Wellington Visit

[Kereru]

Wellington turned on a fine day for my visit yesterday. I took the 6:45 am Pacific Blue flight to NZWN and arrived on time at 7:45 am. I met Bob Leask in the car park and we were off to do some spotting. First stop was the southern end of the runway where we could catch some approach shots and the taxi and prepare for take off ones. We then went to the northern end and I spent a few hours there while Bob was away on appointments. After he returned and a film crew arrived to set up we moved to the other end again to where the helicopters come in to land. The helicopter we were after never came back till much later and we had moved a couple more time to other vantage points one being near the tunnel under the runway entrance and the other the street that the tower is in. I returned to Auckland on the 5:30 pm Pacific Blue flight with rather a red sunburnt face. A nice day out in the capital with a few other non aviation activities going on as well. Some photos below:

















Some activities happening while waiting for the helicopter.






Anyone know the registration of this helicopter? Answer ZK-ITR


This one of the 737 rising from behind the fence came out better than I thought but was of course a mistake with shutter button finger. ;D




Photo taken through tinted glass window of terminal.


Colin

[Dave Homewood]

Superb images. The 737 in the backyard is a classic. Was that Joe in the Metro?

[Naki]

Nice shots love the 737/fence shot even if it was a mistake.

The Helicopter is ZK-ITR operated by the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust and is an Agusta 119 Koala - there are now two of these in the country with other one in Tauranga. For some reason ITR is registered to Helilink in Auckland on the CAA register.

[flyjoe180]

Nice photos Colin, sorry I didn't get in touch with you I got busy with family things. It wasn't me flying the Metro this time unfortunately. The new nose cone looks ugly don't you think? The old one had to be replaced as it was damged and was interferring with the weather radar. Hopefully they paint it red soon.

[musice]

some nice pics there - showing you around was my pleasure.......... finally someone else took some Wellinton pics apart from me ;-) there better be another budding picture taker in the region soon though as I will be moving on up country at the end of January ;-) (then all the boys in the north will have to worry LOL)

[Kereru]

No worries Joe there will be other times and family comes first. Metro does look a bit odd with white nose cone but it is easy to identify from a distance.

ANZ grabaseat had $38, $40 and $15 one way fares today and it locked up as I couldn't get my hands on one! flightbookings.airnewzealand.co.nz/vgrabview/

Colin

[Kereru]

naki said:

Nice shots love the 737/fence shot even if it was a mistake.

The Helicopter is ZK-ITR operated by the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust and is an Agusta 119 Koala - there are now two of these in the country with other one in Tauranga. For some reason ITR is registered to Helilink in Auckland on the CAA register.

Yea I nearly deleted the shot of the 737 in camera and then thought I should see it on the computer screen first. Sort of like it is sitting on the fence.

Thanks for the reg confirmation for the helicopter. I thought it quite unusual in that it touches down on the rear of its skids first and eases forward as the rotor is not level when it is on the ground. It has quite a tilt on it.

Colin

[Kereru]

musice said:

some nice pics there - showing you around was my pleasure.......... finally someone else took some Wellinton pics apart from me ;-) there better be another budding picture taker in the region soon though as I will be moving on up country at the end of January ;-) (then all the boys in the north will have to worry LOL)

Thanks Bob we will do it again one day and maybe even before you move north if they keep putting those cheap fares on. Crikey some of them are cheaper than parking your car for the day at AIAL! ;D

Colin

[mumbles]

kereru said:

musice said:

some nice pics there - showing you around was my pleasure.......... finally someone else took some Wellinton pics apart from me ;-) there better be another budding picture taker in the region soon though as I will be moving on up country at the end of January ;-) (then all the boys in the north will have to worry LOL)

Thanks Bob we will do it again one day and maybe even before you move north if they keep putting those cheap fares on. Crikey some of them are cheaper than parking your car for the day at AIAL! ;D

Colin

Hey Guys, Flyjoe passed on you were going to be around and tentative plans were made to drop in and say hello, but unfortunately I was too busy at work to come out. Damn microbes .
Pays the bills though.

Nice shots, sometimes the best images are the ones you weren't planning or didn't know you had!

Next time eh?