CANTERBURY RECREATIONAL AIRCRAFT CLUB

May 2011 Newsletter

This is the first newsletter of CRAC's year - a month after the AGM. We intend to try for one per month, two weeks after each committee meeting is held on the first Wednesday of the month.

President's Report

Welcome to the new club newsletter that will be delivered to you every month. Peter Collins, I and Dave McPherson will put it together.

The new committee had its first meeting last week and a number of significant issues were dealt with.

Firstly we elected Doug Anderson as the club safety officer. Doug has been involved with the club almost from its inception and is well qualified for the job. He takes over from Paul Woodley who has done an outstanding job for many years. He is having a well earned rest and I am sure we will see him in other important positions in the club in years to come. Thanks Paul for your outstanding effort and your professional approach to an important job.

The committee is as follows

Mike Sheffield President

Dave Mitchell CFI

James Sleeman Secretary

Graeme Main Treasurer

Doug Anderson Safety Officer, Fund raising

Buzz Harvey Hangars

Peter Collins Newsletter

Grant Porter Club Captain

Stu Bufton Clubhouse 'shop'


The new committee decided on a number of goals for the year. These include:

An Open Day early in July,

Development plan for the new clubhouse,

Improved audio quality for the aircraft,

Further development and activities at Oxford,

More local flying event and non flying club activities,

GPS for training in their use, in the club aircraft.


Open Day

An open day at the field will be held early in July, Saturday if fine, otherwise postpone to Sunday.

We will have the usual activities

  • TRIAL Flights

  • BBQ

  • Open Hangars

  • Trade Displays

  • Aircraft Line ups

  • Club Information.

  • Model Aircraft


We encourage those of you with their own aircraft to put them on the display line and produce a specification and history sheet for your baby. Send it to editor@recwings.com to have it laminated for you.


There will be more info to come on the arrangements for the day.


By now the working bee at the Oxford flying field will be complete. See the report on that in this issue.


That’s all for now,


Mike

AGM

This was held on 18 April 2011 in the club rooms. The minutes can be obtained from secretary@recwings.com - however, the highlights were:

  • Mike Sheffield was recognised for his service to the club with a Life Membership.

  • Hangar #3 is in use - virtually complete.

  • CFI reminds us all that in the MBZ we must have working radios and use them properly.

  • JOR and JOZ continue servicable and JOL rebuild is almost complete.

  • The club's annual profit was $17,000, much more from hangar rent than from aircraft hire.

  • The new committee was elected - details of positions below.

  • Suggestions were made for the committee to consider.

COMMITTEE: who's who, and what's what.

The first meeting of the year was held on 4 May. Minutes are available from secretary@recwings.com - the President's report is above. Contact emails are:

  • Mike Sheffield president@recwings.com

  • Graeme Main treasurer@recwings.com

  • James Sleeman secretary@recwings.com

  • Grant Porter captain@recwings.com

  • Buzz Harvey hangars@recwings.com

  • Doug Anderson safety@recwings.com

  • Stuart Bufton tuckshop@recwings.com

  • Peter Collins editor@recwings.com

  • David Mitchell cfi@recwings.com

General:

  • Funds: current account $14,000.

  • James to review booking system and laptop operation.

  • Mike to investigate having more badges and jackets made.

  • Committee to have access to directly email all members (as you will have noticed!)

  • Open Day early July.

  • Development plan to be made for new clubhouse

  • Oxford to have more use made of it, working bees to make it more useful.

  • More mass flights, etc., to raise public awareness.

  • Improve the audio quality in club aircraft.

  • Noted that Waimakariri Council has installed landing-fee cameras.

  • GPS to be purchased for training in their use.

  • Exhaust gas analyser has been donated by Brendon Ford.

COMING EVENTS:

  • Open Day early July. Ideas sought, please, to captain@recwings.com

  • Social Evening - every Friday, 19:00, Clubhouse.

NEWSLETTER: what's happening here?

The editor has been appointed - me, Peter Collins. What does that mean?

Editor: One who edits; esp., a person who prepares ... a book, magazine, or newspaper, etc., for publication.

That's not the same as Author: One who composes or writes, ... as distinguished from an editor.

Dave MacPherson, the outgoing editor (now too busy on really important work, like running working bees to upgrade the Oxford field) will be a key advisor to the new chum.

James Sleeman, still running our brilliant web-site as well as all his other duties in the secretary role he has generously maintained, will see to it that the newsletter editor knows how to do his job, and continue to make the newsletter accessible to us all each month, with single click.

So, you send to editor@recwings.com material that you have written for all to share, and I'll see it into the newsletter for us all. I might have to write some stuff myself, sure, but my main role is to see that it all gets plugged together and out to the members on time.

This is a plea for submissions! We all have tales to share - I hear them over coffee, tea and beers in the clubhouse, and I know we can all write - so please, do let us all know about your adventures. Photos would be nice, too!

Editor

Oxford Working Bee:

On Saturday, May 14th, Club members converged on Oxford armed with chainsaws. There was a pile of pine branches to pick through and saw into lengths. This was done with great gusto. It was then piled onto trailers and taken down to the CRAC shack and stacked up to dry, all ready for the Easter flyin next year.

Meanwhile, another crew enthusiastically emptied out the CRAC shack. They then rearranged the kitchen area and installed a mean looking wood burning heating device, which had to be lit to see if it worked, of course. The lounge area was rearranged to make it a little bit more inviting.

This was finished off with a well-earned BBQ. Thanks to all those helpers, a job well done. I will get the club captain to organise a winter flyin so everyone can check out the facilities. Here's the team after doing all that work, preparing to eat, and looking properly satisfied.



Safe flying

Dave McPherson

Club Captain's Notes:

Thanks to the Dave and The Oxford Team for all the hard yakka, and especially to Dave for the new fire he has so kindly provided. Hopefully we will get a flyin arranged soon so we all benefit from the effort.

I would like to organise a (Grab a Friend) day at RT, Basically we bring someone out for a flight and a cuppa /lunch. Someone who has not flown before. The idea is that it's a friend (so under the rules it's okay for you to take them for a flight). If you're keen, please contact me so we can work out dates to set as a goal.

As it gets cold our little rodent friends start looking for warm homes. An increase of activity in hangers requires some effort in pest control. Food is a big magnet to our little friends, so try and keep hangers clean from anything they like! If you leave food in your plane watch out, as they will find a way in and then they will compromise your safety by chewing on wire coatings, fabric and anything else they think might fill their little tummies. PLUS you might get in trouble for taking them up with you, unless you have a passenger rating.

On a sad note, JOR, one of our two nice little RANS S6 Coyotes, was damaged in a heavy landing over the weekend. It will take at least several weeks (at best!) to complete repairs, but with luck we will shortly have JOL operational to support our ongoing training program.

You might have seen the excellent publicity we were able to organise in the Avenues Magazine recently. You missed it? Fear not – you can view it on the Avenues web site.

Any member who needs to contact me at the field can generally find me in The Landing Spot workshop, under the Rotax Service Centre sign. I reward good ideas for the club with coffee and a ginger biscuit.

Grant Porter

DATABASE: please help us get it current!

Our database is (unfortunately) out of date. I'm as guilty as anyone. I bought my RAF2000 gyro ZK-RCW back in November and it has taken me six months to put it in the club register.

What? You didn't know about the register? Log into www.recwings.com and click Members List under Members Tools/Info. What you see is just a few of the columns in the database.

You can download the whole database. At the top of the members' list, click in the Download List field and select Full then click Download the list! which will give you a .csv file that will, in most systems open as a spreadsheet page (if not, contact me for help at editor@recwings.com). Yes, some of the columns seem not be used, but (and it has to be admitted that it's a big 'but') with luck they will all get filled and the system will become much more useful, and even provide reminders for your crucial dates.

So, how do you fill or change your row in the table, so that you have more than the bare data you provided at joining time?

  1. Log into www.recwings.com

  2. Click Members List under Members Tools/Info.

  3. The summary members list displays.

  4. Click on update your own details online in the blue Quick Tip box just above the Download List field.

  5. The Edit Details screen opens.

  6. If you are a first-time user of the database,

  • on the "Get identity Code" line click in the pull-down field and select your own name.

  • Click Get Identity Code and in a few moments the system will send a code to the email you last gave the club. The email also contains a live link to the update page in the website. I don't think you can change the code to something user-friendly, so write it down on that list you have taped to the underside of your bottom desk drawer. Actually, the top drawer is easier to look under, but each to their own, I guess.

  1. If you already have an "Identity Code" key it into the Identity Code field and click Edit.

  2. The Edit Membership Details screen opens.

  3. Add or overtype your data. Note that the Newsletter field now should always be set to "email" and you will be sent an email with the link to the latest newsletter when it has been put on the website. You may print it from there if you wish, of course. Any other value in that Newsletter field will be ignored.

  4. Click Save at the foot of the form.

  5. Your data is saved; you are logged out of update; the Information screen displays.

Instructors corner with Dave Mitchell

Fuelling

The clubs three trusty machines, JOR, JOL (soon!) and JOZ are all powered with, the very reliable ROTAX 582 and what follows is directed at the club members who fly these aircraft. These engines are designed to run on Regular or Premium gasoline with an octane number not below RON 90(unleaded ) - in other words, Regular 91 from the local service station.

You will have all handled 91 at some time or another, be it in your car, motor mower, chainsaw and the like - and of course, you are all familiar with its COLOUR - or are you? Well, it is vitally important that you do know.

91 before the oil is added, is clearly PINK. Once the Castrol Super Twostroke oil is added at the ratio of 1 part oil to 50 parts gasoline its colour changes to BLUE/GREEN and this is the colour you MUST look for in the fuel filter on the refuelling trolley when you are "topping" the aircraft up. As well, the refuelling hose has a clear piece of plastic pipe as a nozzle where the pipe enters the aircraft tank where the colour can be further checked.

People approved to mix fuel for use in the six 60ltr drums that we hold are responsible for ensuring that the 1 litre of oil is poured into the drum before 50 litres (don't fill the drum right up!) of fuel is added. However, the FINAL responsibility rests with YOU the pilot when you refuel these aircraft prior to flight.

THE FINAL RESPONSIBILITY RESTS WITH THE PILOT TO ENSURE THAT OIL HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE FUEL!! I trust I have made the point !! No, we haven't had any trouble in this area and this is a timely reminder to ensure that it doesn't happen - ever !!


Q codes

Now, on a lighter note, the term QNH is often heard in the CTR/CTA. Ever wonder where it came from?

Well, it goes back to the days of Morse Code where the use of standard questions were given a 'Q' Code to cut down transmission times.

QNH of course means - "What should I set on the subscale of my altimeterso that it would indicate the elevation of my aircraft if it were on the ground at your airfield".

QFE - "What should I set on the subscale of my altimeter so that it would indicate its height above the reference elevation being used" eg setting the altimeter to 0 feet when on the ground at an airfield.

And, here are some more -

QFG - Am I overhead?

QRV - Are you ready?

QTR - What is the correct time?

QFB - Are you flying in cloud?

QAN - What is the surface wind speed?


And some 'made up' ones -


QLF - Try sending with your left foot

and this one I really like -

QRB - My trailing aerial is wound around a rainbow and I am about to transmit in technicolour !


Cheers,


Dave Mitchell

Kia Scouts' Visit

On 15 March (a Tuesday) the club played host to 20 young Kia Scouts accompanied by parents and Scout administration.

They were taken to Pat's hangar, shown an aircraft engine, had a good look at a Russian fighter trainer and saw how an aircraft is hand-moved. In Hangar 1 they were shown how to pre-flight JOR and then queued up to reach through its door and move the control column while watching to see how the control surfaces reacted.

Before coming to the field they had learnt quite a lot of basic aeronautics by designing and flying paper darts. The winner of the "Best Dart" competition was awarded a free circuit in the left seat of JOR with Dave Mitchell. Every pillow we won was used to prop up the young 'pilot' so he could see over the cowling and reach the stick. His fellow Keas watched in silent fascination (and maybe a touch of envy) from taxiing, take-off, circuit and landing - until back at the hangar when the engine was turned.

Gyro RCW was also on display and was the focus of a great deal of attention, especially as the engine and controls are all very much 'out there'. A taxiing run with spinning rotor was conducted as a partial demonstration but lack of a qualified pilot meant that our guests didn't get to see it leave the ground.

At the end of their allotted hour this well-behaved group left, satisfied that they had been able to see and do all the things they had hoped for. Maybe we'll get a few young trainees, in about 15 years, as a result!


Peter Collins


STORY CORNER

JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE

by Stewart Bufton (ZK - LSB)


As a pilot who’s always looking for an out of the way and interesting place to land I tend to spend many hours searching lands and survey topographical maps and Google Earth. One place I reckoned looked promising was what appeared to be a strip in the Leatham River valley about 20 miles east of Lake Station Aerodrome. Another advantage is that a DOC hut is beside the strip. So with a destination in mind a plan was made that needed some good weather plenty of fuel and the all important “day pass” from the wife.

October the 13th 2010 arrives the forecast is for light winds the sun is shinning so today is the day. I pre-flight check the plane and measure the fuel on board at 100 litres (should be enough). The engine starts nicely and as I operate 4 miles inside the Christchurch control zone I listen to the ATIS before calling the Control Tower. The ATIS holds one surprise - 2000ft wind - Northerly 20kts (not what I consider to be light winds). Never mind, I call the Tower requesting clearance to take off then to vacate the zone at Southbrook. The Tower gives me clearance so I turn on the transponder, apply full throttle and away I go.

Six miles later I call clear of the zone then change to Rangiora 120.2 and make the relevant radio call. Dave Mitchel (DYM) hears my call and we exchange pleasantries as I track north into a 10kt headwind leaving Rangiora CFZ and changing to 119.1 one mile west of Amberley township.

C:\Users\Stewart\Pictures\CH 701 Flying\2010-10-13\007.JPG I make my way north passing over the Culverden airstrip and since I am also planning a close look at Lake McRae which is about 20 miles NW of Kaikoura I track just west of Mount Lyford ski field and pass over the Amuri Range at 6500ft. The Clarence River is now directly in front of me flowing NE. At this point it occurs to me why am I flying 4500ft above a perfectly good riverbed so carb heat on, pull the power back to 3500rpm, point the nose downhill and watch the altimeter unwind. After several blips of the throttle during the descent to check that all is well at the pointy end of the plane 501ft AGL comes up so I level off and continue down river.

I navigate using a combination of VNC charts, handheld GPS with airstrips etc programmed into it and a GPS module plugged into my laptop computer which is loaded with all the topographical maps of NZ from 50000:1 through to 2000000:1 so it comes as a surprise to now be looking down at a hut on the SE side of the river which is not on my topo. maps. Obviously further investigation is required especially since the riverbed looks as though it may be land-able so down I go for a closer look.

My first pass is about 100ft above the hut which is about 70ft above the river on a terrace, the river is 100 odd metres wide where the hut is but wider both up and downstream (plenty of room). The first pass reveals landing possibilities both up and downstream of the hut, upstream being shingle riverbed, downstream being a flat area with what looked like some minor vegetation on it that had not been flooded for possibly a long time. The downstream option is chosen as the surface would most likely be the same should I revisit this hut some time in the future.

One further low pass at 5-10ft is made at low speed which confirms the plants are few and spindly C:\Users\Stewart\Pictures\CH 701 Flying\2010-10-13\016.JPG and shouldn’t be a problem. I then climb to about 100ft, do a 180 deg. turn which puts me on finals, 15 deg. of flap goes on and I am now starting to really concentrate as this area is a long way from anywhere and even minor piloting errors will likely to be punished severely. Touchdown occurs where intended but as I lower the front (training) wheel it is immediately obvious from the noise that the few and spindly plants are a bit too solid for my liking so - FULL POWER - STICK BACK - FLAPS 30 - the aircraft leaps several feet in the air - ease the stick forward, let the speed build while slowly reducing to flaps 15- turn right towards the 100m wide section of river below the hut. Passing below the hut at about 30ft above the river places me in the perfect position for a low fly-over of landing site option 2 (the riverbed). This looked ok so I do a climbing right hand turn back over the water to about 50ft then back into a tight left hand descending turn to line up for a low and slow pass over the exact spot where I want to touchdown. The 5-10ft low pass confirms the shingle to be suitable so back around I go. This time I climb to about 150 ft and extend a bit further downwind to give myself more room. As I turn left onto base I look down to see 4 wild goats running to get away but no time to be distracted its concentration time again. As I turn onto short finals I approach initially with 30 deg. of flap to reduce my speed then back to 15 deg. for the last 50 metres. I hit the intended landing spot, immediately retract the flap to put as much weight on the main wheels as possible, lower the nose wheel, turn to avoid some larger stones C:\Users\Stewart\Pictures\CH 701 Flying\2010-10-13\017.JPG 20 metres ahead then come to a halt on a nice smooth patch of gravel. The first thing I do once out of the aircraft is check the prop and tyres. All looked fine so off I go to check out the hut.

Palmer Hut is a Standard DOC hut and is very nice but time is ticking by so I take a few photos then back to the plane.

I checkout where I landed to make sure it’s suitable for a take off, all looks good so I climb on board. The engine starts straight away (a great sound when you are by yourself and a long way from civilisation). I backtrack, turn to line up then do the normal checks. Full power is applied with full rear stick, the nose immediately rises which gives good prop clearance, moments later 15 deg of flap is applied and the aircraft leaves the ground. I climb out past the hut heading NE down the Clarence River towards Lake McRae about 10 miles away. Four miles from Palmer Hut I turn north away from the river and climb up a rugged valley that leads to Lake McRae. C:\Users\Stewart\Pictures\CH 701 Flying\2010-10-13\024.JPG I circle the lake then proceed to do three low passes in different directions with an eye to landing there in the future.

The Leatham River valley is my next destination so it’s initially a full power climb to the west until I have sufficient height to turn north. The map shows a saddle coming up that is about 5100ft but when I round a ridge and see it ahead of me I know at least one climbing left hand turn will be required as with less than a mile to go I’m still several hundred feet below the saddle. As it turned out turbulence gets me first so I turn away and opt for a straight climb to the SW. Enough height is achieved in a few of minutes so I turn north.

At 6500ft I cross over the Awatere River with Moleworth Station homestead two miles to the east. Ten miles later I pass over a saddle into the headwaters of the Leatham River so the carb heat that was being cycled on and off is now left on as power is reduced for descent. A few minutes later I’ve lost 3000ft and am getting a really good view of this rugged bush clad valley.

The 10kt tail wind I had at the saddle is now a 10kt headwind so I’m assuming it will be a slight downhill landing. The few miles left to the airstrip disappear quite quickly as the anticipation of landing at my intended destination grows. Soon the GPS is telling me there is only half a mile to go so I position myself at about 100ft above the bush just to the right of the narrow river below descending with the terrain and plan to do a low flyover. Moments later a bright orange windsock comes into view on the right hand (East) side of the river at what must be the far end of the strip so IC:\Users\Stewart\Pictures\CH 701 Flying\2010-10-13\028.JPG go flaps 30 deg turn slightly right to get closer to the bush and give me a better look of the strip as it comes fully into view. All looks good at about 30ft AGL, and as I have already confirmed the headwind I reduce the flaps to 15 deg and decide to land. The strip is large compared to what I’m used to, roughly 400m long x about 30m wide and grass covered. The landing is straight forward and with no special effort and the benefit of 10kts headwind I only use about 40m of strip. I backtrack and park out of the way before shutting down the engine.

I spend the next few minutes deleting some old photos from the camera as its memory was full. When I’d finished I looked up and was surprised to see a Toyota Hilux just pulling up so I climb out of the plane and go over to have a yarn. It turns out the two guys were from Auckland and they regularly fly down to Nelson to fish. They inform me that the track they’re driving on has only just been reopened by DOC the first time in nine months. They head off to check out fishing possibilities further upstream while I go for a walk to look at the hut.

Caves Hut (above, showing the strip, looking South) is a Standard hut and has all the essentials and would be a great place to spend a night. The time is now 1:30pm so with a considerable distance still to travel I climb back into the aircraft and start it up. With all the checks done I take off downstream towards the north and since I now have space left on the camera I decide to do a 180 deg turn so that I can photograph the strip. With this completed I turn north again following the Leatham River to Branch River then onto the Wairau River.

I am now 20 miles ENE of Lake Station Aerodrome and decide that I will return home by following the high voltage power lines south along the Wairau River valley. The start of this part of the trip is uneventful and I climb slowly knowing that there is a 4500ft saddle to get over about 20 miles away, conditions change “slightly” after the confluence of the Rainbow River. With mountains towering 3000ft above me on either side I enter Hells Gate (aptly named).

The electric fuel pump is turned on, the fullest fuel tank is selected and I slow down 10kts. A thought springs to mind whilst I hang on (sometimes there is a price to pay for flying low in mountainous areas). Never mind a few miles later the minor bumpy conditions that have been the norm for most of the day return so I speed up again and proceed on towards the Island Saddle 3 miles NE of Lake Tennyson.

Ten minutes later while passing over Island Saddle I wave the aircrafts wings at the first humans I’ve seen for quite some time, they all wave back as I start a cruise descent towards Lake Tennyson. A few minutes later I have descended to about 200ft AGL and the lake comes into view. I intend to have a close low level look for future landing possibilities so continue to descend to about 50ft, do two simulated approaches in different directions and conclude it would be possible to land there.

Climbing away from Lake Tennyson I connect up again with the power wires that are now following the Clarence River south towards Hanmer. Fifteen miles later I turn away from the Clarence River fly over Jacks Pass then onto Paul Hoods strip 3 miles SW of Hanmer township. I carry out a routine landing, get out of the aircraft stretch my legs have a drink and a chocolate bar, dip the fuel tanks then get back into the aircraft and takeoff this time towards Rangiora. The air on this part of the trip was absolutely smooth and soon enough I am making the downwind call at NZRT. Fifteen minutes later I’m already airborne out of Rangiora and calling the Control Tower requesting clearance to get back home. Clearance received I enter the control zone and 6 miles later I’m turning onto finals thinking what I normally do at this point that being I still have the hardest landing of the day ahead of me.

My strip is pretty much at right to the prevailing North easterly, quite rough, 190 metres long, mown 4-5metres wide with up to knee height grass on each side, has 15ft high trees and a ditch a few metres from the threshold at one end, deer fence at the other end, almost always has crosswind turbulence for the last 200 metres of the approach ranging from minor to not very nice and if I keep exactly on the centre line as I clear the 15ft high trees my right wingtip will miss 40ft high trees by 10 metres, (piece of cake). Fortunately the 10 - 15 metre long 5 - 8 cm deep patches of water I had to land in during winter have gone.

The last few hundred metres of the days flying are true to form with my left hand holding the flaps at 15 deg, my right hand working hard on the combination throttle and stick and my feet pedalling away. When it’s obvious I’m going to clear the 15ft high trees its fun time - power to idle - stick forward - flaps 0, the aircraft drops like a brick then - hard back on the stick - nose comes up - flaps 15 deg - the round out leaves the aircraft about 2ft above the ground (close enough) - flaps 0 - stick all the way back (thump), I’m on the ground - jump on the brakes, plenty of runway left so I can finally relax. While continuing quietly to the far end to turn around I call the Tower and advice then I’m complete and thank then, the controller wishes me a good evening (the people in the Control Tower I have always found really good to deal with and when time permits they’re very pleasant). I taxi back into my shingle floored hanger stopping on the chocks half a metre away from the end wall, I shut the engine down, the day is done.

Trip length 268 nm Flying time 4.8 hrs Fuel used 74 litres

Aircraft Zenair CH 701 (slightly modified) Engine 912 ULS

Fuel capacity 160 litres (max) spread over 4 tanks.


Notes

1) Student Pilots should not in any way copy any of the flying methods I use or your Instructor will lose his voice yelling at you.

2) No aircraft was damaged in the making of this story.

"In the Sky"

I wake up from my deep, dark sleep. It takes me a few seconds to gather my senses. Then suddenly I feel a burst of eagerness in my stomach. I remember why I feel so cheerful - I AM GOING FLYING TODAY!!!

I check the time; my lesson is in less than an hour. Quickly I spring out of bed, putting my clothes on as I go. I hear the faint sound of Mum and Dad's shower going, which means they are getting up. As soon as I have whipped my clothes on I rush to the kitchen and grab myself some cereal. I gaze outside; it's a beautiful day, which means soft, calm flying. Now that I have time to think I'm actually kind of nervous, and it's growing in the pit of my stomach.

All is silent in the house again - until my dog starts its usual, irritating whining wanting to be let out of the garage. But if I do let her out, I'll be stuck with supervising her toilet, and feeding her, and it will be all too much - today, I'm happy to leave it to Dad.

I go to brush my teeth and come back to find Mum having her breakfast. She will be driving me to the airfield, and once she is ready, we set off.

On the way to the airfield, I think about how the flight will be and where we will go. Unfortunately we have to do all the safety checks first - but they always have to be done. The aircraft I am flying in today is a RANS S6, a microlight. That's the usual training aircraft for the club. We have just entered Rangiora township, still quite early in the morning, but already the streets are filled with people and traffic. It's been like that here, ever since the earthquake. Despite the early hour, it's later than I had agreed with Ross (my instructor), so I phone and tell him we'll be a little late.

It only takes a couple of minutes, though, before we are out of the early chaos of this little town, and on our way through the countryside to my lesson. That's at the Canterbury Recreational Aircraft Club, also where I have my job. Every fortnight I go down to the Club and clean, and they pay me in minutes of flying.

Finally we reach the airfield and once more I get the adrenaline buzz from hearing aircraft and helicopter engines. I see Ross standing outside the hangar. The sky is clear and it looks like being a good day. Mum and I walk up to Ross. Now I'm really feeling the excitement coming back. It's over-powering all my nervousness.

After Mum has a brief chat with Ross, he and I set off to get the plane ready. The first step is to pull it out of the hangar with its tow-bar; like a spade handle with a hook on the end. Once we have the aeroplane outside we go around it and do the checks. Ross tells me we have to refuel the plane using the hand pump on the drum trolley, which means climbing a ladder to put the nozzle into the wing tanks. Once we have done that, and the safety checks, we will get into the microlight. But the plane is built for larger people than me and I need to grow some more before I'll be able to reach the rudder pedals. Ross fixes that for me, easily, with pillows to put behind and under me. I take a last overall look at the plane. It's about 4.5 metres long, covered with red and black fabric and looks about as ready to fly as I feel like flying it.

We get in the plane, do a few checks, then start the engine. All of a sudden I feel a zap of energy flow into me and excitement bursts in my body. The whole roar of the engine is amazing, like a lion calling on its mates. Because I'm the pupil, it's me in the pilot seat. My first job is to taxi the plane to the runway using the rudder pedals to steer. We get lined up, do a few more checks, then we are away, with Ross handling the takeoff, as I'm not capable of doing that - yet.

Once in the air it's amazing. There was nothing I know that can beat it, just the peacefulness of it all. No words could describe it, everything is so great and I love the freedom of it all. But soon there is more learning to do. Ross gets me banking right and left, showing me how the controls affect the movement of the plane. Unfortunately, while we have been flying the wind has been rising, so we go in early because of the turbulence.

Now, to land, first we fly in the 'cross wind' leg, then there are another 270 degrees of turns to get in line with the runway. My heart is beating so hard it feels as if it's coming out of my chest. I know landing is the hardest bit, and for me the most frightening as well. We cut down on the speed and gradually come down until we hit the runway and bang around like it's an earthquake. Finally we come to a stop. I taxi us back to the hangar and then thank Ross for taking me up. Unfortunately I can't help him pack up, because Mum is waiting to take me to tennis.

On the way back home I think about the flight and what I have learnt. I'm really looking forward to my next flying lesson. Gradually my heartbeat slows to normal and I can rest for a bit. It's been a great morning, and I can't wait until I go flying again. Finally, when I get home, I will be able to tell Dad about what is probably the best day of my life ...... so far!

Ryan Stevenson

Ryan is almost thirteen and 'pays' for his flying lessons by helping clean our club rooms. He works well on the ground for his time in the air - and he does well up there, too. Good luck, Ryan! - Ed.