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February 2002

Your Executive Officers
El Presidente Andrew Parr 479 3235
Vice El Presidente Chris Todd 833 5841
Secretary Martin Seay 525 6505
Treasurer Peter Cole 473 0130
Committee Anton Lawrence 813 6404
Committee Willie Morton 025 901 796
Chief Flying Officer Willie Morton 025 901 796
Safety Officer Niol Lockington 817 5959
PPAB Peter Nicholson 625 4010
PPAB Gordon Swan 827 5089
PPAB Vern Booth 360 4016
Editor Anton Lawrence 813 6404


Web copy of TARMAC


Official ARMAC Web Site

Next Club Meeting, 3rd Tuesday of the month.
February 19th

At the Pikes Point Airpark Clubrooms 19:00

Committee Meeting at 18:30 Sharp.

Editorial

I thought this was going to be my last Mag, but it seems I have one more to go. Either John or Willie are setting themselves up for the job next year, They have been outstanding contributors. One thing is for sure it won't be me, I will have too many other commitments.
My holiday story is more of a hang gliding story than microlight but that is mostly due to weather being rubbish for most of the trip.
There must have been some other flying apart from Willie's expedition so lets have it for the last mag of this year.

Anton Lawrence



Prez Sez

Some useful information for us all, this article featured in the NZ Herald on 3rd January. The model aeroplane club just along from is no longer to occupy that piece of land from that date and is to be replaced with a motocross track. Why this is useful to know you may well ask? Well no longer will we need to be on the lookout for the models (just high jumping motorbikes) but unfortunately, it was a useful option if engine failure was to occur when using 25 (just ask Vern). As the tea/coffee and bikkies seemed to work at November's meeting, it will be repeated at February's, I shall also state that if members wish to bring there wives, partners along then they will be most welcome to do so. A second reminder to all of you that the AGM for 2002 is set for the 19th of March, (this replaces the usual club night) at the clubrooms. Time 7:00 pm sharp. So start thinking if you wish to be on the committee or fill some of the ancillary roles.... PPAPB etc. Any remits that wish to be submitted should be sent to either the president or secretary not later than 1 week prior to the AGM occurring. Something that I don't particularly want to see happening is people paying their fee's on the night to secure voting rights in fact they technically become a provisional member until approved by the committee and do not have voting rights anyway (the sec/trea have enough to do without this happening) so if you or somebody you know wish to vote PAY YOUR FEE'S NOW.

IMPORTANT MESSAGES FROM THE P.P.A.B

Landing Fee's
Owing to continual rising in costs of maintaining the airfield at Pikes
Point. It has been decided that some assistance to meet these costs, which has been born by the hanger owners and there tenants, will have to come from other users of the field.
It needs to be pointed out that club members who do not have aircraft based at the field and not contributing to the upkeep of the field will be liable for landing and overnight parking fee's when landing at Pikes
Point.
The fee's are: Landing fee's $5.00 I f paid into the honesty box $10.00 I f you are sent a bill Overnight Parking $10.00 up to a maximum of $50.00 per month
A heavy aircraft levy of $200.00 per year will be levied on aircraft with a M.A.U.W of 2000 lbs or 952 kgs for aircraft based at the airfield.

Pilots are also reminded that no training touch and goes, or other operations are to be carried out by visiting aircraft without prior authority.

When placing your payment in the box or mail, do include your details'
rego dates etc, we do have spies who may take your rego for billing.
El prez's comments on this are that I support this move, however after speaking to Vern, we agreed that there may be a few cases which fall into a grey area i.e. where reciprocal landing rights apply etc if you think you are exempt get clarification on this FIRST otherwise you will be liable.
Also the overnight parking is for GENUINE visitors only, not those thinking a cheap place to keep your aircraft long term.

For the Bantam boy's I read in NZ Aviation the there will be a fly in at
Te Kowhai on the 16/17th March to celebrate the 200th B22 (or was that Max turning 200) please phone Max Clear for further info.

The club training aircraft is currently out of service after a very
Thorough going over for its annual certification, nothing of a serious nature was found but there were a number of small things that require some attention to bring it back up to scratch.


Andrew



THE AIRSHOW at MATAMATA and MATTERS of MATTER.


The Sport Aircraft Association of New Zealand, S.A.A. – NZ, hold an Airshow, or SPORTAVEX, in conjunction with their annual fly – in and AGM, alternating between Ashburton and Matamata. This year it is at Matamata on Friday 22nd, Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th. Friday is arrivals, trade displays, fly-mart and seminars with the AGM in the evening. On Saturday the event is open to the public with the Airshow in the afternoon and the dinner in the evening. Everyone will be packing up on Sunday. With the exception of the Saturday dinner, meals are available on a cash basis with camping on the field at $6 per person per night.

Everyone is welcome although there is a small charge for entry on the Saturday. If you wish to fly in on Friday, normal procedures for Matamata apply, that is, comply with Mandatory Broadcast Zone requirements, remember all circuits are on the SW side of runway 01 – 28 where the hangers, the main road and the railway lines are. The 04 – 22 runway is usually closed. If you don't hear the ATIS don't worry, I've never heard it yet.
Gliders circuit on the NE side of the runway and parachutes drop in all over the place. If you hear a garbled call like “ Chatter chatter tific, puddly-gook, two minutes da plop” the translation is “ Matamata traffic, parachuting operations, two minutes to drop” Don't blame the drop plane driver, he is in a very drafty cabin with the doors on one side removed and a lot of horsepower going flat out clawing for height. Answer the drop plane and either get on the ground within the two minutes or make sure you are well clear. Never join overhead during parachuting operations. If you intend flying in on Saturday morning, you should get the NOTAMS or read Sport Flying, Summer edition, as there will be a Flight Information Service and several other things will be different, for instance the frequency of the ATIS.

Now to the Mater of the mud and mess on the apron in front of the Clubrooms and hangers. The PPAB have an agreement with a contractor who is working along Neilson St; for him to dump quite a few truck loads of 'reasonable' spoil, to fill the hollow areas, level the whole lot off and sow grass seed. at no cost to us. There is a time limit in the written agreement but at this moment I can't remember it. The contractor started off well but like a lot of these things it might go sour as he is having a lot of trouble making the required digger and grader available at our site. There is some rubbish in the middle of the big lake where the digger made a hole to drain the water. This will be fixed up ( cross your fingers ). Please be patient and things will turn out for the better eventually ( cross your fingers – again !!! )

The Mater of the appearance of the ARMAC clubrooms was brought up at the last PPAB meeting and it was agreed that a coat of paint the same colour as the SAA building would improve the overall looks of the 'complex'. So how about it ? Half a dozen members would easily get round it, windows and all, in a day, probably with a bar-b-q lunch thrown in. I offer to start it off by bringing my water blaster along and giving the building a washdown.

A Mater that no-one really wants to know about – Lopez and Barnett are way behind with their hanger ground rent – AGAIN. In theory it is no-ones problem but Brian Thomson's as he is the nominated hanger owner, but it seems so unfair that he loses his share of the hanger because of his partners default, so PPAB have decided to go back to the Solicitor who helped us with the court case a couple of years ago.

A non Matter is my Tiger Moth. Not a single piece of wood has been cut as I seem to be flat out preparing radios etc for the SportAvex.

An interesting Mater is that I've let my hanger at Matamata to Rob Germon who has moved his Flying Flea HM 16, ZK – FLE, into it ready for it's maiden flight. The Flea has two wings the same size – the upper one being pivoted so that it changes incidence as the stick is moved back and forth. The leading edge of the lower wing is just a little behind the trailing edge of the upper wing and there is no tailplane. The large rudder is operated by waggling the stick from side to side and the pedals operate the brakes only. It will be on show during SportAvex.

That's the last Mater. See you all Tuesday at the meeting.



Recreational Aircraft Association of New Zealand
Annual fly-in
Fri 8th to Sun 10th Feb, 2002
STRATFORD AERODROME
The fly-in got off to a good start with 38 microlights arriving on the first day. The weather was great for the uneventful two-hour trip down the coast in the Avid with a landing at Raglan for no reason at all. It was midday when I arrived in the far south and microlight aircraft were arriving from all directions. I was watching all the landings when in the midst of the fray a familiar plane came into view. It was Brian Thomson in the Pelican ZK-FTE, all the way from Pikes Point.

The annual fly-in is always the highlight of the year for me and this one was lived up to the blurb. Saturday morning we had a pilot briefing for those partaking in the flying competitions, followed by an address by Rex Kenny of the Civil Aviation Department who gave us a rundown of what to expect in the near future with regard to pilot licenses, medicals and legislation. In the afternoon a Vampire jet arrived overhead to give an impressive display of aircraft capability and pilot skill.

Stratford was left deserted when all available aircraft were scrambled for a local trip and landing at New Plymouth airport. New Plymouth waived all landing fees and gave the swarm of landing microlight aircraft a multiple streaming clearance to land. No individual clearances were issued except that we had to report crossing the main road for runway 32 for those with radio. Commercial operations just had to wait. It was great!
The Vampire jet was on display at the airport so I tried the left hand seat for size but it was too small for me, and the cockpit was cramped but worst of all was that the keys had been removed.
We had lunch there and returned to Stratford via the south and completing a leisurely two-hour circumnavigation of Mt Taranaki.

Friday night it rained all night. Brian reckons that he awoke in his tent to pull some blanket over himself and found that he was lying in a pool of cold water. It was all forgotten when the flying activities got under way.

. Saturday night dinner went without a hitch. Ken Coulter of the Northern Microlight Club (Dargaville) scooped the pool of competition prizes.
The fly-in was well organised and all bases were covered. Stratford Microlight Club did a fine job of hosting this fly-in.

I watched a Pelican aircraft arrive overhead at low level in cloudy conditions. I turned away for a while and when I next looked it was in the final stages of the landing roll. I didn't see the earlier bounce but as I looked I realised that something was wrong. The aircraft was not taking off again, nor was it slowing down. It had full flap engaged and the nose wheel was off the ground in a nose high attitude for the remaining length of runway. It continued at the same speed until it smacked right into the fence at the end; through another fence and bashed into a windbreak. The aircraft bounced into the air and fell nose first into a drain. The occupants were quick to scramble out. They were rushed off to hospital by ambulance but their injuries were found not to be life threatening and they were discharged the same day. The engine was completely wrenched out of the aircraft and the airframe severely damaged.

The trip home on Sunday morning was a harrowing ordeal in very severe turbulence resulting from the strong northeast wind. Forward progress was slowed by the 40 knots of head wind.
Half an hour into the flight home I set cruise / climb power to get over some ominous looking cloud which was down to ground level over inhospitable tiger country. As I approached the cloud I realised that I had bitten off more that I could chew. I gradually pushed the throttle to full power and raised the nose to my best climb attitude. I was quite startled to see the altimeter unwinding which told me that the aircraft was descending very quickly in full climb mode. I turned away and out to sea muttering, OK, OK I'm leaving.

An hour later I struck the worst turbulence I'd ever encountered in the Avid. At one time I had to slap the stick hard over to the right to pick up a vertical left hand wing drop and at the same time sit helplessly as the Avid was thrown sideways to the direction of travel at maximum maneuvering speed.
Very scary stuff but I was not perturbed about the Avid's ability to withstand those stresses because the aircraft was factory rated for aerobatics and its airframe was constructed of steel and designed to be very strong.

I was last of the bunch to land at Raglan from Stratford and after a cup of coffee downtown and bidding farewell to the Dargaville crews, Brian and I set heading for Pikes Point. I tuned in to the Auckland ATIS and learned that the wind was 256 degrees at 33 knots. Yikes! I thought; the worst wind direction for Pikes and very strong at that. When I arrived overhead, my worst fears were confirmed. It was very turbulent. I descended for 07 keeping a good eye on the turn & slip to keep the plane balanced. The Avid rocked 'n rolled and jerked and bucked and the next I realised I was taxiing up to my hanger. I watched Brian make landfall and knew that we both had the same choreographer. 10/10. He got out and kissed and hugged his plane.

The next RAANZ annual fly-in is planned to be in the South Island.
Bring it on!!


What I Did in the Holidays Part II
By Anton Lawrence

In the first edition of this years Tarmac I wrote about a South Island trip. Those who went on that trip decided to try again only this time spend more time in the South Island.
So we crossed over on the 27th December and this is what followed.
We arrived in Picton at 7.00pm and drove straight to St Arnaud where we meet with the rest of the troop who had crossed a day earlier. The weather was rubbish the next day so we drove around to Hamner springs. The weather didn't look much better so we drove on down to Geraldine, pitching tents in the dark.
The next day the boys were getting fairly keen for some sort of aviation, so Mike Bennet, who was to be the tug pilot for the first couple of weeks, made some calls and we all went off in convoy. We ended up at some guy by the name of Ian Sinclair's strip. (Current RANZ President for those not in the know). He has a great strip, which was way to long for our needs, life's tuff.
I was planning on being towed for a change, but the weather didn't look to flash so the other 12 pilots rigged up and I helped with the trike.
This proved a wise move as the others de-rigged after witnessing some rather horrible manoeuvres from Trev after being towed a short way behind Mike. The wind had picked up quite quickly and was none to smooth. Mike did some interesting circuits before giving it completely away.
Everyone was to shagged to travel so we stayed in Geraldine that night, but the weather did not improve. It later transpired that a high-pressure system did not cross NZ until we got back to work, typical.
Next day we travelled up to Omarama, the wind blew real hard that day especially through Burks pass, but it was very nice to be up in the mountains again.
The Omarama Hang Gliding Classic was on this week and John Urlich few from Magic mountain (close to Omarama) to Fairly, over one hundred kilometres that same day. We recon it only took two thermals but I'm sure John has a different story.
We were able to get some towing in that evening as the wind dropped, Mike was the tow pilot and I played organizer, I still hadn't got I fly.
Next day Mike left for home so I was the Tow pilot. I did eight tows but the thermal index was quite low and so the flying was less than eventful.
The wind was still up the next day, to strong for towing, so we all went to fly of a hill (Glenbrook, just south of Twizel) in the Hang Gliders. This was very eventful. I wasn't first of the hill, the pilots already flying looked happy so off I went. I soon caught a medium sized thermal and started to circle up. The wind had picked up again and so the drift was quite strong.
I got to about 4500' when I lost the lift and turned to come forward.
Have you ever had that horrible adrenalin type feeling when you know you've just stuffed up and something terrible is about to happen? Well this was one of those times. I had drifted a long way back but not over the tops, the soaring face was well forward and it was obvious that I was not going to be able to glide back out. The only out come looked like getting rotored into the valley (sunset gully according to the map) behind take off, not desirable. By some strange luck I caught a leeside thermal and was able to ride it back over the front, saved that time.
The flight was less eventful from there on, I was able to get up to about 6500' and fly along the Benmore range and land back at the airstrip. The wind had dropped for a bit but it was very strong at the strip and I landed vertically in about 25-30 knots.
The next day we went up Magic Mountain and had a quick fly in wave rotor. If you have never flown in strong NW conditions in the South Island then all I can say is don't! There were some hardy soles who hung in on the hill but most landed quite quickly.
So that was the end of the Omarama Classic, now it was time for the Hang Gliding Nationals to start.
It was now Sunday and official practice for the Nats.
The weather wasn't too bad and so most pilots launched off Magic and flew up the Ahuriri Valley. This is one of the most beautiful valleys around. I ended up crossing a gap to the north from Mt Ben Avon when it over developed a little and it started to snow. It was very unusual to see all this soft white stuff coming straight at me. I turned back down the valley and was soon on the deck.
The next day was the first day of the Nats and a very similar day to Sunday. A 53.8km task was called.
I took of after Tim Osbourn and we were soon climbing very nicely. At about 7000' I pulled out of the lift and headed over the valley to fly the same hills as yesterday, up to the first turn point (Birchwood Station). From up the valley it was possible to see over into the Dingle valley and onto lake Hawea.
I arrived over the turn point at about 6500' and then headed back down the valley to the second turn point, which was the bridge over the river on the take off road. I arrived over the bridge with good height but couldn't get over the top of Magic as the Sea breeze had come in and was blowing what seemed like 20kts over the top.
Tim and a few others had gone up the east side of the valley, I was the only one to go up the west side. As I was trying to gain height after failing to get over Magic both Tim and Bill Degan flew over the top on their way to the second turn point. Tim ended up scratching on the eastern side and flew out the valley to land by the road 12.3kms short of goal.
Bill flew back over the top and looked a shoe in to get over the top of Magic. Wrong, he was next seen way underneath me and ended up in the bomb out paddock. Bills flight was still good enough for third place.
I decided to take Tim's route and flew down the valley soaring the sea breeze where possible and landed 13kms from goal, good enough for second. This was one of the most enjoyable flights I can remember,
3 1/2 hrs in the air with scenery to die for.
We had a few days off due to bad weather and a number of pilots flagged it thinking it was going to be a one-day nationals. I was the last one staying at the campground the remainder were staying down at the river.
The next task was off Magic again with a similar task as the previous day. Up to Birchwood and back down to an airstrip by the road In the Ahurri valley, 34.3km.
Tim was off early again and I shortly after. My flying this day was as bad as it was good the previous day. Two thermals, some ridge scratching and then a landing.
It turned out to be a very good day with six in goal, Tim being first in with an exceptional fly. Lesley Marshal from Canterbury got her first competition turn point and was very happy. (Cost her in the pub though)
I wasn't feeling quite so smart.
Day three consisted of standing around on top of Mt Mary in the rain, playing hacky and seeing who was going to be first to become sterilized from to transmitter only meters away. The highlight being the pathetic application of a piece of inner tube to Warrens exhaust. The loud flatulent type noise that followed was well worth it.
We did eventual fly. Four runs up and down the ridge and then out to the main road through the rain, 21.2km.
Tim was first in again. I was 5th on time but the Duckworth Lewis system meant that I scored 6th, work that out if you can, something to do with departure points. It pays to understand the scoring system.
The last day was a fly of Mt Cuthbert, directly behind Omarama.
The highlight of this day was the drive up the hill.
The day was fairly stable with little wind up the face and a take off between two large rocks. John Urlich was heard to scream what he though was his last but somehow got off.
The goal was the airstrip in the Ahuriri Valley, 25km.
Tim was one of the first off but was soon on the ground with Clint not fat out off town. I landed across the road.
There was some lift about and those that took off later seemed to have an edge and flew over the top and landed a bit further down the road.
But it was Dave Newton and Hargen who made us all look like chumps by making it into the valley, Hargen just short of goal. What was worse they were off first.
So that was it Tim the winner and Dave brides maid again.
GPS was used for the first time as alternative flight verification and is definitely the way to go. It is easy to see if you've made a turn point when your track is printed out over a map of the course. It can be done straight away and there is no film cost. Most pilots have GPS these days and if you don't I recommend the purchase.
And that was the end of that mission.











Trade And Exchange.
Private owners only
Contact the Editor to place an add
813 6404hm 025 354 998wk
kirstant@orcon.co.nz


Warpdrive three blade 58"-60" left hand ground adjustable prop. Older type with two sets of hub plates to suit either standard Rotax 75mm or 4" bolt pattern for VW or Subaru. Moulded-in metal leading edge protection.
Never been used. $900 Contact Jon Farmer, ph (09) 520 0641

Icom A22 handheld radio, 760 com: channels plus VOR navigation readout. Alkaline battery pack. Brand new in box $950
Contact Jon Farmer, ph (09) 520 0641

Two quality Peltor headsets, intercom with cables for connection to Icom radio and push to talk switch. All new. $650 the lot or I can fit the headsets with standard GA plugs and sell them separately. Contact Jon Farmer, ph (09) 520 0641

Intercom, with connoectiions to radio $200 Contact Jon Farmer, ph (09) 520 0641

Helmets with clip on peak and Peltor earmuffs. Fully adjustable for size. Wear a beanie underneath in cold weather. Either red or blue. $180
I can customise these helmets with speakers and microphone to suit your requirements. Contact Jon Farmer, ph (09) 520 0641

Dac and ¼ share of Hanger No.3 at Pikes Point.
Dac has only 5 ½ hours airtime, recovery chute and many extras.
Make an offer for aircraft and hanger together or separately, but aircraft must be sold before hanger goes separately. Contact Brian Mcleod, 351 Weber Rd, RD1 Dannevirk 5491. Ph 06 374 6635.