Farewell Sam, hello Marcus Wills

All to soon its time to say farewell to our main GA instructor Sam Hanning. Sam has returned to Mainland Air to advance his flying career by building twin time and instructing in his "spare" time.

Sam has been a real asset and has certainly attracted a lot of new members to the club. We shall miss his smiling face and cheeky grin around the clubrooms. We wish you well for the future Sam.

Sams replacement Marcus Wills has now joined us. Please make yourself known to him and make him welcome at our club.

Wings and Wheels 2018

With all the lovely weather over summer it was a shame that the 11th February 2018 decided to rain on our parade, or more specifically it rained heavily in the city from the early morning discouraging many of the public from coming out to enjoy the much nicer weather on the Taieri. The weather also prevented many aviators from further afield visiting on the day.  Despite that we had reasonable crowd numbers to watch and participate in our Wings and Wheels Spectacular.

This year we had a record number of food vendors and stall holders attending and a great display of vehicles on display. As usual the free kids entertainment proved to be a very popular draw card. 

On the Wings side, the  replica Spitfires of Ivan Campbell and Gary Cotterell were the show stoppers. These beautiful aircraft hail from Loburn in North Canterbury. Ivan's is powered by a 420 horsepower Chevrolet V8 and Gary's by a flat 8 Jabiru engine.

The U-Fly, joy ride and helicopter flights were again very popular and carried on well into the afternoon until the cloud closed in. 

We express a huge thank you to all of our sponsors and volunteers who helped make this day a success. In particular we thank Caroline Walker and Wayne Cunningham for the months that they spent planning the event and bringing everything and everybody together on the day.

ZK-EKM is now on-line (August 2017)

No flying training organisation would be complete without a trusty Cessna 152 in its fleet. Several months have passed since our beloved ZK-EOJ left our skies and we now welcome its replacement ZK-EKM to our ranks. The flying rates are the same as EOJ's were. Our instructors have declared this to be a particularly fine example of a 152. Book yourself a flight and check it out yourself.

Since the departure of our previous C-Cat instructor Henry Tilson, Nick Reid has been filling the vacated instructor role. Nick has recently passed his B-Cat instructor rating and is now moving on to greener pastures. He will be re-acquainting himself with ZK-EOJ as it is one of the training aircraft at the establishment where he will be instructing.

Sam Hanning has taken over Nicks role within the club. Sam, like his predecessor, comes to us having completed his training at Mainland Air. Make yourself known to Sam and welcome him to our club.

It's always sad to part company with an old friend, even sadder to part with two old friends. Both of our Cessna aircraft have been sold and have left their Taieri home for other parts of the country. ZK-EOJ  will continue training pilots from its new base at Matamata for The Middle Earth Flying School whilst ZK-DXK has moved to the Rotorua area.

I'm sure that many past and present club members will have many fond memories of learning to fly and flying around in these two wonderful aircraft. 

For the moment ZK-FWS is being used to fill the void left by the departing aircraft. Watch this space for a replacement two seat training aircraft.  

Meet the new ZK-OAC

After many years of faithful service we have reluctantly retired our Rans S6 from active training service. The Rans has been sold to one of our club members and now bears the registration of ZK-TJE.

Its replacement comes in the form of a Vans RV-12

This is an ideal training aircraft for pilots of all abilities. For those GA pilots that have yearned to experience the performance capabilities of an advanced microlight aircraft we now offer the ideal solution for you.

Make a booking with one of our instructors today.

Micro Aviation B22J now on-line and available for hire

ZK-KPA offers an even more affordable way to fly. At only $90 /Hr solo this may be the cheapest flying you ever will do. This beautiful little aircraft will get you up close and personal with nature and help fine tune your flying skills at the same time. You really haven't flown until you have flown a Bantam. Haven't got a rating ... no problem. Contact one of our instructors and they will make it happen. GA pilots, you don't need a microlight certificate to fly this machine, just get a type rating with a GA instructor and you are good to go. Book your flight on the club's Paper Aviator booking system now.

Newsletters

Gore ATC Cadets Visit - December 2014

The annual visit from the 28 SQN Gore Cadets went incredibly well with great weather for the weekends flying. It was truly impressive to see such great attitudes from all attending. With Over 25 combined flying hours achieved by the cadets over the two days, everyone went away with a great sense of achievement. 

 A special thanks to Lindsay Young for organising the event.

We look forward to hosting you all again next year!

AOPA Fly-in Timaru - November 2014

A stunning day made the perfect excuse to head north on Sunday for the Aircraft Owner's & Pilot's Association get-together. A fantastic turnout of over 20 aircraft from around the country made it to Timaru. With lunch provided, an array of interesting aircraft around and the museum open it made for a truly great day. 

A special thanks to the team in Timaru for hosting.

If you are interested in getting involved with our trips away simply contact us today! 

It's Cross Country Season! 

With warmer weather and longer days approaching fast, this summer is the perfect season to get out and explore the back yard. On Saturday we were fortunate enough to venture into Omarama where the experts at Glide Omarama were kind enough to give myself and our student a tour around the facilities.

The gliders onsite are truly a work of art and the size of the bigger, highly efficient designs is always amazing. Our visit also included an interesting insight into reading the weather from the perspective of a glider pilot.

Already inspired, our next visit will have to include a soar around the area.

Special thanks to Toby Read for showing us around.

If you're keen to get out and explore this summer contact one of our instructors today!

Henry