Following the circuit flights I moved on to navigation flights. The navigation flights can take about 2 hours to plan before you fly. A brief outline of what this entails:
-Draw route on map
-Mark on the flight log all of the track directions and distances
-Get the weather information(wind velocity, direction and cloud base) which will allow you to calculate the heading you need to fly in order to fly your desired track and it tells you what weather to expect later that day.
-Check the notes to all airmen (NOTAM) for any airspace restrictions in the areas you want to operate in.
-Preflight the aircraft to make sure the person before didn't do any damage when they landed and all fuel/oil levels.
-Preflight brief with instructor to discuss if you can go and what are you going to do along the route in terms of radio calls and airspace you will enter etc
After the briefing with your instructor, you are good to fly. I have now completed 3 nav flights which additional lessons attached to each flight. The first flight included steep turns, the second was practised forced landings in a field (simulated engine failures) and then diversions in the 3rd nav which means you are on track to your original destination and you come across a problem. This problem means you cannot continue to your original destination because of weather or rough running engine which are just 2 examples of why you would divert. So you now have to draw a line on your map to a place you want to go and figure out a new heading and times you will reach there. You have to do this while controlling the aircraft and looking out for other aircraft too. It is a very demanding couple of minutes to plan your diversion and initiate it. I have shown a couple of my tracks on a map below from our gps locator on board our aircraft in the pictures below. The views you see on these flights are amazing, the pictures don't do it enough justice.
The other flights we did after the navigation flying were in the simulator flying purely on instruments. We use instrument flying so when the weather closes in and you go into cloud. When we are flying the big jets next year (crazy to think we are so close to flying a jet when we are currently flying bug smashers now). I've had 3 flights flying on instruments and my next flight will be more navigation flying with my instructor before doing the navigation flying by myself.
It's crazy to think I am now over half way through my time in NZ, time is going way too fast! I've had my first early start, waking up at 0445 should not be allowed! We had a mass briefing starting at 6am which I could barely stop yawning in. It is suppose to prepare us for the airline....but we wont be getting up at stupid o'clock to sit in front of a presentation for a few hours so I'm failing to see the logic at the moment. Had I been getting up at time for a flight, it would have been a different story!
I haven't done that much travelling recently as it is difficult to get people off at the same time as you and it is more fun when you have company to go travelling. I did a few hikes, one was probably the hardest one I have done to date. It was a mountain over by Raglan bay called Karioi and it was 756m high. The trek took about 3 hours up and just under 2 to come back down. My legs didn't belong to me after it but the views from the summit are worth it and it also beats staring at the same wall in a gym! We also did a night trek to see some glow worms near some caves which was really cool. We also went into some of the caves to see the river running through it. I also went back to Taupo for another visit and also seen a DC3 plane which has been converted into a Mc D's diner. The last trip I went on was to Tauranga which is a cool place about an hour and a half from my accommodation. There is a little hill there where you can look over the town and the cool beaches.
Here are some more pictures:-
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| My 1st navigation flight |
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| My 2nd Navigation flight |
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| Only part the way up to the summit |
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| Use of chain climbing was essential |
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| Almost at the top of Karioi |
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| A View from the top of Karioi |
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| From the summit of Karioi |
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| DC3 Mc D's |
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| Inside the DC3 Diner |
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| Get a hole in one and you get $10k |
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| Raglan bay |
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| The Karioi mountain from a different angle while flying @500ft |
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| Raglan |
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| A visual reference point for us while flying called Temple View |
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| Looking out the window at Temple View from the visitor centre |
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| Midnight cave adventure |
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| Kinloch on Lake Taupo |
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| Hobbiton |
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| More Hobbiton |
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| a peak on the way up Pirongia over looking Raglan |
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| Tauranga beach |
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| Tauranga from the top of the hill. |
