April 2018

Vol No. 45

THE M.A.C. FLYER

After a 14 year wait Victoria finally got to go in the Fleet with Graham at MAC Open Day

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE MARLBOROUGH AERO CLUB INC.

P.O. Box 73, Blenheim, 7240 Tel: (03) 578 5073 Email: [email protected] www.marlboroughaeroclub.co.nz M.A.C. Marlborough Aero Club

PATRON PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT John Sinclair Alistair Matthews Scott Madsen Ph: 03 578 7110 Ph: 027 428 7863 Ph: 027 453 9348

HON. TREASURER SECRETARY Tim McKendry Raylene Wadsworth Ph: 021 104 0721 Ph: 03 578 5073

COMMITTEE Mike Rutherford, Grant Jolley, Marty Nicoll, Victoria Lewis, John Hutchison, Jonathon Large

CHIEF FLYING INSTRUCTOR CLUB CAPTAIN Sharn Davies Ben Morris Ph: 03 578 5073 Ph: 027 940 3235

Check out our new website – www.jemaviation.co.nz Annual Inspections, ARA / BRA’s, repairs, modifications and rebuilds – we can handle it all! Ph. (03) 578 3063 Mob. 021 504 048 Email [email protected]

Hangar 22b, Aviation Heritage Centre Airpark, Omaka Aerodrome, Blenheim, NZ

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EVENTS COMING UP

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UPCOMING EVENTS MAC Club Day 3rd Sunday of every month

The next one is Sunday 20th May 2018—11.30 am onwards ALL members welcome Competitions— Bombing / Life Raft Dropping $2 for a sausage or bring a plate of finger food to share

Club Day—last Sunday of every month

The next one is Sunday 29th April 11.00 am onwards—$5 for lunch (See the next page for a competition being held)

MAC Accommodation Find us on Facebook Pilot / RNZAC Member M.A.C Marlborough Aero Club

$120 / night Email: [email protected]

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Greetings all. A quick pen to paper before flying off today. We are approaching AGM time again so please think about if you would like to serve the club on committee in any shape or form. If you choose to join the committee there is definitely some commitment required and it does take up some of your time, so be prepared. Having said that the current committee has set areas of responsibility so you are not expected to do everything. However you are part of the team in authorising the business of the club. All positions are open for nomination so have a think and ask questions if required. The AGM has bee set for Wednesday 27th June and nominations must be in 14 days prior. Notices and forms will be forwarded shortly. Please note that any formal Notice of Motion must be received by the secretary 21 days prior to the AGM. I encourage all members to note the date and attend. Supper is provided together with the bar opening.

WEDNESDAY

27TH JUNE

The Bristol Freighter looks good sitting out on the field and people comment “is it about to fly”. Unfortunately no, but it will be there for a bit while Gordy our Builder works on a moveable fence at the club house so we can push it back on its original site. We still need a couple more “minders” for the Bristol so call me if you can.

While mentioning Gordy we thank him for all the jobs and advise that he freely gives on those building type jobs. Many thanks.

8 Presidents Report Continued…. A well know identity of the club, Trevor Gatehouse, passed away recently. A nice funeral was held at the Nativity Church and a good contingent of aviators were there to remember him. See elsewhere for his life’s achievements.

Terrific work from the staff in organising and running the public ‘Open day’, with a little help from others. I believe we easily picked up 2 or 3 new members and a good number came out to learn more.

Sunday nights at the bar have been well supported recently, allowing for events and/or time of year, which is great, be it alcoholic or non alcoholic beverages. There is always a good mix of members there. Come and join us, the log fire is now roaring away. I know John could do with a hand re bar duty on Saturday and supper duty on Sunday. Step up if you can. It can be a matter of finding your niche to help the club and every club works on volunteers. An interesting find on the field during the bombing practise was a Tussock Grass. Well done Phil for spotting and then grubbing it up. It is a noxious weed and we are in the watch zone with council. If you see any more ensure you let us know.

9 Presidents Report Continued….

Car parking. This can be at a premium sometimes and to alleviate the main car park we put in the ‘sealed’ area by the private hangers. If you are away for more than the day please park there, access code available on request. A reminder to the permanent parkers that you need to register with the office providing Rego number and $100 for the year. (these are members who live away but fly in and have a vehicle for their convenience). Thank you.

Talking of cars, the club had an offer it could not refuse and has purchased a wee Mitsubishi Mirage, coloured blue, which will be offered to visitors and available for club use. We have for some time been using a private car (see above) and it has worked well so we anticipate no hassles. We will get logo’s and web site on the doors to do some advertising . To do with cars, a heads up that the car park is due for resealing later this month. Well past due so it will be great. As usual there are the myriad of things going on. We are doing well as a club thanks to everyone so keep it up. Cheerio until 1st June.

Alistair

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Aerodrome

The Office is for Staff Only. Please only come in when getting the keys for the aircraft and filling in the intention log.

Please drive slowly between hangars—help keep the dust down

Just a friendly reminder that dogs are not permitted ON the airfield OR at the MAC Club House. (this includes the club house grounds)

CLASSIFIEDS

For Sale: MAC ties $25 each. Available in MAC Office

Yoga at MAC Did you know that we have over 12 MAC members who have attended yoga with Nancy at the MAC clubhouse? Due to demand we are going to be adding a morning class to the Tuesday and Thursday 5:30 evening classes currently offered. The new class will be on Thursday morning at 9:30 am at the MAC clubhouse. Space is limited, so please email Nancy at [email protected] or send her a text on 027 563 9218 if you would like to attend. Individual classes are available at $15 drop in rate (subject to space availability), or you can purchase 10 classes for $100.

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CFI REPORT

It has been steady as she goes since the last newsletter. The club held a public open day which was very successful despite being an overcast day. The instructors were kept busy doing trial flights all day and a couple are coming back for their first official lessons. It was a good turn out from the public and a great opportunity for the club to show the public what we are all about and how friendly we are. This is going to be important moving forward with housing developments getting closer and closer to the airfield boundaries. We need to raise our public profile and keep the lines of communication open to our neighbours. See pictures of the Open Day elsewhere in the newsletter. The staff roster has changed around to meet the demands of the students. Bianca is on Monday to Fridays and Vince is part time Friday to Sundays and myself Wednesday to Sunday. This allows us to have two instructors on for the busy weekends and for a few days during the week. We will be starting night flying in the next couple of weeks. We will put out a separate email out with further details. Erin is still working away in the evenings with the theory subjects for our students. She is doing a great job. We are looking at changing the schedule of the theory classes in the future so keep an eye out for more details. The financial year ended on a high with us completing 143 flying hours for March. The total for the year being 1,650. Which makes an average of 137.5hrs per month. This is a substantial increase over the previous year. Let’s hope the trend continues and we can increase the hours further this coming financial year.

Happy Flying.

Sharn

12 CFI Report Continued….

Aircraft available for training/hire with MAC ZK-COX: Piper Pacer The Pacer is 150hp with Vortex generators and an attitude to boot. It’s a great tail wheel trainer being short coupled between the mains and the tail wheel. It makes for a lively aircraft on the ground but once you have mastered the handling it is a well balanced machine and puts you in good stead for moving onto a larger tail dragger such as a C-180/185. Insurance requirements are 10hrs on type before private hire (in some cases that can be reduced, talk with Sharn). $285 per hour dual $250 private hire

ZK-EBH: Cherokee The Warrior is 160hp and very stable. It is a great machine for cross country flying (it has a rudder trim!) and can haul a reasonable load. If you want to take a machine away for a week but find OMR a bit busy this machine is the perfect choice. $300.50 per hour dual $250 private hire

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FLYING HOURS

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SAFETY REPORT

Airside Safety

Keeping everyone safe on our airfield is a priority, so this month we will look at how to keep safe when operating a vehicle airside. There are two main gates: The gate outside Marlborough Helicopters Allows those with permission from the Aeroclub to access airside The gate to the Western Hangars For those who require hangar access Remember, once you are through the gate to KEEP YOUR SPEED SLOW, you do not want to come face to face with a spinning propeller or kick up dust. Treat all areas with caution as they are all areas where aircraft can operate or taxi. Case Study: Gate Operation This month, we had an unfortunate and unnecessary breakage of one of these gates. As they are automatic, you should press the button and wait for it to open. Do not try and hold the gate open – if you need to get more people through they will need to press it again. This, regrettably, is how the breakage was caused. The button location for the Marlborough Helicopters gate is shown below.

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MARLBOROUGH STROKE CLUBS DAY OUT

Members of the Marlborough Aero Club hosted some members from the Marlborough Stroke Club on the 12 April. After what started out as a cold day we were lucky enough to have the sun shine at the right time and the temperature warmed up. The members of the Stroke Club were shown around the different aircraft which were displayed especially for them. This was then followed with afternoon tea which was thoroughly enjoyed by all in the Club House with a welcoming fire roaring in the background. MAC would like to thank all of its members who helped make this a memorable day for our visitors. A card has been received telling us how much everyone enjoyed their time with us—apparently so much that they

16 Marlborough Stroke Clubs day out Continued….

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EYE TO FLY BY BLAKE MADSEN

18 Eye to Fly Blake Madsen Continued….

19 Eye to Fly Blake Madsen Continued….

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YOUNG EAGLES

Young Eagles Fishing Trip through the eyes of Tay Yealands (YE)

After extensively planning a Young Eagles trip to D’urville Island for the 20th of April, which unfortunately was cancelled due to not enough people being available, the Young Eagles decided instead to go on a fishing trip through Tory Channel to Lucky Bay, which proved both lucky and unlucky.

Fishing at Lucky Bay was all fine and dandy until a seal came along and started scaring away the fish. We were getting a lot of Tarakihi and not much of anything else, but when the seal showed up and started to circle around the 12 metre boat, we got no nibbles at all.

Some fish were good...

21 Young Eagles Continued….

But others....

After we moved away from the seal, the fish situation got a bit better. Although it followed us for a little while, it lost interest pretty quickly. The amount of tangles was outrageous, almost every time you got something on your line, it turned out to be a snag, or someone on the other side of the boat. At one point we caught a whole bunch of fish really quickly, it took less than a minute of having our lines in the water before we were all pulling up Tarakihi and Maori Chiefs. I was the first to get a Kahawai, which unfortunately ended up being the smallest of the four caught altogether.

22 Young Eagles Continued….

As soon as the tide changed and the fish became less regular, we cooked up some onions and sausages for lunch. Sadly they seemed to take forever to cook, but were delicious when they finally arrived.

23 Young Eagles Continued….

After lunch, we realised that we were starting to run out of bait. Thankfully, someone had caught a lot of Weird Red Fish earlier, and we cut that up. It was harder to put on the hook than the squid, and it was really scaly. Soon it got windy and we headed to another location to fish, which was very rough. There were massive swells rocking the boat, and we were allowed little more than a minute to put our lines down, for fear of more tangles and snags. We were there for half an hour, not catching much, until someone got a shark. Soon after that, two barracudas were pulled up and that concluded our short stay at that area. On the way out we saw a massive, near-vertical mountainside, with a giant slip on its face.

Next we went to the old Perano whaling station, with a bunch of steel cylinders and pipes, and a lot of terraces and platforms. Not much rust was on any of the metal, and it was in good shape, considering it was built in 1911. We had a good look around, and it was quite creepy because of how still everything was. We were there for about 20 minutes, and when we got back onto the boat I felt like I was going to slip, as the side of the boat’s hull was very wet.

By now we were heading back to the marina, and it was starting to get cold. We passed the Interislander on the way, but unfortunately there wasn’t much wake. Almost everyone was inside the cabin because the spray from the front of the boat drenched you in less than a minute. After us all finishing three bags of chips, I decided to head out of the cabin and see how wet I could get. I was not disappointed. Thankfully I had put my heavy jacket on, so I wasn’t completely drenched, but it was. After a long, cold trip back to the Waikawa marina, we lined up and sorted all the fish we caught, and took some photos.

24 Young Eagles Continued….

I had a great time fishing, even if I only caught 4 fish. Hopefully we get to go on another fishing trip, and thanks to everyone who organised it.

Tay Yealands

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GRANT JOLLEY’S CAREER CONTINUED...

Grant Jolley continues with the second part of his flying career.

What was your career in Air Nelson?

With the closure of Safeair in September 1990 a number of Safeair pilots transferred across to Air Nelson, some onto the Metro and others onto the Saab 340A. The technological advances of the Saab being some 30 years younger than the Argosy were immense but it was a very pleasant aircraft to fly, had a great cockpit layout with its EFIS screens and was fantastically quieter.

The initial flying operations management at Air Nelson was basically all Safeair. Flight Operations Manager, Training Manager and Line Operations being Ian Pirie, Bob Guard and Dale Webb respectively. Added to the mix, our Saab instructors were as I recall ex Safeair.

After my type rating I was to be based out of Tauranga as a training captain. With new crews coming on it was a busy period to get the four Saab fleet up and running. It was to get immensely busier with the introduction of a few more Saab’s as I was now also checking. The Tauranga duties were the busiest of all the bases and with the most sectors / hours per day. An example being the pm duty which ended up as a 7 sector duty: Tauranga - Taupo - Wellington- Napier - Auckland - Napier - Wellington - Tauranga which would average a good 06:00 flying a day.

On top of this, with another base in New Plymouth I would operate out of there by day and then carry out checks at night as we didn’t have a simulator at that stage. When I look back at the risk of carrying out the mandatory V1 cuts on takeoff and single engine go around at night into a black hole over the water, sometimes in not the best of weather, it was amazing that we didn’t have many frights or incidents.

An opportunity arose after a few years in Tauranga to take up the position as Saab Fleet Captain based in Nelson. This was very acceptable as now I would be closer to home in Blenheim and also with a pending marriage. The desk work was mainly of a technical nature along with the check and training plus line flying. Air Nelson continued to grow with more Metros and Saab’s being introduced. This put a huge strain on the training resources but full credit to all those involved as we seemed to be able to crew aircraft as required.

26 Grant Jolley’s career Continued….

After two years in Nelson I had now taken on the role of Line Operations Manager which entailed less of the technical side and more of the personnel issues in dealing with nearly 80+ pilots across the two fleets. Among the more pleasant tasks (although it was a massive task) was the selection and recruitment of more pilots. It gave great satisfaction to see new entrants develop their career but the downside to the company was that quite often the better ones would leave to either Air NZ, Ansett or overseas to the likes of Cathay Pacific. This then entailed more recruitment. I did have somewhere a list of names of all those I was involved in interviewing - it was 250+ I recall. Among some of those who passed by the interviewing process were Marlborough Aero Club members Steve Scott, John Patchett and Innes Bint.

Two years after being in Nelson the work to introduce a Saab simulator was begun. This was a great step in both the quality of training but from my side safety as I had recently had a scare in carrying out a V1 cut by day. Misidentification by the candidate, and possibly my complacency in having a lot of faith in him, saw us heading to places where both didn’t want to be. Restoring the so called dead engine (we only reduced the power in these exercises to simulate an engine failure) rectified the situation. At night at New Plymouth as previously mentioned the outcome may have been very different.

Bob Guard’s efforts in getting access to a simulator finally came to fruition and though it was based at the Ansett facility in Melbourne it became a well utilised resource until Air Nelson finally retired the Saab.

Further opportunities arose in representing Air Nelson at the Saab conferences held in the USA normally in exotic places like Florida and Virginia. These involved all the major Saab operators and the knowledge gained was a great asset to bring back. One major issue at the time was engine icing on the Saab 340A models of which Air Nelson operated. Most operators including us had experienced issues and procedures were being enhanced to hopefully reduce the issue.

As the conference in Virginia entailed flying into Washington DC and being before 09/11 the approach by day was up the Potomac River, a great experience if you had a window seat. We managed to have a day in Washington and visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Whilst you need to appreciate that the US has some great air shows and aviation museums, this should be included on any aviation enthusiasts bucket list if on the east coast.

27 Grant Jolley’s career Continued….

Tell us about the ferry flights?

The opportunity arose to get involved in ferrying Saab’s both those being returned off lease and new ones entering the fleet. These generally were to/from Europe and entailed some very long days flying.

The first one in February 1997 entailed taking one that had come off lease back to the Saab factory in Linkoping in Sweden. Over the 4 days 43 hours flying through Australia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Muscat, Cyprus and thence to our final destination. I recall an interesting part was flying down through Saudi Arabia, parallel to the Iraqi border, and the heavily notated parts on the Jepp’ charts warning of not straying into Saddam Hussein’s airspace. Saab looked after me for a few days showing me around the factory, meeting their test pilots and then offered the chance to travel with them on a delivery of a Saab 2000 down to Basle in Switzerland. The return flight back to Sweden was to return another Saab 2000 for modifications but this time they offered me the chance to fly the aircraft. After the 340, this high-performance turboprop was a delight to fly.

Back to NZ for less than 10 days and then back to Basle to bring another 340 out to NZ basically on the reverse route.

Saab 2000

Another ferry was in June 1998, this one to bring out a B model for Macair in Australia. Pick up was in Rouen in France. Things do not normally run on time with ferry flights for a number of reasons, more so with this one. Up early for a planned 0800 departure we finally got airborne early evening with pressure to get this one to Australia asap. First stop was Ankara, onto Muscat and then Colombo. By time we reached Colombo we had been up for over 36 hours. A few hours sleep in the terminal and onto Penang and Bali. Bali was a rest stop of 10 hours and then onto Port Hedland and our final stop Wagga Wagga. A marathon effort but this is what ferry flying can be at times.

28 Grant Jolley’s career Continued….

Were there any interesting people you ever carried?

The Dalai Lama was one. When he visited NZ, I flew him from Auckland to Nelson and then Dunedin. He had an aura about him that was unbelievable.

English Prime Minister John Major was another. There was a CHOGM conference in Queenstown. Bob Guard and I had to obtain a security clearance and we flew down to overnight and then next day bring John Major and his party direct to Auckland. It was a beautiful day so we went off track and flew around Mt Cook on the up. John Major was really appreciative of this and on leaving the aircraft one of his aids gave each crew member an envelope. Aha! The big tip we thought, but no, just a signed photograph!!!

When the rugby National Provincial Championships were on, teams were being flown around the country for these games. Great guys overall. The Eastcoast team were picked up from Gisborne on the Friday afternoon and flown down to Hokitika for their game against the Westcoast the next day. Pickup was on Sunday morning for the return flight and having known the visitors had lost I passed on my commiserations to one of the big Maori players on boarding who was slightly under the weather. “Phew eh boy, we may have lost, she was a good night and these fellas on the coast sure can drink” was his comment.

Some of our flight attendants were to put it nicely, quite naïve. Some of the things that they were had on, and quite believed, were amazing. One ex MAC instructor saw a large amount of krill in the water. The FA was asked by a passenger what it was. She questioned the Captain who told her quick as a flash that it was whale sperm. God knows what the passenger thought.

Another day a crew were flying down the East coast of the north island and viewed a unique cloud formation that had left quite a shadow on the sea. The FA asked what it was, told that it was the international date line which she duly informed the passengers.

I myself were involved in a number of ‘hoaxes’ including the Moa chicks (which were actually Weka) in the swamp by the airport at Napier. The FA who was a young Aussie girl, nicknamed Mrs Wombat, was quite intrigued about this and being a fairly cheerful girl was telling all the passengers on the early morning flight to Auckland on how we had seen these rare baby moas on the way to the airport. The passengers were quite amused until finally one dear old sole told her that moas were extinct for over 100 years. On my PA I thanked the passenger for this and asked them to “spot the Aussie”.

29 Grant Jolley’s career Continued….

There was I understand an involvement in ?

Yes, in mid-2000 an approach was made to Air Nelson to train and assist in setting up a two Saab operation based out of for Cosmic Air. The company was only too willing to assist in the type rating training with ground course and of course the simulator training in Melbourne.

The assistance in helping set up the rest of the Saab operation however was not forthcoming from our corporate bosses in Auckland. As I had a considerable amount of leave owing, I approached Air Nelson to be released to assist. Having had previously visited Nepal some 12 years earlier, and loved the place, I was dead keen. With an answer in the affirmative Cosmic Air jumped at the offer I made and with another training captain from Australia and a First Officer from Air Nelson a deal was done, the latter two to meet up in Kathmandu.

First question I had was where is your aircraft? It was in Springfield Missouri coming off its check and they needed it ferried out. Contacting the ferry company that I had worked for with the Air Nelson ferry’s we eventually got things sorted out. After two test flights to rectify any issues we were all go and departed early one miserable cold evening onto our first stop being Bangor, Maine. Airborne the autopilot failed. Bloody marvellous, it’s all we need on a 25+ hour ferry. After sharing the hand flying for around 3 hours we tried to engage the autopilot again - bingo it worked. All we could put it down to was that it had to do with moisture.

Landing in Bangor around midnight we were met with snow showers with associated low cloud, poor visibility and high winds thankfully mainly along the runway. Approach minima was shall I say just on!

After refuelling, paying the airport fees and the US Customs clearance we were on our way to the next stop St. Johns in Newfoundland and then across the Atlantic to Santa Maria in the Azores for an overnight stop. Only issue was that our HF radio was non-existent so we were required to relay position reports to overhead to transmit.

30 Grant Jolley’s career Continued….

Night stop in the Azores after being on the go for over 28 hours was looked forward to. Next stop Majorca then onto Ankara in Turkey. This took us along the Mediterranean and was a brilliantly clear day. On arrival in Ankara in the evening we decided to push through to Shiraz in Iran to arrive early morning. Shiraz airport is located in a basin at 4,900 ft among some rather large mountains and is basically one way in and out which entails quite a lengthy approach onto Rwy 29 when arriving from the west as we had done. I couldn’t grasp how barren Iran looked. A decision was made to press onto Karachi as at least we knew there would be some decent accommodation available.

Arrival in Karachi was a prolonged affair with the interminable bureaucracy and all we wanted was a beer (surprisingly we could get one in this Muslim country) a meal, shower and decent night’s sleep. The Sheraton Hotel we ended up staying at was the one the NZ cricket team had the bus bombing nearby at when on tour a few years later. Unknown to me, bombs, terrorists and generally bad guys were later to be part of another career move.

Last leg was to Kathmandu and a start of Cosmic’s operation. Kathmandu was as I recalled, definitely third world, poor, dirty, polluted air and water, rubbish everywhere but had its old charm and the people were some of the nicest you could meet. After plenty of ‘namaste’ the local greeting, we obtained our NCAA licence validations and carried out a test flight to demonstrate the aircraft. Then it was to meet our newly type rated locals. These were quite experienced some having flown HS-748, B757 and other types to local operators. Amongst the First Officers were ex Indian Airforce Mig pilots.

Kathmandu Ramp Mt Everest

31 Grant Jolley’s career Continued….

The terrain around KTM is very high and unforgiving. Over the years there has sadly been a large amount of aluminium left in the hills around the airport not only by local operators but even major international operators (Thai A-310 and a Pakistan Intl A-300 both in 1992) and recently the DHC8-400 operated by US-Bangla.

The main run was to some 80nm west but a near 6 hour road journey amongst some very winding roads, unsafe overloaded trucks and crazy driving. There was no instrument approach there at the time, the local pilots developing their own unauthorised one based on the local broadcast station. How would a first world regulator accept that!!

Ramp at Pokhara Capt Rana, Self, Capt Allah

Other airports were out on the terrai, the flat plains area bordering . One being near the birthplace of Buddha - Bhairahawa, and further out Bharatpur and . These like at KTM at least had VOR’s allowing for approved approaches. One big issue at Pokhara was crows. These were big and although I did hit one on landing, luckily with a prop, I would hate to see what they would do to an airframe. Another bit of livestock that was taken out was a snake slithering over the runway on landing. I never thought about it until after I had carried out the next pre-flight, what would I have done if it was still alive and was up in the wheel well!!

Training continued in earnest as the pressure was on for the arrival of the next aircraft. There were some very long duty days 0600 thru to 2000 was common and at one time I didn’t manage to obtain a day off for 10 days. However, the job was very satisfying, it was a great flying environment if you kept your wits about you, paid relatively well but the highlight had to be the early morning flight.

32 Grant Jolley’s career Continued….

Airport curfews only allowed local departures after 0700. With the large number of local operators cashing in on this lucrative tourist market it was like a Le Mans start with everyone trying to get away before cloud developed about the peaks. However once underway there was a set circuit and with the Saab only being certified to 25,000 ft it was quite a flight. High winds quite often prevented getting to close and some of the local pilots definitely would not go very close in as the mountain had strong spiritual beliefs for them. However, us Kiwi’s wanted to get close up in the right conditions. I cannot explain in words the sheer beauty of flying along beside the south face of Everest, banking over to the left and seeing a near vertical wall still stretching above you another 4,000 ft. Everest obviously is what most tourists like to see but the Himalayas stretch for miles and there are some magnificent views on the right day. As Mount Everest borders on China it was a no - no to even try to go across to the northern side of it.

With more time required to finish what I had started off, a request to Air Nelson to extend my leave was given. Having been away from home for nearly two months, I asked Sally my wife to come up. She was a little hesitant especially after a bout of food poisoning on our honeymoon whilst in Malaysia. This would be a good test for our relationship bringing her into a world she had never experienced before but she obtained a week off work and flew up. Luckily I was able to reduce my workload a little with the assistance from the other two expats. Cosmic Air were associated with a flash hotel up in Jomsom, the Jomsom Mountain Retreat located at nearly 9,000 ft amongst the mountains and shouted us night there. Nearly all of the material had been flown in by the Principal owner of Cosmic by his fleet of Russian Mil-8 helicopters. A huge task but it was a near 5* hotel in this great expanse of mountains. Pulling back the curtains from our room our view was straight up at 26,500 ft Mount Annapurna. This was mind boggling after working at Mount Cook.

Annapurna Jomson Airport

33 Grant Jolley’s career Continued….

Jomsom is located in a valley which experiences very high winds. Normal operations entail that last flights arrive and depart for the day by 1000. From our time there I can fully understand - the winds were ferocious after midday. Check out YouTube for some great videos on Jomsom but also Lukla to where mountaineers fly into onto their way to Everest base camp. Having scored a ride up to Lukla on a day off in a Twin Otter was another interesting flying experience.

The other two expat pilots had now returned to their respective countries and I had a definite need for more support to complete the training. Cosmic without discussing with me went to an European aviation recruitment company and hired an Austrian pilot experienced on the Saab. Obtaining his NCAA validation was done first thing the next morning after he had arrived and he did a few familiarisation flights in the afternoon. That night over a beer I sensed he wasn’t too happy with what he had seen however my checking him out was to commence first thing the next day. Things did not go well from the start. Although well experienced, all his flying was into long airfields with good ATC, long runways and of course nav aids. The Pokhara approach truly made him unhappy especially the turning final approach through a couple of hills. That night he disappeared and returned home. Funny bugger I thought!

During the few months operating out of KTM bird strikes became a big problem due to the large amount of rubbish laying in the river on the outskirts of the airport. In a matter of three weeks three large jet aircraft ingested birds on takeoff. Seeing aircraft as large as an A-310 or B-767 abort at full thrust on takeoff was incredible to watch at close range from our position on the GA ramp.

Finally the time came to head back to the US to pick up aircraft number 2. This was again in Springfield MO, but we found that there was going to a delay of about a week. The weather was miserable however on a day it did clear somewhat we heard an unfamiliar engine noise approaching. Within the hangar all the engineers dropped tools and made for the hangar doors so we quickly followed. Joining downwind was a Heinkel 111 and shortly followed by a B-17 on their way to a Commemorative Airforce meet. Watching these two landing and then taxiing past was a momentous experience but sadly my camera had been left in the hotel room. This the only airworthy Heinkel 111 in the world crashed a few years later in 2003.

34 Grant Jolley’s career Continued….

Once underway with the second Saab, we again headed to Bangor to clear US Customs but decided prudently to go north up to Goose Bay and then across to Reykjavik as we could legally operate across this part of the North Atlantic without an HF. The route from Goose Bay to Reykjavik took us over the southern part of Greenland and being November, icebergs were very visible from our cruise altitude of 25,000 ft. Landing at Reykjavik conditions on the tarmac were very icy, black ice was everywhere, so judicious use of reverse thrust was required to manoeuvre and stop. An overnight stop then next day off to Rotterdam for a quick refuel thence to Rotterdam, Ankara and Karachi.

Southern Greenland Black Ice at Reykjavik

After arriving back in KTM my time away from NZ was nearly up and the locals were now all trained. Farewells made and onto home and back into the office with the thoughts that Nepal is all over. However, it was not to be. It would be early morning and the phone was ringing - “Captain, Captain” they would say, “we need you here asap. NCAA require you to come back and check out an airport”. The short of it being unless I being the only NCAA approved pilot for Cosmic, nothing would move forward. No problems from me in that respect but the stupidity of it in that their own experienced local pilots couldn’t do it astounded me. A case in point was Simara an airport south of KTM on the plains with a runway length of near 1,200m, just slightly shorter than a lot of regional airports in NZ. Out we go with the joy riders from NCAA on board armed with tape measures to measure the takeoff and landing distance.

35 Grant Jolley’s career Continued….

For those of you that don’t know, all the performance data in the AFM has quite a large factor added to it to allow for a number of factors such as aircraft condition, pilot technique etc. Calculated takeoff distance done from the AFM performance pages, our Nepalese colleagues then get their tapes out and measure from the point we are to commence the takeoff roll to where the calculation states we would get airborne. I obtain a wave from them once ready, apply the brakes and give it full thrust, release brakes and we are away. Lifting off we are some 200+ metres earlier than where the calculations state we should be. Similarly, this happens on landing. Perplexed they want the calculations run again and we redo the exercise for the same results. Happy they’ve observed it being carried out, Cosmic obtains an approval for Simara.

Back home in NZ the early phone calls occurred every few months so away I went, business class each time, to carry out pilot checks and engineering test flights. It would of cost them a fortune though the family behind Cosmic Air was one of the wealthier ones in the country. I recall about five such calls, however on one to carry out an engineering test flight there was the need to shut down an engine that had just been worked on as fuel was pouring out of the fuel HP pump all over the engine and over the cowls - not an ideal situation. On shutdown I stayed around to see what the cause of the fuel leak was. A clamp holding a flexible tube to an inlet pipe had required replacing. Unable to source a part (or most probably unwilling to pay the high cost) they had gone down to the local auto parts dealer and found a clamp of similar size!!! Maintenance standards were slipping so once back in NZ I felt obliged to call the Icelandic leasing company and advise. They informed me lease payments were also getting behind and asked if I could go back up and ferry the aircraft back to Europe.

My contact in the ferry company agreed and we duly returned to pick the aircraft up. A number of systems had faults but after a comprehensive test flight we deemed it suitably airworthy for the cause and launched off to our first stop Mumbai arriving about midnight. Prolonged Indian formalities prevailed and in the early hours we finally departed for Bahrain. First time there for me but little did I realise a few years later it was to be our home for 8 years. Then across Saudi Arabia for our night stop in Luxor beside the Nile River. The hotel was right on the water and opening the curtains revealed the traditional wooden sailing boats, felucca, passing by only metres away.

36 Grant Jolley’s career Continued….

Well refreshed, next morning we departed to Brindisi in Italy and then onto Norrköping in Sweden.

Cosmic Air in the meantime, now being down to one Saab, required another. Back home and a few months later, yet another early morning call, tickets arranged and away this time to Nairobi in Kenya to carry out another test flight on a Kenyan Airways Saab, that was available for lease, so to obtain NCAA acceptance. A beautiful morning and once above the inversion layer the highest mountain in Africa, Mt Kilimanjaro, stood out magnificently.

Arriving back at the Nairobi Hilton late afternoon it was time to stretch my legs and have a walk around the city before I caught up with the Nepalese for dinner. I exited the hotel and had only walked a few paces to cross the road when a rather excitable security guard from the hotel bounded up and asked what / where I was going. My reply was to look around. He advised in no uncertain manner that it was definitely not a wise move and the least that could happen was to be mugged in broad daylight. Nice man that. At least he said I would be safe walking around the hotel block with its enhanced security.

Cosmic Air ultimately closed shop. Now back with two Saab’s operating they extended themselves into obtaining three F-100 jets to commence international operations into India. It does help to pay the refuelling companies if you want to run an , and I believe they eventually ceased flying in 2008.

Did other overseas opportunities arise?

Between trips to Nepal, I had to settle down to work for those who paid my regular salary, however one day in 2001 out on the line another pilot caught up with me and said “have I got a deal for us”. Provincial Airlines based out of St John in Newfoundland on the Canadian east coast were introducing Saab’s to their fleet and had advertised for training staff for a short-term contract. Contracts made, more leave arranged and we were both off. Quick licence validations by Transport Canada and we two Kiwis and two US training captains were into business. The local pilots obviously had immense local knowledge, we none, but at least we knew about Saab’s. A great bunch of guys to work for, most were known to have beer on a cold day after work, of which there were many as it was mainly cold and miserable with low cloud, sleet and at some ports further north, snow still pushed to the side of the runways. But we saw plenty of east coast Canada and managed to get out on one of the pilot’s boat. A keen maritime history enthusiast, he told me stories of German U boats during WW ll hiding in the isolated deep inlets, which there were many along the coast, waiting for the Allied convoys which departed the eastern seaboard.

37 Grant Jolley’s career Continued….

I did manage the opportunity to get out in one of Provincials Kingair’s on maritime surveillance. These were fitted with some fairly sophisticated equipment including FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) and a tactical radar. The mission this day was to monitor the trawlers fishing out on the cod banks. A bleak overcast mornings departure continued out to the search area. Initially flying at 17,000 ft they obtained a number of radar targets, including a whale, and the tactical guy in the back worked out the best plan to monitor the boats. Descending to about 100 ft over the sea, in the murk it was obvious the crews had considerable experience in what they were doing. The tac’ guy giving minor heading corrections of 1 or 2 degrees from what he had on the FLIR. Looking at the screen the ships outline, even guys walking on deck, was unbelievable considering vis was near zero. Then bingo, out of the gloom a large fishing trawler looms out of the mist and fog and photos taken as we fly along its starboard side at deck height. These all get sent back so Maritime Canada could monitor the licenced boats. This continued until all boats were accounted for and photographed before heading back to St Johns.

Back home again Air Nelson had by now had disposed of all its Metros and was a fully Saab fleet with I recall about 14. It was a big organisation with now over 130 pilots, but the corporate tentacles from Auckland were getting involved much more and after the overseas work that I had experienced I had become a bit unhappy in my Air Nelson role, more so with the continual union issues that the position entailed. Apart from industrial side, and disciplinary issues some of these became quite petty. One that still stays in my mind was a written complaint regarding a hotel the crews overnighted – the issue was the battery in the exercycle was flat! – unbelievable the pettiness of so called professional people.

Now into my early 50’s I started to resign myself that this will be where I will be until retirement. Little did I know this was not be, greater more exciting airways were to be found.

(To be continued...)

38

TREVOR GATEHOUSE 1933—2018

Trevor came to Blenheim whilst in his mid 20’s. After a spell of loader driving for Aerial Work Marlborough, decided on a career in metal working. Under the watchful eye of Laurie Bryant, he learnt the art of shaping, welding and working with aluminium and steel. As part of his trade training he build a car, from a sunbeam chassis, ford ten motor and tubular frame. He then set up his own business, specialising in panel beating, and was often seen at Omaka, where he used his gas welding skills repairing tubular airframes, for Fred Scobie Engineering. The Piper topdressing aircraft being prone to the odd crack, due to hard work. After his retirement, was enlisted by Chris Reid to build his Rans S65 Coyote, a process that took five years to accomplish. Other amateur aircraft builders also took advantage of his knowledge and problem solving abilities, he also assisted Tony Clarry with his R.V.8.

39 Trevor James Gatehouse Continued….

Trevor was known as a good seaman, and instructor, teaching many would be sailors how to sail trailer sailers in the sheltered waters of the Marlborough Sounds. He sailed extensively both around coastal New Zealand and offshore, with his brother “Snow” competing in races to Noumea, Tonga, Fiji and Tahiti. Crewing as cook on board the Yachts “Ariadne”, “Takohe” and the aptly named “Tusitala” (Teller of Tales—Robert Louis Stevenson). He was considered a calming influence in times of stress. A handy golfer, became a life member of the Marlborough Golf Club, having served over the years as Club Captain and President. He was the instigator of the first watering scheme at Fairhall, and with the assistance of John Rocks and Jim Webb spent many hours with its installation. The legacy of which stands as a tribute to their labours. He enjoyed the camaraderie of the Sunday night get togethers at the Marlborough Aero Club Clubhouse where over a Dram or Brown Ale, would regale those present with his colourful stories. Great company indeed. In his latter years Trevor became a volunteer with the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, where with his cheerful disposition and ready wit, was popular with staff and public alike.

Harcourt Bunt John Sandilands Jo McMillan Trevor Gatehouse

A man of integrity, compassion and humour, many consider themselves to be fortunate to have known him.

40

HERITAGE AVIATION UPDATE

OMAKA FLAVOUR AT WANAKA

Many MAC members made their way south to Otago for the biennial Warbirds over Wanaka Easter airshow. It was great to see so many familiar faces around the field, and clearly enjoying the southern atmosphere and hospitality. It was especially pleasing to see multiple Omaka based aircraft heading south for the show including no fewer than FIVE aircraft on the display line. As mentioned last month, Bill's Anson; Mit's Devon; Graeme's Yak-3; Ronan's Beech and the RFC syndicate's Nanchang (flown by Jay) all headed down for the event. The first three aircraft were active participants in the airshow itself, so we feel that we have certainly helped to make the Wanaka show a success with our participation.

Bill's Anson was as always, a major star at the Wanaka show! (Gavin Conroy)

Of course, the down side of coming home from a great week at Wanaka is the realisation that it's our turn next! So the completion of that event signals time for us to crank up our efforts to once again welcome enthusiasts from all around the world to our little 'airfield in paradise' and share with them some unique Marlborough Magic (and not just the wine!). Rest assured there are plans to out-do ourselves once again with a fantastic line-up of exciting aircraft and elements of creative aviation entertainment which will be unique in the world. If you've always wanted to become more involved in the event, now would be a good time to get in touch, either via Jo or Jane at the Omaka AHC or by calling Graham on 021 683 954.

41 Heritage Aviation update continued... SO WHO ARE THOSE AHC PEOPLE?

We've had people enquiring about the airshow held here every second Easter, who are of the impression that the Easter airshow is a single product that gets moved between Wanaka and Blenheim every year. Needless to say we're always at pains to explain that both are great events and we work well together (we each give each other a year off!), but that the Yealands Classic Fighters Omaka Airshow is an entirely Marlborough based initiative. It's a bit the same with the museum. We get asked, even by local members who you'd think would know...... "Who are the people that built and operate the AHC here and where did they come from?". Some think the AHC has been entirely built by Sir Peter Jackson's organisation and many visitors from out of town refer to it as such.

So just for those who don't know, the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre (with its enthusiast's arm, the Marlborough Warbirds Association) was created by a group of Marlborough Aero Club members. This group shared a bent towards older aircraft and felt they could contribute more to the Omaka airfield community by working towards building interest in vintage aircraft and creating a museum and an airshow, than by just belonging to the club. If done well, this in turn could create a facility and an event that would be seen as valuable assets to the broader Marlborough community and as such, generate support from the Marlborough District Council and the entire municipality. It's pleasing to confirm that this has worked well and we have a wonderful relationship with the MDC.

Several of the founding members were also founding members of the Nanchang syndicate. Familiar faces here are from the left, Jason Hayes; Steve Petersen; Garry Stuart; Jay McIntyre; Graham Orphan and Al Marshall. Over 20 years later, all of these guys still have some level of involvement with Omaka! 42 Heritage Aviation update continued...

Key early AHC members were all MAC members and around half were current or former Aero Club committee members. These included Brian Greenall (now AHC Chairman) who was MAC Treasurer for many years; Graham Orphan (two terms on MAC committee); Jay McIntyre (MAC President for two terms), Steve Petersen (MAC Vice president for two terms) etc etc etc. Other key founding members included David Dew who was a MDC Councillor and lawyer (who still kindly provides pro-bono legal services for the AHC) and Sir Peter Jackson, whose WW-I aircraft and artefacts dominate the 'Knights of the Sky' halls at the AHC.

What we originally envisaged to build at Omaka was pretty modest compared with where progress has taken us. We were lucky enough to have then MAC President Mike Rutherford, (MAC committee member today) sit in on many of our meetings offering guidance and assistance. A tentative plan had been to possibly demolish the bedraggled old original 1920s MAC hangar and Moth garages, and establish a display building there, around the same size as the MAC hangar (this space now occupied by the Sounds Aero Maintenance hangars). Our real dream however, if we could be so audacious, was to bring additional land into the Omaka enclave to the east and thus to effectively expand aviation's foothold on the precinct. With help from MDC and from the Corlette Trust led by Peter Radich, we were pleased to be able to achieve this, at the same time providing a relief-valve for the growing demand for hangar space on the airfield, and the threat that we'd have to start building south from the existing northern hangar footprint, effectively eating up the airfield. We were pleased to be able to avoid that result, for a period at least.

We'd discussed establishing the museum under the MAC umbrella which seemed logical, however as Mike Rutherford correctly pointed out, museums and airshows can be fiscally challenging pursuits so it would be prudent to isolate these activities, lest a failure in either arena should threaten the security of the MAC. This proved sage advice as we certainly have had our challenges along the way.

43 Heritage Aviation update continued...

Our early thoughts of fund-raising to build that first building were slow to produce results. In the meantime, Jane Orphan, who'd initially joined as Secretary primarily to take minutes at the meetings, began working with a variety of people within the MDC to garner support. In particular, early help came from Bob Pennington and John Patterson who saw the potential for an aviation-based heritage attraction at Omaka, and who helped Jane identify potential funding avenues. From this came a challenging but successful application to central govt. for a Major Regional Initiative grant which produced the $2M required for the building of the Stage #1 WW-I display. The MDC chipped in a further $250K and other avenues were tapped for additional funds including of course our major in-house fund-raiser, the biennial Classic Fighters Airshow.

On completion of the shell through 2005 and following fit-out including the building of sets, installation of cabinets etc (a joint venture between the AHC and Sir Peter), Stage #1 finally opened in December 2006. This however did not occur before an attempted coup' by a non-aviation group who decided that, now that the Omaka community had created this world-class exhibit, it was time for the amateurs from the aviation sector to step aside so they could replace us all with a non-aviation based community trust. This (still little-known) challenge led to some fairly severe closed-door political street-fighting and from which the Omaka aviation community prevailed and once again secured the future of its museum for the aviation community.

44 Heritage Aviation update continued...

In time we went on to raise further funds to build the first WW-II hall, entitled 'The Dangerous Skies' (in honour of local lad and Omaka-trained pilot Arthur Clouston who's autobiography was so named). This hall opened in November 2016 and was completed entirely with Marlborough based creativity and execution. Plans for the continued growth and improvement of the facility are on view in the foyer of the AHC for all to see.

Today, the AHC Board comprises almost all current or past members of the Marlborough Aero Club, sitting on the Board under various headings. MAC has two observer representatives (Brian Greenall who first came onto the Board in this role, and relatively recently appointed John Best, Club member for eons); MDC appointee-observers John Cuddon (former MAC member and PPL holder) and the ever-supportive Dean Heifford; plus current elected members Graham Orphan; David Bamfield; Ryan Southam and Pat Pascoe (all MAC members) with Wendy Sadd serving as Treasurer (also a MAC member).

So for anyone from the MAC membership who have been wondering, "Who are those AHC people?", well they're just us - more MAC members doing cool stuff within the extended Omaka aviation community!

45 Heritage Aviation update continued...

If you have seen the latest Classic Wings magazine (yes, the one that is created right here on the airfield and read all around the world), you will have noticed a once-again, unashamedly-Omaka-biased cover displaying Trevor Collins' lovely and rare Fairchild F-24C8c. Inside there is a six page feature on TC's importation of this scruffy wreck from the USA and subsequent restoration with first flight last year. All of the stunning aerial photos are by our own Gavin Conroy of course. This is the first classic Fairchild to fly in New Zealand skies for around a half a century!

What most members may not know is that there were two earlier vintage Fairchild aircraft operated in New Zealand during the post-war years. These were F-24Ws ZK-AUW and ZK-ASZ. Although usually remembered as attractive four-seat, civilian touring monoplanes of the late 1930s, both of these two had been built in Maryland, USA during 1941 and supplied to the Royal Air Force in England under the Lend-Lease programme for use during WW-II. Sadly, neither of NZ's original Fairchild aeroplanes survives, however TC's restoration brings one classic from the Fairchild family back into Kiwi skies.

46 Heritage Aviation update continued...

But wait, there's more!...... there is another vintage Fairchild F-24, this time an F- 24W, and it is under restoration to fly, again right here at Omaka! The rebuild began seriously about four years ago with John Evans working steadily on the aircraft in the Classic Wings hangar, with input from various other folks from the local aviation community.

But that's not all!! There is a third, yes that's right, a THIRD vintage Fairchild aircraft being restored in New Zealand and yes, you guessed it, it's being restored right here at Omaka. This aircraft is an exceedingly rare Fairchild F- 45. Unlike the other two already mentioned, this is a low-wing monoplane and features retractable undercarriage which was a pretty rare thing back in 1934 when this pretty creature was built. Alas only 17 of these machines were completed and today, a paltry two are still in flyable condition (both in the USA) with two more being restored, one of these, right here at Omaka in the JEM Aviation hangars. Happily both of the restorations are for local members who plan to keep the aircraft indefinitely.

What a great thing that for such a rare breed in this part of the world, New Zealand is home to no fewer than THREE pre-war-designed vintage Fairchild monoplanes, and all three are right here at Omaka. Once these 'Packards of the Skies' are all flying, we'll need to attract more 1930s cars to the field to support them! Lucky us!!

Onwards and Upwards!

Cheers for now, GMO

47 48 Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter...

Can you spot him? Injured hunter, lying in dense undergrowth, guides rescuers to his location.

This is the view helicopter rescuers faced while searching for an injured hunter in the hills near Brightwater, southwest of Nelson, on Sunday morning. Can you spot him?

Look carefully and you will see a red circle… Yes its still hard to see him...

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