I had three flights this week, two of which were SPIC IR cross country and one night flight. SPIC stands for student pilot in command and basically means although the instructor is there and has the final say, you are acting pilot in command so the decisions are left to you and the instructor has minimal input. These flights are done off the instruments which is really cool because it feels like you're doing actual sectors in an airline scenario. Each flight is two to two and a half hours.
For my first SPIC flight I wanted to do the ILS approach into Aukland but to my disappointment they were too busy and couldn't fit us in so I did the ILS at Whenuapai instead which is just above Aukland and is a military base. The route goes right around Aukland but it was a pretty cloudy day so the views weren't as good as they could have been. We did get a brief glimpse of the city which was cool and it was really fun going on to Aukland control and listening to all the jets coming in. Air traffic had to keep telling me to change heading to avoid one jet or another. The approach into Whenuapai was good then it was just a missed approach and back to Hamilton where I did an NDB DME approach.
Final approach at Whenuapai
Aukaland off in the distance
Out over the sea
Cloud surfing
My second SPIC flight was a lot busier than the first and was a fairly standard route but it was in preparation for my PT2 test. I did the VOR DME hold and approach at Rotorua then the NDB DME approach at Tauranga via the arc and then the RNAV approach at Hamilton. The legs are quite short, especially between Rotorua and Tauranga and it gets very busy. You need to know exactly what you're doing and always be ahead of the aircraft, otherwise it'll be a disaster. Thankfully I'd back seated the exact same flight the day before so I'd seen it and therefore knew well what I was meant to be doing, it helped so much! I came back from that flight feeling drained but happy as I always felt I was ahead of the aircraft. Just a few minor bits to polish out. I was also given an engine failure during the approach at Tauranga and Hamilton just to increase the workload a bit.
Approach for Tauranga
Tauranga
Bloody poser
Rotorua
DJ & I back seating a night flight. Must've been past bed time.
I then had my first and only night twin star flight at the end of the week which was so much fun. It was just NDB DME holds and approaches with one via the arc so nothing too challenging. It was a really clear, calm night too which made it so enjoyable. There's something about night flying that I just love. I hate NDB's though. They are almost exactly the same as VOR's except the needle never stays still, it swings around all over the place so it's very hard to tell if you're on the right track or not, they're a real pain.
Evening pre-flight
Taxiing out with the sun setting over Hamilton
The lights of Hamilton
Approach at Hamilton
The Multi-Engine Training Manual
Small section on the engines
Then finally on Sunday, I played my final match for Melville Cricket Club in the 50 over final. It was a scorching hot day and the outfield was rock solid, taking no prisoners if they decided to dive. We bowled first and were excellent in the field and with the ball and did well to bowl the opposition out for 194 off 48 overs. I was asked to open the batting and got off to a flyer with my opening partner, making the most of the good wicket provided. I then had a good partnership with our number 5 after 3 and 4 were dismissed in quick succession. I made 58 which turned out to be the top score of the day before being given out LBW. We chased it down with 3 wickets and about 7 overs remaining. It was a perfect way to finish my stint with the club who have been so good to me and I really enjoyed my time there. If anyone's coming out to NZ and wants to play some cricket then I wouldn't recommend any other club than Melville.
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