Post by Peter Lewis on Feb 21, 2012 20:11:45 GMT 12
A couple of weekends ago I was elected to act as chauffeur for M when she needed to attend a Board meeting at Rotorua.
As this gave me a large part of the Saturday free I contacted Nev Worsley, legendary agpilot in the Wairarapa during the 1970s and a Rotorua aviation identity since 1985.
Semi-retired now, Nev acts as an instructor for the reformed Rotorua Aero Club (who operate Zenith ZK-XLI), assists Action Aviation with their Cessna operations, and in his spare time enjoys the EAA Acro Sport II ZK-CAW that he and his son Les completed in 2008.
We had a hospitable time at the Rotorua airfield where, despite the untiring efforts of both the Airport Authority and the Aviation Security 'Service', some GA and microlight aviation activity does manage to survive, and then adjourned to Chez Worsley for lunch and to inspect one of the largest collections of aircraft models I have ever seen in his basement.
Back to the airfield in the afternoon I was treated to a local flight in the Acro Sport.
Don't get confused by the hangar signage, that is the Acro in residence
After extraction, time to admire. Its a nice looking ship
Nev is justifiably proud
A shower of spray and we're away. Not quite. Climbing away from grass 36, view of Rotorua Lake on the left
In the hills south of Rotorua, we orbited over the Blue and Green Lakes
Rotorua City as it should be seen, framed by the wings of a biplane
You sit quite low in the cockpit, so the view forward is not great
Rotorua Airport is a few miles east of the city
On finals, we're heading back to grass 36, to the right of the sealed strip
View of the terminal from the taxii. The Convairs are apparently reasonably frequent visitors
After extraction from the front cockpit, you can see that its a bit of a tight fit
A great way to spend the day. Thanks Nev and the other guys who were around.
As this gave me a large part of the Saturday free I contacted Nev Worsley, legendary agpilot in the Wairarapa during the 1970s and a Rotorua aviation identity since 1985.
Semi-retired now, Nev acts as an instructor for the reformed Rotorua Aero Club (who operate Zenith ZK-XLI), assists Action Aviation with their Cessna operations, and in his spare time enjoys the EAA Acro Sport II ZK-CAW that he and his son Les completed in 2008.
We had a hospitable time at the Rotorua airfield where, despite the untiring efforts of both the Airport Authority and the Aviation Security 'Service', some GA and microlight aviation activity does manage to survive, and then adjourned to Chez Worsley for lunch and to inspect one of the largest collections of aircraft models I have ever seen in his basement.
Back to the airfield in the afternoon I was treated to a local flight in the Acro Sport.
Don't get confused by the hangar signage, that is the Acro in residence
After extraction, time to admire. Its a nice looking ship
Nev is justifiably proud
A shower of spray and we're away. Not quite. Climbing away from grass 36, view of Rotorua Lake on the left
In the hills south of Rotorua, we orbited over the Blue and Green Lakes
Rotorua City as it should be seen, framed by the wings of a biplane
You sit quite low in the cockpit, so the view forward is not great
Rotorua Airport is a few miles east of the city
On finals, we're heading back to grass 36, to the right of the sealed strip
View of the terminal from the taxii. The Convairs are apparently reasonably frequent visitors
After extraction from the front cockpit, you can see that its a bit of a tight fit
A great way to spend the day. Thanks Nev and the other guys who were around.
