Maybe it was the relentless dull drone of the engines, or the claustrophobic feel of the cabin. Maybe it was the absence of company or even just that my book was not riveting. Whatever it was my one hour flight to escape Palmerston North seemed to take forever. It was so painful. So boring. After … More Why choosing our state of mind is so important.
Far above the ocean, an engine bigger than a large car suddenly disintegrates blasting shrapnel and metal in all directions. The shrapnel punches holes in the world’s largest passenger jet's wing, damages flaps, causes fuel to spew from the plane and degrades 2 of the remaining 3 engines. In quick succession an unprecedented 54 alarms … More And you prepare for the worst. And hope for the best.
For as far as the eye could see low bulbous cloud covered the country and out beyond the sea to the horizon. The sun creeps up to the skyline as the earths revolution enables the break of a new day. The darkness of the night sky fades to blue then to burning bright yellows that … More 189 | 365 In Awe
It is said that man has always looked at the birds and longed to fly. Well, I have a non-current pilots licence and could fly, but don’t. I just dream about it. I was talking about it with a friend on the way home from work, and it reminded me about how I long to … More 184 | 365 Dream of flying?
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 … More Danger alright…
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 … More Family Flying
… 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 … More Any landing you can walk away from is a good one…
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 … More Andrew Nicol: Licensed to Fly…
"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 … More A review of my blog
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 … More Flying an Alpha 160A update
"It is like climbing into a new car when you have been used to driving a car that is 25 years old." citied Roger (CFI) when I asked him about the new Alpha 160A (R2160) that the Waikato Aero Club has replaced the Cessna 152's with. A week or so later he is proven correct … More Flying an Alpha 160A
There they are! The Marlborough Sounds. The picture from my PDA does it little or no justice, but I simply had to take some photos. The lady in front of me had a real digital camera and I thought of asking her to email them to me, but my courageous contemplation turned to weak actions. … More Woolgathering at 17,000 ft about the Marlborough Sounds.
Here is the video clip that Trevor the A320 pilot sent me. We were chatting about how easy it is to end up in the right seat (first officers seat) of a jet overseas nowdays and that a day is potentially coming when pilots end up in the right seat without having ever flown a … More Cockpit/Crew Resource Management
Boarding your plane and taking a seat next to an Air NZ pilot wouldn't excite most of you, but it was one of the most interesting flights I have taken. I sat next to Trevor an Airbus A320 captain and pilot trainer as he was being repositioned back to Auckland. Trevor has been flying for … More Fly by Wire
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