FLying in New Zealand

[09 Right]

Hi

I am planning a visit to New Zealand North Island in December of this year and would like to do some flying while I am out there. I have a PPL and 200 hours. Does anyone have experience of aircraft hire with or without safety pilot etc and what the rules are. Also any recommendations on clubs would be really helpful

Many thanks

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Several months ago we went flying in the 206 at Lake Taupo.

First I had an hour's lesson, at the end of which I was doing landings without the instructor touching the controls. (OK, I cheated slightly - whilst I don't have a floatplane rating this wasn't my first time in one.)

The next day we put the family in the back and went for a tour round Mt Doom. (The temporary partial engine failure - apparently due to the instructor's knee pulling out the mixture control - upset some of my family slightly but didn't bother me, and we continued the planned flight once we'd sorted it.)

You can of course do this just as a normal flightseeing trip, but making it into a lesson got me to do all the flying and a log book signature. As it's a lesson there aren't any rules or hoops to jump through.

[cavortingcheetah]

It's a long time ago and it was on the south island but it was tremendous fun. New Zealanders are an absolutely ace bunch of people who deserve their beautiful country. If the climate weren't so British I'd move there like a shot. In fact I still might and spend the winters up north in the South Pacific.
Back from the digression though, this is what I did. We went to a flying school at Queenstown and hired a Cessna 182 and an instructor for a dual cross country day out. I had a Commercial Licence in those days but that didn't matter. The dual was just to get things moving fast and avoid paperwork. We flew out across the alps, flew around fjordland and landed at Milford Sound for lunch. It's a cool place, only one way in and the other way out. You needed a special rating to go in there which the instructor had. I think we sort of did a deal in that I took the aircraft in and out and he flew the rest of he day while I took photographs. Anyway, we had a ball and I still bang on about it twenty seven years later. So you could do the same trick up around Bay of Islands or down to Taupo.
As for the fishing up north at Taupo, that's another story. Get yourself a decent guide and don't fall in the river wearing chest waders.

Here's something about The Lord of the Rings and Peter Jackson who fimed the three movies in New Zealand.

Jackson and his team scoured New Zealand for the most beautiful and diverse areas. The rolling hills of Matamata became Hobbiton, while the volcanic region of Mt Ruapehu transformed into the fiery Mt. Doom where Sauron forged The Ring, and Queenstown, New Zealand's adventure capital, was the setting for numerous scenes including the Eregion Hills, and the Pillars of Argonath.

There used to be an operator in Auckland Harbour with a Grumman Goose and a Widgeon. They used to do tours round the bays as well. If you were alone on board you might even have been given the landing. Flying boats are not the same as float planes.

Sea Bee Air....

Photo Search Results | Airliners.net (http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?airlinesearch=Sea+Bee+Air)

[Squeegee Longtail]

09R - Did it last January. 1 month flying around north & south islands. Really good experience. Great scenery & people.
Basically, turn up with your valid ICAO license, medical and logbook, do an equivalent of a BFT, get signed off and then NZ CAA will send you a temporary NZ validation permit (which is valid for up to 6 months), by return fax in my case.
Tauranga aero club had an old but half decent Arrow (ZK-RTE) which they let me take away for as long as I needed for a very reasonable rate.

Watch the weather, the fronts move in at an alarming rate!!

Have fun.

[flyinkiwi]

09R, here's a good start to look at flying clubs, the Flying NZ website (http://www.flyingnz.co.nz/where.html) (formerly known as the Royal New Zealand Aero Club). The link has a list of the affiliated clubs throughout NZ where you may be able to hire aircraft and/or complete your flying requirements for a Temporary Validation Certificate.

What SL has said about what to bring is correct, the only thing I recommend on top of that is contacting the club you wish to use prior to departing the UK to go over your holiday plans so that they can determine if they have the resources to meet your needs. Some Aero Clubs in NZ are quite small and may not be able to cope with the absence of one plane for a few weeks.

cavortingcheetah, Sea Bee Air closed its doors around 25 years ago.:{

[jimmellish]

I rented a PA28 from Airline Flying Club (http://www.airlineflyingclub.org.nz) in January with a safety pilot for a couple of trips. I found them to be very friendly and accomodating. Ardmore airfield is about 40 mins drive from Auckland.

I will never forget being able to circle around Auckland at 1500' just above Sky Tower, the tallest building in Auckland and then west, over the islands to Pauanui for lunch.

Brings a smile to my face as I sit London on a dull overcast morning. :)

[Katamarino]

I spent a few months down in NZ recently, and flew from Ardmore, Kaikoura, and Kerikeri. The rates are reasonable, and the countryside spectacular; have a great time! I did some lessons in a tailwheel 150, and a retractable 172, which was fun.

[CEM1]

Flying in NZ is brilliant- very easy to organise if you have your licence with you, and the flying clubs and schools I encountered were all very welcoming, with reasonable fees. I spent 6 weeks there a couple of years ago, with a PPL and approx 150 hrs, so a similar flying background to yours. Do use the trip as an opportunity to try types of flying that you may not experience so easily elsewhere, and to see even more of the awesome scenery than you can from the ground! I visited Wanaka to see the aviation museum and try some rotary flying, on to Kaikoura to do some mountain flying and whale watching from the air, and then Taupo on the North Island for some floatplane flying. I also flew with Sounds Air from Kaikoura to Wellington; the scheduled service is a C172 and you may well be the only passenger on the trip and therefore be offered the RHS, a headset and a sightseeing commentary, as I was. Much more fun than a ferry crossing or an airline trip if you want to get from South to North Island or vice versa! Try posting on the DG&P forum too-I was also given some good contacts and suggestions on there.

[09 Right]

Thanks everybody for all your comments and suggestions. I will make contact with the various clubs indicated and make sure I get some flying in. Unfortunately I have to combine it with a family holiday and do some "normal" things as well!

Cheers

[Victorian]

Sorry to revive an old thread but does anyone have recent experience of visiting NZ and obtaining a validation of a UK PPL? (or a US private).

Obviously this requires an NZ BFR, but does it also require mountain training since this is apparently part of the NZ syllabus but not of course in the UK training? (They state that your licence has to meet or exceed NZ requirements).

How long does it take to get the validation issued once you complete the BFR?

Any other 'gotchas'?

Many thanks in anticipation.

[jxk]

I think it has been said many times before but if your visit is only for a few weeks and you're only planning on doing a small amount of hours, it's probably just better to rent a plane with an instructor; I'm sure you will increase your skill level and have a relaxed and enjoyable time. A couple years ago I booked a holiday with Flyinn New Zealand | The Mountain Flying Adventure of a Lifetime (http://www.flyinn.co.nz/), South Island and had one of the best times of my life.

[LysanderV8]

Another vote for Flyinn. We did South Island with them 2 years ago and will be there again next month to do more flying with them in both South and North Islands - including Wings over Wanaka. Absolutely outstanding.

To get your NZ validation you must have at least 5 hours of instrument flying in your logbook. That's the only "gotcha" that I can think of. You must, of course, be very aware of the weather and how it affects flying there. We are not used to mountains in the UK and I certainly learned a hell of a lot on my first trip.

Have a great time!

[India Four Two]

Victorian,

I've just returned from NZ where originally I was going to get a Validation Permit but ended up applying for a Kiwi PPL (since I will be going back) on the strength of my Canadian PPL.

All the information you need is in this document:
http://www.caa.govt.nz/pilots/Flight_Crew_Recognition_Info.pdf

Key points are:

1. Your foreign license and medical must be valid.
2. Your licence must be endorsed for English Level 4 or higher.
3. You must have suitable experience:
Applicants seeking a NZ validation permit are required to have flight experience that is at least equivalent to that prescribed for the appropriate level of NZ licence. That is, for a validation that grants PPL privileges, applicants must have the equivalent of all the NZ PPL minimum flight experience requirements, including dual instrument instruction, PPL weather and terrain
awareness and so on.The requirements are listed in http://www.caa.govt.nz/Advisory_Circulars/AC61_3.pdf . Important requirements are 5 hours dual instrument time and 5 hours dual flight training to include at least: 2 hours low flying; and 2 hours terrain and weather awareness training in aeroplanes in accordance with Appendix V.4. Complete a BFR - see this document http://www.caa.govt.nz/pilots/Instructors/FTSG_PPL_RPL_A.pdf

A bureaucratic oddity of the Kiwi system is that you have to have a Type Rating for every type you fly. So do your BFR on the type you plan to fly.

If you are only going to be there for a short while, as jxk said, just fly with an instructor. You will learn a lot and have a lot more fun.

[djtaylor]

Victorian

I obtained my BFR there last year before the mountain flying element was introduced. I used Auckland Aero Club I spent about 6 hours which included a bit of tuition some flying and a written exam which I completed and returned the next day.
The NZCAA closes over new year but the application was processed on their first day back. I hired an AAC 172 for a week and had three days flying and two watching the rain.
We only flew in North Island and I did take the aeroplane away for the night.
AAC restricts some airfields to use only after a landing with an instructor but this was not a problem.
Flying in South Island as a short term holiday stay seems to be quite difficult because few operators will allow solo flights because of the historic accident record. I flew with various clubs with an instructor. The day we had booked to fly from Queenstown it was a bit lively and we cut short our original plan, later that afternoon a 172 was flipped on its back by the wind.
Overall we had a great time met some interesting people and my wife got some Tiger Moth time at the Croydon Aircraft Co.