a few photos from yesterdays jolly over to Morrinsville to practice the art of PFLs (crashing to you and me), steep turns and general navigation (to and from the training area).

General view outbound past Mount Ruru, to the North East of Hamilton

This picturesque stream is to the East of Morinsville.

View of Lake Karapiro during the return to Hamilton.

What a week!

Apologies for the lack of updates during the past week, I have been in at 6am everyday and have managed to cram in six flights! That is two weeks worth of flying, in addition to completing a module of ATPL study as well. Good news is I have some spectacular photos taken during my dawn walkarounds, so here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Birthday Week

It has been another slow flying week out here in Hamilton, but that just meant I had more time to concentrate on my birthday! As I am now 22 that makes me officially old...

Managed to get a flight in on my birthday, which was good, and had some mail from home which is always welcome.

Yesterday (Saturday) was spent in Rotorua, on the Luge (great fun!) and thanks to a late decision on Friday I found myself in a Fletcher FU-24 at 15,000ft strapped to a skydiver!!!

Stepping, or rather falling, out of the door at 3 miles up is quite a rush I can tell you!! After a full minute of freefall the jump master opened the chute and we sailed serenely downwards over beautiful Lake Rotorua.

If anyone is interested in skydiving in NZ I can thoroughly recommend NZone, http://www.nzone.biz/

To top off this fantastic day we had a punch party, to celebrate my birthday, James and I throwing ourselves out of an aeroplane, CP39 short course arriving (welcome to NZ guys!) and the end of our NZ PPL exams! Twas a fantastic night all round.

Anyway, that concludes this weeks update, I have added some photos for your viewing pleasure. Any resemblance of confidence on my face in the skydiving picture is purely a front!!!