News and Views 4

Into the start of week 5. We were only supposed to have 4 weeks but things didn’t go the way they planned.

Hang on, things have gone way better than planned. WTF?

The Prime Minister’s press conferences are interesting. The media gallery are likened to some ogle eyed fans at some rock star’s interview. Not one of them questions her statements.

Put Simon Bridges up there and they’d be like rabid dogs.

Similarly, the humorous Trump press conferences where the media are too scared to question him, even when he suggests that his medical experts are going to look into somehow getting UV light into the body and also they are going to investigate his idea of injecting disinfectant into the body. He has since suggested that his comments were sarcasm for the media. Watch the videos. Make up your own mind.

In Sweden, the controversial covid model where they did not lock down and did not quarantine, but put the focus on protecting the elderly and advised the population to limit density of crowds. They did not shut schools (there have been 0 cases of covid in children there) or close down businesses. Their curve is almost as flat as ours.

A week on in NZ and we’ve pretty much got this thing stopped in it’s tracks. A handful of active cases and a few in hospital. Those doctors and nurses waiting for the masses are still waiting and still no elective surgery going on. There will be less car accident victims to deal with but maybe these have been replaced by domestic violence victims. 2 weeks of level 3 and then into level 2. I bet it sneaks into 3 weeks of level 3. Just to make sure. “We need to eradicate this virus”. But eradicate suddenly doesn’t mean eradicate in the usual sense of the word. It means “Reduce to a tolerable level” I know we shouldn’t put a price on human life but I guess in some departments, this is actually done. To date this lockdown has cost the country 21 billion dollars and there’s some way to go yet. Where did that money come from? and when the obvious answer is “borrowed” how or when the hell are we going to pay that back”?

The breaking news of the week is that someone suddenly realised that the major engine manufacturers changed their manuals a few years ago regarding downtime of aircraft engines and it was revealed that any engine that hadn’t been flown for at least one hr in the preceding 30 days and hadn’t been inhibited, would be outside the manufacturer’s recommendations and would require a bulk strip or overhaul. “What a load of Bollocks” most said. “Aircraft have sat around for months at a time in hangars over the years and no ill effects noted” However, CAA now have lots of staff with naff all to do and check on idle aircraft is apparently a good job for them. No problem. CAA allowed aircraft operators to apply for a one hr maintenance flight per 30 days while in lockdown. We obliged and as the bandwagon slowed, we hitched a ride. An excuse to fly in a lockdown is all I needed. I’ve logged 4 hrs in the last 3 days and our aircraft are all legal again. Rotax engined machines are not given permission as their components have modern coatings to resist corrosion. The 4th hr I did in the Continental powered Bearhawk LSA in Hastings that I have been carrying out a test flight schedule on. I realise that it sounds hypocritical for me to bag the process and then partake of the maintenance flights but thems the rules plus I got to do 4 hours flying which was brilliant after 30 days of walking around gazing skyward whenever one of the Ag planes flew past.

The following is from John White

The link below is the story of the greatest photo recognisant pilot of WW2. When it comes to the bit about Pantellaria my father was his wing man. Dad said he was getting cheesed off with all the stuff being fired at them. He could see it landing in the sea, past and below them. Anyway they came across a supply ship with fuel munitions etc and Warburton gave Dad the option of shooting it up which he dully did setting it alight . It was beached and destroyed.

Warburton took photos of all this and when they got back to Malta he offered Dad the photos which Dad accepted. They are now on my office wall . Dad said Warburton was a really nice person. At this time he was a Wing Commander and Dad a lowly Pilot Officer. But he still went to the trouble of getting Dad the photos.

Enjoy the youtube

John

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB6ydNxG2hc

There’s not much else to report, I’ll likely go back to work under level 3 so that walks, jigsaws (the most evil time wasting objects ever produced) loading ammunition in preparation for the Zombie apocalypse and doing garden jobs that have been on the list for a while, will take a back seat. There has been a welcome distraction in that every 2nd day or so I check on the 8 cattle left on the airfield and feed them a bale of baleage and check water. I’ve fixed several water trough leaks and overflows, grubbed a few thistles and picked a few mushrooms. The dry conditions take me back to farming in the 80s and the 2 whopper droughts we experienced back then. Lake Hatuma is about half its normal size and I include a photo taken yesterday. The interesting thing about this one is that it’s brown right to the western bushline which is unusual and devastating for those guys. With May around the corner, winter is not far away. I can see no rain in the present 10 day forecast.

Take care, keep sane and wash ya bloody hands.

Ross Macdonald

The following from John Armstrong

The CHB Aero Club has always had great trips away. I haven't been on many lately but enjoy reading about them, many thanks to Ross. They take me back to the old days of the Area Rallies and National RNZAC Pageants where we used to get sadly led astray by Don M, Merv M and Ross M. And Bob Gunsonand RJB on a memorable occasion in Timaru.So it was with much anticipation that I was picked up by Richard in Citabria CRT at Bridge Pa on Saturday morning 21 March 2020 for the Club trip to the East Coast. Very smooth flying conditions, quite low cloud layer but good vis under it. Could hear the other aircraft but didn't see them. Slight deviation aroundNuhaka to keep from going over the cloud layer, so basically all the way up the coast to Tolaga Bay. I have to say that as well as being a very smooth and comfortable flight, the scenery along the coast, both up and down, was magnificent.Thoroughly enjoyed Tolaga Bay, good airstrip, wharf worth a visit. Caught up with a few other aircraft, and with David Dymock who I haven't seen for many years and who knows more about my family history than I do and who has subsequently sent me some photos of my father, grandfather and aunt that haven't seen before. On to Ruatoria, where there would have been a 60 th Anniversary reunion of the Ruatoria Aero Club if not for Covid-19. Brief stay there and met Hughie Hughes, who has written some reminiscences with Ross's article. Then on to Te Araroa and the flash new strip described by Ross. Last time I was there the strip was in front of the pub, it wasn't the easiest and there were horses up and down the main (only) street. Short walk to the café then back to Gisborne along the coast for fuel, and then to Portland Island.First time for me there, great experience. Then back to be dropped off in Bridge Pa after a wonderful day. Many thanks to all involved, especiallyRichard Bradley for his organisation of the day but also for letting me sit in the back of CRT and enjoy and appreciate his experience and piloting skills.The real reason I started to write this, sorry have gone on a bit, was to remember the Club trip to Ruatoria on the weekend of 24 and 25 March 1973. I flew the Club 172, DAP, to Wairoa with Keith Omundsen, picked up a passenger and then on to Ruatoria. The Wairoa and HBEC Aero Clubs were there but with the passage of time I can't remember who else or who else came from CHB. Merv and Donald M would have been there. There was quite a crowd. We had bombing and spot landing competitions. It was all exactly as Ken McKee relates in his excellent article attached to Ross' emails and thanks to him for the photos. I have some but will take me a while to find them. I spent a bit of time with Mike Cotterill and his wife Lesley. They had a farm not far away. I had been at school with Mike although he was a little older, sadly has since died. His wife Lesley had a CPL and I understand she would fly people and produce from Ruatoria and Gisborne to Auckland. Very nice people. We spent the evening and night at the Ruatoria pub as Ken mentioned and enjoyed the locals. Bit foggy on the details. Next day we were all doing joyrides for the locals and, again as Ken remembers, DAP was struggling a bit to get up to Mt Hikurangi with a full load. A memorable occasion although as it was 47 years ago and we did spend a bit of time at the Ruatoria pub, not all the memories have stuck. Thank goodness for log-books.Then back to drop off Keith and other passengers at Wairoa, and back to Waipukurau. Must have been some wind somewhere because my log-book shows Yp-Wairoa 45 mins, Wairoa-Ruatoria 40, Ruatoria- Wairoa 1hr 15, Wairoa-Yp 1hr 05.So, Ross, Ruatoria did have an Aero Club and the CHB Aero Club was a small part of its History. I thoroughly enjoyed both trips.

John Armstrong