Amy Thornton's Flying Pictures - New Zealand
This was a trip to take part in a Vintage Air Rally taking part in New Zealand, flying from Bluff (S.Island) to North Cape (N.Island). I was lucky enough to be asked along by the owner of a Bucker Jungmann which is based at White Waltham but which was shipped out to Tauranga in the N.Island and rebuilt there. Unfortunately the trip coincided with some of the worst storms to hit NZ for many years so our flight south was delayed and we made the start airfield (Mandeville) on the day the Rally officially departed for Wanaka. It was a shame that of the 60 aircraft registered for the event, due to bad weather only 2 were able to participate for the whole of the Rally.
While waiting for the weather to improve to start our journey south we flew from Tauranga a short way north up the Coromandel to Pauanui Airfield.
We finally set out on Sunday 22 Feb from Tauranga. A lot of cloud initially so there was much IFR (I Follow Roads) flying!
The takeoff at Taumarunui was a bit interesting and took a long time. Subsequently we discovered that others had found the same and that it was boggier and the grass longer than expected. This takeoff made us wary about the plane's weight and performance so we discarded a fair amount of luggage into a box at Omaka intending to collect it on our return that way. Because of subsequent events we never made it back there so they very kindly sent the box back to our base at Tauranga.
Having been kindly offered hangar space we spent the night near Omaka and then left early the next morning.
After arriving at Mandeville on Monday 23 Feb we were told that the Rally had left for Wanaka. We decided we wanted to fly to Bluff and Stewart Island before leaving so with another plane we stayed on. Unfortunately, having been flying for the previous 2 days to get from Tauranga to Mandeville the weather turned again and we didn't leave Mandeville until Thursday 26 Feb. However, during the wait the plane was checked over and some aerobatic flights were done. We finally managed to fly from Mandeville, past Bluff to Stewart Island and back on the Thursday before making our way north.
After returning from Stewart to Mandeville we received a thorough briefing from a pilot familiar with flying into Milford Sound. The weather was perfect for a landing there so after ringing Milford we set off.
The following day, Fri 27 Feb, we took off from Milford Sound routing out to the coast and north to give us enough time to gain height before coming back in via the next valley towards Queenstown.
Our intention was to fly via the VFR route along the southern edge of Lake Wakatipu into Queenstown but as we approached we saw the lake was covered in cloud.
So Queenstown suggested we route via Moonlight, a VRP north of the airfield.This was fine but having found Moonlight we had to descend from 8500ft to the airfield, elev 1200ft.
Having taken off from Queenstown we routed via "Soho" VRP to the Cardrona Valley and thence to Wanaka. We'd been told we'd be ok at 5500ft or above.
After refueling at Wanaka we routed north via Lake Wanaka then west via the Haast Pass to the coast then north until turning inland for Franz Josef Airfield.
While flying down the Haast Pass we descended to remain clear of cloud.
After a quick cup of tea and refuel we took off from Franz Josef intending to head north to Greymouth before a tropical cyclone arrived.
At this point we had a little excitement as I started to smell something burning. After considering this for a moment I mentioned it to Pete who at this stage couldn't smell anything.
We looked around for a ground-based cause but couldn't see anything and then the smell increased and there was no doubt it was the plane especially when it was accompanied by lots of smoke from the engine and propellor area.
Pete issued a Mayday and kept the power on while flying back towards the airfield. Luckily the engine didn't completely fail and there was no external fire. After he'd done an excellent job of getting us down in one piece I was
ordered to evacuate and the plane was stopped near the hangar end of the runway. In the distance we could hear the wail of a fire engine which arrived shortly after us.
There was a little light relief as we were told that a group of 3 elderly sisters had just landed from a tourist flight as we had taken off and they'd been impressed with the "aerobatic" plane but not so impressed with the smoke machine which seemed to be intermittently working.
This got the attention of their pilot who looked up and ran for the fire extinguisher.
AirSafaris, who own Franz Josef airfield and operate tourist flights, did us proud and allowed us to put the Jungmann in their hangar for dismantling. They also helped with transport and accommodation and all the sort of help you need when you've broken down in a foreign country. They were brilliant.
While sorting out the plane we also found time to do a few touristy things and we had a flight with AirSafaris round Mt.Cook. It was a spectacular flight and very smooth.
After taking the engine, wings and tailplane off and packing it onto a trailer we drove from Franz Josef on the west coast of the S.Island to Taieri Airfield near Dunedin on the east coast, a 10 hr drive.
The drive was through spectacular scenery which varied considerably. Beautiful.
BIG TIP - if you ever stay in Dunedin book your accommodation before you arrive! We eventually found a hostel and then next day wandered into the town. The locals had heard about us as they had brought out a collection of old fire engines.
That was the end of the Rally for us as the plane was then put in a ship's container and sent back to the UK. However, I stayed on and did some more sightseeing and flying.
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