Turning back

A few weeks ago I decided to fly to Napier for work. The 3 day forecast was good, the Arrow ZK-DQV was available, and ... well what else did I need?

The morning of the flight dawned with perfect weather in Hamilton, but not so good in Taupo - broken cloud at 2000' AGL in Taupo. Not great, but enough to get through the gorge to Napier.

I went out to the aero club at 7.20, but the code for the gate had changed so I had to wait until 8.00 for someone to arrive and let me know the new code. After preflighting the plane I took off at about 8.30 with a flightplan of Hamilton - Mangakino - Rangitaiki - Te Pohue - Napier.

By the time I got to Mangakino, I was already at 2000 feet AMSL due to cloud. Not good. Looking ahead, I could see the cloud meeting the ground. Listening to Taupo traffic frequency, no one flying...



Oh well, I decided that it was no go, and I might as well return to Hamilton. But first I decided to check out some interesting rock formations just south of Mangakino, and also some waterskiing spots I had heard of. Damn flying is fun!

I then returned to Hamilton, and did some circuits to keep myself current in the arrow for a few more months.

I really wanted to just keep flying around all day, but at a beer per minute, its pretty hard to justify!

Cancelling a flight due to weather is frustrating, but still better than pushing on, and getting into a situation you cant get out of. However, this flight has just made me even more keen to get my instrument rating. I think in the new year this will be my goal, as it will make flying a more reliable method of transport, as well as being very interesting and also hopefully making me a more precise pilot.