new zealand metars and tafs

[macflea]

hi everybody,

i am considering travelling to new zealand to do some hourbuilding for p1 hours, currently here in the uk ,can anybody recommend a website where i can check the metars and tafs for the north island so i can get idea if the weather is realy suitable for flying. i have done a search and all i get are general weather websites which wouldnt be suitable for flight planning.just to cheer ye up since its winter down in nz ,its a bloody awful wet summer here, being grounded most of the time, taking 7 to get weeks to a cpl done, 25 hour course full time. are ye able to get much flying done currently?

cheerio macflea

[qtn]

https://www.ifis.airways.co.nz/secure/script/user_reg/login.asp?RedirectTo=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eifis%2Eairways%2Eco% 2Enz%2Fscript%2Fother%2Fsimple%5Fbriefing%2Easp


You will need to register, its free.

[kiwiblue]

get idea if the weather is realy suitable for flying...

hmmmm... if there ain't wx suitable for flying, then a helluva lot of us have been doing a helluva lot of illegal flying... :}

Why limit yourself to the North Island??? Nothing there but rocks, the odd wee city and a coupla volcanoes... nada. Do the SOUTH Island, much more interesting, challenging and scenic! It'll put hairs on ya chest! :ok:

[Capt Fathom]

TTFs TAFs for Anywhere in the World (http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/coded.html)

[27/09]

Macflea

Surely the weather cannot be that bad even in old blighty?!!!!!!!!!!

Capt Fathom

That site gives very poor coverage of the available TAFs/METARs in NZ.

There are only two sites that I know of that give full coverage, one you need a New Zealand licence to be able to access and the other blocks access to ISP's from outside of New Zealand.

So Macflea you will have to take our word for it and believe us when we say that we fly VFR pretty much all year round with out to many problems. Yes there are the odd periods of a day or two at a time where this isn't possible but certainly not weeks at a time.

[Oktas8]

Hi MacFlea,

In the North Island it is very rare to go more than three days without the weather being flyable (safely, legally, VFR). I'd say at this time of year in most parts, each week you'd get one day of non-flyable, one or two days of "can fly if you're keen" and the rest 20km+ vis, ceiling 2000ft+ agl.

That's for local flights. If you want long scenic cross-countries, maybe one day per week suitable. Due to lots of vertical scenery... :)

South Island weather varies greatly depending on where you are & the prevailing wind. Lots more vertical scenery though!

Several instructors in Hamilton are dual qualified, NZCAA and UKCAA. If it helps...

Have a nice trip,
O8

[Mike773]

Not very extensive, but might be of use:

http://www.airservices.gov.au/brief/html.asp?/cgi-bin/avreq?met=NZAA

Replace NZAA with NZCH or NZWN. Only AKL/WLG/CHC available unfortunately, but better than nothing. :ok:

[stillalbatross]

Compared to the rest of the world the NZ weather is benign so I don't know where you're from or what you're used to but you should have no problems surviving. Most NZ pilots act like a bunch of girls and talk up the WX in NZ like it's a cross between blizzards in Antartica and roaring tropical typhoons. And they're in the middle of it fighting for every inch of their life in what appeared to be a basic pleasant VFR crosscountry.

The odd frost, a bit of fog and low cloud here and there but I doubt you'll find anything to worry you, besides if you get stuck somewhere for the night there's always a nice pub that's only a short distance away.

[Mike773]

Albatross...you're right on the money there!

It drives me up the wall to see advertising campaigns in NZ saying things like "made for the harsh New Zealand weather". :rolleyes: No extremes of heat or cold by world standards; no major tropical cyclones; the odd flood or earthquake from time to time, but overall no worries mate! :)

Flying the heavies in can present problems because only AKL and CHC are 747-capable and the CAA whinges if you use OHA airbase. So if both AKL and CHC are fogged in (has happened) you're in trouble.

GA won't present much of a problem. But I'd wait till it warms up. It's bloody cold right now (in a NZ-way...) :}