Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 9, 2006 19:12:01 GMT 12
I had the most wonderful flight today. Earlier in the week Simon Gault emailed me with the very kind offer of a ride in his beautiful Thunder Mustang, weather permitting. This morning my best mate Mike Cater and I travelled to Ardmore nice and early.
Though the week's weather has been very poor, with yesterday being too windy to fly at Ardmore, etc, when we arrived in the district we were greeted by lovely blue skies and light breeze. However, an hour later the time came for our arranged meet with Simon at around 10.30am, and in typical Auckland fashion the front had rolled in and the heavens opened up.
Undeterred, Simon kindly spent some time in the hangar going over the lovely "Tigers Blood" Thunder Mustang with Mike and myself, giving us the lowdown on the machine, its handling and capabilities, and the high tech electronics etc inside. I was allowed to sit in the pilot's seat which gave me a real appreciation for the feel of the aircraft - it fits snugly but is very ergonomically laid out and comfortable.
Two more visitors arrived, Rob Neill and Calum Macpherson, the new editor and former editor respectively of Pacific Wings. it was a pleasure to meet these two gentlemen.
To kill some more time while the rain drizzled on, we all went over to the NZ Warbirds hangar for a look, where along with the usual Harvards, Beaver and Mustang were the Trojan with cowls off (100 hour check), a Cessna Birddog, and a rather nice looking Devon.
Simon allowed mike and I to each have a sit in the Harvard NZ1053, which he has part ownership of, and it really seemed quite a change after the Thunder Mustang cockpit - all that space!
Mike and I were then introduced to another welcoming chap called Shane who took us to another hangar full of planes. That was great, DH89, Taifun, Dragonfly (jet), DH82, Stearman and the Motat/NZ Warbird Ryan which is awaiting the installation of a new engine.
Following that treasure trove, Simon took us to AvSpecs to view the Mosquito, P-40 and several Spitfires undergoing restoration. What an amazing place that was, and it was interesting to meet one of the workers there (who's name i didn't catch, sorry) who was happy to show us around. Sadly he couldn't find the right keys to show us the Fireflies that are tucked away.
By the time we'd returned to the hangar where 'Tiger Blood' lives it had been decided there may be a break in the weather, at last. So Simon and Craig Hyland set about putting cowls on, and preparing the beast for flight. Then once rolled out into the sunlight and all the preflight checks were done, I was introduced to the back seat. Another snug fit, but even more comfortable than the front.
Simon started the engine and warmed it up, and after what seemed like no time but must have been longer, we were rolling down Runway 21 and airborne.
Wow!
The take off was smooth, and rapid ascent is an understatement. The earth just dropped away from us, and in a matter of minutes we were over Karaka for a pass over Simon's parents house. Then we were suddenly over the Port Hills, and then Pokeno.
The speed at which the ground went by was astounding. For a lot of the flight I was speechless, I couldn't believe I was really there, and only uttered the occassional response when prompted by Simon, but I was certainly taking it all in, and I have to say i was spellbound by the aircraft.
Two things that struck me were that it was so quiet inside compared with what I'd imagined it'd be. And the ride was for the larger part very, very smooth. Around the Bombays and further south the weather was bad in pockets, with squalls in all directions, and you'd expect the air to be fairly upset, but we were enjoying a smooth ride for the better part, with the occasional judder. I have experienced much worse on 737's.
It was stunning to look down on the landscape that darted beneath us, and to look at the threatening clouds that were dotted liberally with rainbows, and coloured by the mid afternoon sun.
Suddenly we were sweeping down on the coast and along a large sweeping beach that looked spectaular from the air. Later I asked where it was and was amazed to find it was the bottom of the Firth of Thames. Had we really travlled that far? "Oh yes" says Simon, "We got about as far as ten miles from Paeroa".
Crikey.
We then chased a small cloud and flew around it, but the steep bank necessary on the other side to avoid a more menacing bigger brother lead me stomach to churn a little, and on telling Somin of my sudden queeziness he decided to head home. Back over the plains and hills and those squalling clouds, and into the circuit.
That right there was a dream achieved for me, I had always thought I'd love to fly in the circuit at Ardmore, the station that my Dad had grown up next to in the war and had told me so many stories about, with the Corsairs and P-40's etc there. So to now finally fly over the former fighter base and look down on it was sheer joy. My queezy stomach had eased significantly, no need for the barf bag at all.
We touched down on that strip where Dad had seen so many Corsairs nose over. I saw a Cessna nearly do the same earlier in the morning when it hit a hollow full of water.
My flight in the Thunder Mustang was complete. And I must say how brilliant it was. I just loved it. I realised on the way back to Cambridge my cheeks were beginning to hurt from the smiling!
When I asked Mike, who'd been waiting patiently on the ground, how long we were away he reckoned about half an hour. Incredible, it was so exciting it all seemed to whizz by and my estimate would have been 12 minutes at most. So fast, it's a time machine! Sadly due to the earlier weather problems restricting us, time had run out, and though Simon had originally intended to give Mike a jaunt, our need to get back to Cambridge meant he was unable to go aloft. However Simon has kindly offered a 'raincheck' as it were for the future.
So, to Simon, I want to say thank you very much indeed for the huge thrill of allowing me to ride along on today's 'mission'. And also for your great hospitlity in showing us around Ardmore, and introducing us to those many interesting Warbird people - I hope some of them will turn up here on the forum in the future. Today is very, very much appreciated by both of us, and we'd like to say a huge thank you!
Though the week's weather has been very poor, with yesterday being too windy to fly at Ardmore, etc, when we arrived in the district we were greeted by lovely blue skies and light breeze. However, an hour later the time came for our arranged meet with Simon at around 10.30am, and in typical Auckland fashion the front had rolled in and the heavens opened up.
Undeterred, Simon kindly spent some time in the hangar going over the lovely "Tigers Blood" Thunder Mustang with Mike and myself, giving us the lowdown on the machine, its handling and capabilities, and the high tech electronics etc inside. I was allowed to sit in the pilot's seat which gave me a real appreciation for the feel of the aircraft - it fits snugly but is very ergonomically laid out and comfortable.
Two more visitors arrived, Rob Neill and Calum Macpherson, the new editor and former editor respectively of Pacific Wings. it was a pleasure to meet these two gentlemen.
To kill some more time while the rain drizzled on, we all went over to the NZ Warbirds hangar for a look, where along with the usual Harvards, Beaver and Mustang were the Trojan with cowls off (100 hour check), a Cessna Birddog, and a rather nice looking Devon.
Simon allowed mike and I to each have a sit in the Harvard NZ1053, which he has part ownership of, and it really seemed quite a change after the Thunder Mustang cockpit - all that space!
Mike and I were then introduced to another welcoming chap called Shane who took us to another hangar full of planes. That was great, DH89, Taifun, Dragonfly (jet), DH82, Stearman and the Motat/NZ Warbird Ryan which is awaiting the installation of a new engine.
Following that treasure trove, Simon took us to AvSpecs to view the Mosquito, P-40 and several Spitfires undergoing restoration. What an amazing place that was, and it was interesting to meet one of the workers there (who's name i didn't catch, sorry) who was happy to show us around. Sadly he couldn't find the right keys to show us the Fireflies that are tucked away.
By the time we'd returned to the hangar where 'Tiger Blood' lives it had been decided there may be a break in the weather, at last. So Simon and Craig Hyland set about putting cowls on, and preparing the beast for flight. Then once rolled out into the sunlight and all the preflight checks were done, I was introduced to the back seat. Another snug fit, but even more comfortable than the front.
Simon started the engine and warmed it up, and after what seemed like no time but must have been longer, we were rolling down Runway 21 and airborne.
Wow!
The take off was smooth, and rapid ascent is an understatement. The earth just dropped away from us, and in a matter of minutes we were over Karaka for a pass over Simon's parents house. Then we were suddenly over the Port Hills, and then Pokeno.
The speed at which the ground went by was astounding. For a lot of the flight I was speechless, I couldn't believe I was really there, and only uttered the occassional response when prompted by Simon, but I was certainly taking it all in, and I have to say i was spellbound by the aircraft.
Two things that struck me were that it was so quiet inside compared with what I'd imagined it'd be. And the ride was for the larger part very, very smooth. Around the Bombays and further south the weather was bad in pockets, with squalls in all directions, and you'd expect the air to be fairly upset, but we were enjoying a smooth ride for the better part, with the occasional judder. I have experienced much worse on 737's.
It was stunning to look down on the landscape that darted beneath us, and to look at the threatening clouds that were dotted liberally with rainbows, and coloured by the mid afternoon sun.
Suddenly we were sweeping down on the coast and along a large sweeping beach that looked spectaular from the air. Later I asked where it was and was amazed to find it was the bottom of the Firth of Thames. Had we really travlled that far? "Oh yes" says Simon, "We got about as far as ten miles from Paeroa".
Crikey.
We then chased a small cloud and flew around it, but the steep bank necessary on the other side to avoid a more menacing bigger brother lead me stomach to churn a little, and on telling Somin of my sudden queeziness he decided to head home. Back over the plains and hills and those squalling clouds, and into the circuit.
That right there was a dream achieved for me, I had always thought I'd love to fly in the circuit at Ardmore, the station that my Dad had grown up next to in the war and had told me so many stories about, with the Corsairs and P-40's etc there. So to now finally fly over the former fighter base and look down on it was sheer joy. My queezy stomach had eased significantly, no need for the barf bag at all.
We touched down on that strip where Dad had seen so many Corsairs nose over. I saw a Cessna nearly do the same earlier in the morning when it hit a hollow full of water.
My flight in the Thunder Mustang was complete. And I must say how brilliant it was. I just loved it. I realised on the way back to Cambridge my cheeks were beginning to hurt from the smiling!
When I asked Mike, who'd been waiting patiently on the ground, how long we were away he reckoned about half an hour. Incredible, it was so exciting it all seemed to whizz by and my estimate would have been 12 minutes at most. So fast, it's a time machine! Sadly due to the earlier weather problems restricting us, time had run out, and though Simon had originally intended to give Mike a jaunt, our need to get back to Cambridge meant he was unable to go aloft. However Simon has kindly offered a 'raincheck' as it were for the future.
So, to Simon, I want to say thank you very much indeed for the huge thrill of allowing me to ride along on today's 'mission'. And also for your great hospitlity in showing us around Ardmore, and introducing us to those many interesting Warbird people - I hope some of them will turn up here on the forum in the future. Today is very, very much appreciated by both of us, and we'd like to say a huge thank you!
