Festival One 2019

Festival One is held at the end of January every year and is one of the big events on MAF NZ's promotional calendar. This year it was once again at Mystery Creek (Hamilton). 

We had two displays: one in the 'precinct' with other missions groups, and our own marquee outside with the plane. We had a good response with lots of people coming to talk to us.

Part of the tent city at Festival One

The MAF marquee and plane on display. Most people didn't realise it had been flown in!

Holding the fort in the precinct with Olivia from the Auckland office

The Saturday night free barbecue for 4000 people gave me a new
appreciation for what Jesus did with the loaves and fishes! (Matt. 14:14-21)

Brand new Cessna Caravans at Mareeba

Since Mareeba is home to the MAF heavy engineering base responsible for maintenance on aircraft operating in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Arnhem Land, Timor-Leste and Bangladesh, the brand-new Cessna Caravans that are heading to PNG this year are currently here, being refitted for MAF operations.

After my assessments for today were finished, I had the opportunity to sit in 'row 2' while one of the engineers was signed off by a flight instructor to be able to taxi the aircraft and perform ground engine tests. The engine makes a lovely sound and hopefully it won't be too long before I'll get to fly one myself!

Getting ready to take the Caravan for some taxiing practise

Engineer John and instructor Andy performing checks before starting the engine

You know the plane is heading for PNG when the passenger
briefing card is written in Tok Pisin (Pidgin English)

A very impressive aircraft!

Visiting MAF Mareeba

I was picked up from Tree Tops early in the morning by one of the MAF staff members who lives in Cairns, and taken to the MAF base at Mareeba to start my 4-day assessment.

The MAF base at Mareeba is divided into two separate areas: the flight training school, and the engineering group (who also handle line standardisation training for MAF pilots going to the field). Students coming through the flight training school won't necessarily become MAF pilots, but they are still taught various skills that MAF pilots will need.

Today consisted of tours of both facilities and meeting the various people who work there (and asking them lots of questions), sitting in on a couple of briefings and tagging along for a flight. Tomorrow the assessment starts in earnest by me having to give a couple of presentations/briefings.

The flight line at MAF Mareeba - the aircraft currently here (not all pictured)
include C172, C182, C206, GA8 Airvan and C208B Grand Caravan

Student and instructor preparing for a flight

Mareeba from the air

Me with CPL student Tali and her instructor Hans

From Lower Hutt to... Cairns

I'm writing this post from Tree Tops Lodge in Cairns, a motel jointly owned and operated by Wycliffe Bible Translators and MAF (with the primary purpose of providing affordable accommodation to mission personnel who are in transit, on furlough, or who have been relocated to Cairns for medical reasons). Tomorrow morning I'm getting picked up by a local MAF staff member and taken to Mareeba where I'll get to meet the team and start four days of assessment for my suitability to be trained as a flight instructor.

Here are some pictures from yesterday (driving up to Auckland) and today (flying to Brisbane and on to Cairns):

This is State Highway 1! (thankfully not in this condition all the time)

Fantastic weather for driving the Desert Road (Mt Ngauruhoe in the background)

They call it Tree Tops Lodge for a reason!

Coconut palms I saw whilst out for a walk

New year's day trip

I've been keeping an eye on the weather forecast lately and trying to pick a good day for a big IFR (instrument flight rules) trip that I've been wanting to do. We've had a lot of strong westerlies lately which would make the trip pretty unpleasant. But on New Year's Day the forecast was for light winds and a freezing level around 13,000 ft; both the plane and my safety pilot were available, so we all met at the aero club at 8:00 and headed off.

Leg 1: Paraparam to Christchurch. Since I was signed off for an ILS endorsement in October, I figured I may as well have a go at using it while I'm still current. Christchurch is one of the few airports in the country with an ILS (of the two that are closer, Wellington tends to be too busy and you need special permission to fly into Ohakea). Christchurch is about 2.5 hrs flight time from Paraparam in a more-or-less straight line.

Leg 2: Christchurch to Westport. Since coming straight back to Paraparam would be around 2.5 hrs and not really give me anything new, I was keen to make another stop somewhere else if possible. Westport is an unattended aerodrome and getting in and out you fly through oodles of uncontrolled airspace, which I haven't had a lot of experience flying IFR before. 1.5 hrs flight time.

Leg 3: Westport to Paraparam. Again, this would enable me to gain some experience departing from an unattended aerodrome - and from there entering procedural airspace before getting back into radar control. 1.5 hrs flight time (with a tail wind).

I spent quite a lot of time preparing for this trip - looking at the various routes, reading the published airport information, practising the Christchurch ILS approaches on the G1000 simulator software at home, trying to anticipate the instructions I might get from ATC and what radio calls I would need to make at various points. It was definitely worth putting in the time beforehand - everything went really smoothly, which made for a great day out. In addition, I also passed a significant milestone somewhere between CH and WS: 500 hours total flight time!

Thanks to John for coming along as safety pilot and for taking some of the photos below.

GPS track of our route. Total flight time for the day: 6.2 hrs

The view at 10,000 ft

G1000 primary flight display near the start of the SABDA-MESIX leg (96 nautical miles).
You don't see these numbers too often in a C172!

In-flight planning for CH-WS and WS-PP while in the cruise

On approach into Christchurch

Safety pilot John checking the oil levels after landing at Westport

Interesting cloud formations between Westport and Nelson:
cumulus (front), lenticular (middle), towering cumulus (distance)