1

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE MARLBOROUGH AERO CLUB INC.

P.O. Box 73, Blenheim, 7240

Tel: (03) 578 5073

Email: fly@marlboroughaeroclub.co.nz www.marlboroughaeroclub.co.nz

October 2014

Vol. 33 No.9

Congratulations to Jake Hynd for Passing his CPL

THE M.A.C. FLYER

2

PATRON PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT

John Sinclair Craig Anderson Ray Patchett

Tel. 578 7110 Tel. 029 890 4910 Tel: 578 7225

HON. TREASURER SECRETARY

Geoff van Asch Hayley Campbell

Tel. 575 7102 Tel. 578 5073

COMMITTEE

Peter Bruce, John Firks, Andrew Johns, Richard Gorman,

Duncan Grigg, Chris Love.

CHIEF FLYING INSTRUCTOR CLUB CAPTAINS

Sharn Davies Johnny Andrews & Tim Johnson

Contributions to the next M.A.C. Flyer are welcome before 25 August 2014.

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 cjaviator@gmail.com

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

3

Hi All,

Marlborough’s best kept secret has arrived-the pesky northwest winds. It has been

challenging for our students and keeping us instructors on the ball. Nick Milne has

started training part time for Sounds Air, therefore he has dropped back to part

time at the club. We have also hired Joshua Evans, a C Cat from the Christchurch

region, to take Nick’s place while we are super flat out at the club with numerous

flight tests. Joshua has done some flying with us in the past gaining his tail wheel

rating in OMK recently. We welcome him aboard.

Jake Hynd passed sat his CPL on the 1st October in OMK. We both went mountain

biking the night before his test to blow off some steam and have a quiet beer to

relax the nerves before flight test day. It must have done some good because he

passed!

Bookings are getting tight at the club at the moment as we have our two trainee C

Cats flight testing at the end of this month and 2 CPL’s flight testing in November

and a potential couple of other CPL students on the horizon. So this is a good trend

to have. Onwards and upwards.

Safe flying.

Sharn Davies

CFI REPORT

4

Hi all,

There has been a lot of activity out at the Aero Club in the last couple of months.

Sharn has been full time (in fact more than full time) training no less than 3 “C” Cat

Instructors, and 3 CPL students – 5 of which are looking to have their flight tests

done and dusted before the end of the year! Well done to Jake Hynd who was first

off the blocks and passed his CPL flight test with Alistair last week!

I would also like to say a special thanks to Sharn for the dedicated and huge effort he

is putting into these students. I am sure they are getting the very best quality training

out there, from a very experienced, dedicated and practical instructor.

That has kept Nick busy looking after a lot of the other training, including strip flying

courses. Many will not be aware that Nick has been looking to move on to Sounds

Air for some time, which whilst is exciting for him – would be a real loss to the Aero

Club, as he has developed over the years some very special skills as an instructor, and

especially a very proficient tailwheel/strip flying instructor. To that end, we have

come to an agreement that he will fly part time for Sounds Air, and part time for the

club. This arrangement does have some negatives, but the benefits are that we as a

club retain the skills and genuine enthusiasm that Nick has to offer.

In my opinion it is a good thing for Aero Clubs like ourselves to be able to be a

stepping stone for pilots careers, however it’s even better when those same pilots

enjoy their flying enough to actually want to stay on with the Club and continue to

pass on the experience they have gained over the years.

To cover the very busy period over the next couple of months, we have employed a

part time instructor (Joshua Evans) to assist in the basic training role while Sharn is

tied up with theory classes etc.

HEALTHY BASTARDS 2015

If you haven’t already entered, there is no time like the present! You can enter

online on the club’s new website at www.marlboroughaeroclub.co.nz.

Entries are rolling in, so don’t miss out.

WE NEED YOU …..

Many thanks to those who have volunteered their help on the day for the Healthy

Bastards competition.

We need plenty more help yet, so please make an effort and let Hayley or myself

know what you can assist with.

Cheers Craig

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

5

Thoughts from Oshkosh First time visitor July 2014

Thoughts from Oshkosh – First time visitor July 2014

Oshkosh happens from Saturday to Sunday (9 days) in the summer in Central

Wisconsin.

Two of us left Auckland Wednesday evening, stayed a night in Chicago on

Wednesday night, and made our way to our New Holstein hotel, meeting up with

our friend from the UK en-route. Three of us shared a small Ford SUV for the 9

days, which cut the cost substantially.

We stayed in New Holstein because this is where supercub.org get together every

year at the same time as Oshkosh, in a much lower key affair at New Holstein

Airport. And also because we did not book accommodation until February, by

which time any hotels nearer Oshkosh were all

booked out. New Holstein is about one hours drive from the freeway entrance at

Wittman field.

Below, one of about 60 cubs (and the odd Cessna 180, Waco and other

interlopers at New Holstein).

6

New Holstein airport is about the same size as Woodbourne, with far fewer

buildings. The paved strip is 1km long and the grass runway of 900m long, for

those needing a bit of space to get their cub down.

The SuperCub group were fantastically hospitable, and this is one of their two

major annual events. (The other is their fly away to Valdez Alaska, just a small

5800kms for a fly away event.) The standard competitions were performed (short

take off and landing, flour bombing,

landing on sandbars on a nearby river, not

for the faint of heart). Notable is the

professionalism of the group, PA for the

announcer, expert commentary, and

general organisation.

Left: A small Winnebago for Airshows!

See the aerial view of Oshkosh later.

On to Oshkosh. We started at Oskhosh on

Friday (day before the show proper). This is a great day to convert electronic

registration to wrist bands, obtain maps, and wander round the show while

everyone is setting up. Far less people, and show staff always helpful. It is an

opportunity to watch the Warbirds (and many others) arrive. The best thing to do

is use the pre-show day to figure out where to go, what to do, during the show

itself. It takes about 30 mins on the worst day to get parked, find a bus, and get to

the show main entrance (signalled by two large engine pods and propellors on a

concrete pedestal either side. (B25 pods with Wasp radials?)

Suprising thoughts and stats from Oshkosh:-

Visitor numbers over 500,000 for the show (up 5-6% over 2013)

Cessna and Cirrus are the two largest GA Manufacturers, Piper eclipsed in

GA.

Honda took a major stand – cars, motorbikes and indy-cars around the

Honda Jet.

25 Mustangs in the Warbird Section, but huge number of unique stuff.

Thoughts from Oshkosh...Continued

7

The Honda Jet. I admit, having seen the Honda Jet close up I have ser ious

reservations about it. The primary one is tiny main tyres for a big, heavy aircraft.

3 landings per tyre set? Hmmmm. Another item is the wing top and bottom skins

are milled from solid aluminium. Seems very heavy, definitely no casual repairs

with tin snips and rivet gun. The final item is the location of the baggage door,

which is immediately behind

the red Honda lettering on the

engine pod, and below the “N”

on the tail. Access (and size of

baggage) is severely restricted

by the proxmity of the upward

engine pylons (which

themselves have been

extensively reworked

aerodynamically since the

original spindly pylons were

shown). In summary, it took

Cessna 3 versions to get the

CJ6 right, and I hope Honda

have got the patience for getting the HA420 to the same level of usability as we

expect from a Honda Accord.

The Market Stalls and Glass Cockpits. There is a huge market, both more

formal manufacturers in the large Oshkosh hangars, and the more exotic traders

in the tents near the periphery fence. It does not matter what your opinion about

glass cockpits is, they were selling like hotcakes. Clearly huge demand for

modern software and electronics, in spite of simplicity of steam gauges. I went to

an excellent presentation about the top 4 glass cockpit software packages (4 for

Ipad, 1 for Android) and serious work going on to improve usability. These things

are designed by 25 year olds, and the user base demographic is 50-65 year old

males. So small type, and little buttons don't play well in a cockpit vibrating and

bouncing around. Repairs – don't be silly.

Replace the tablet and reload the software.

Thoughts from Oshkosh...Continued

8

These two pictures give a good idea of Winnebago Heaven and the scale of the

event. The RH picture was I estimate about 50% of the car parks and camping

setup. The LH picture shows the tower, the main entrance, ½ the main show area

and a fraction of the aircraft displays on the left.

The pictures were taken riding in a Huey, for a 10 minute circuit of the event.

Cool Stuff – Beech D18's, Lockheed 12's and similar pre-war twin monoplane

twins. They just look right. There must have been about 10 of each, with 80% at

immaculate show standard.

Noisy Stuff: F16's make a fierce racket, particularly when the audience is trying

to listen to a lecture on some aviation technical subject. Long delays as 6 F16's

blast past over the main runway.

Cool Stuff: The weather. Unseasonably cool 24-25 degrees instead of 30-35

degrees they were expecting. Much comment about weather not behaving at all

consistently.

Not so cool stuff: If you think Didymo is a problem between North and South

Islands, then aquatic infestations have practically caused the cessation of

floatplanes hopping from Lake to Lake in the Central USA. Clearly unexpected

water creatures appearing in all sorts of unexpected places is having a very large

impact.

Volatile Stuff. 100UL (unleaded) Avgas is clearly ready for the off. Currently we

Thoughts from Oshkosh...Continued

9

use 100LL (low lead) and Shell and Swift Petroleum are leading the product

manufacturer. The fuel is ready. The engine manufacturers (Lycoming and

Continental) all say their products are fine with the new fuel. Both are waiting

for the FAA to finally approve everything. All three parties say they are waiting

for the others. Nothing like a good

bureaucracy to screw things up. One day.

Left – Kermit Weeks's Mosquito, looking

lonely in

the museum north of the EAA Museum.

Right Stewart Mustang with 600HP

Orenda Engine.

Below: My Personal Favourite. Glasair Sportsman

US$120K and two week build in the Glasair Factory.

Glasair Sportsman.

4 seats (rear two seats either rear

-facing or forward facing).

Sensible engine and cockpit

options. This beautiful example

was owned by theVP of Hamilton

Propellors, and no, no no sitting in

the aircraft. I was able to sit in a

tricycle version, not the tail

dragger.

Thoughts from Oshkosh...Continued

10

Detail of the solid Honda

Jet Wing, along with the

main wing-mounting lug.

I remain unconvinced.

Every home should have one. Complete

with small children who can be coerced

into polishing duties. (read $$)

Right – because you can.

Thoughts from Oshkosh...Continued

11

Suprising things about the USA this time around. The American “get” small cars.

Normal sized cars were clearly in a huge majority, no doubt US$3 per gallon has

an impact. But thank goodness for difference, there are still some monster

vehicles around).

Recommended Stuff:- The EAA museum, worth a visit any time of the year.

The Chicago Museum of Art - “we don't have one Monet, we have a room with

19 of them”!

(and huge number of other well known artists and pictures).

The Chicago Museum of Technology – just for scale of some of the exhibits.

(Lets have a thunderstorm in one of the galleries for 5 mins after every ½ hour –

don't forget to switch the thunderstorm off before you go home!)

Best item. Dick Rutan explaining when returning to Edwards AFB after non stop

round the world flight, confronted with 3 things – he had not filed a flight plan, ii)

no possibility of going around, as more powerful engine had been shut down for

8 days and iii) no radio traffic (was the radio dead?)

A very tentative initial radio call revealed that Edwards AFB was waiting for his

arrival, and that all test flying was suspended for the day (US Military AFB

suspends all flying for private aircraft to land) “come straight in – any runway

you like......”

Roger De Salis

Thoughts from Oshkosh...Continued

AVIATION HERITAGE CENTRE FLYING DAY THIS

SATURDAY 11TH OCTOBER 9 AM

Notice to all club members and aircraft owners of the AHC

Flying Day this weekend.

Your presence and aircraft are welcome.

Sausage sizzle and free coffee on offer - Don't miss it!

Hope to see you there.

12

FLYING HOURS

13