WEEK 58: WELLINGTON, PT2 & A PROFILE #45

Airline Prep

CP116 Team Photo

It's been a fun week which has brought my CPL another step closer. The CP had the CPL briefing at the beginning of the week with one of the examiners. He spent about three hours talking about the CPL test, telling us the structure, requirements and tips that will be useful. I had mixed emotions after this; on the one hand it's very scary that the test is so close and it seems that there is so much to remember and there's not a huge margin for error, but on the other hand, he said it should be a formality if you're calm, focused and apply the techniques and rules that have been taught.

My next flight was probably the most awesome flight I've done so far. I flew down to Wellington, had a spot of lunch then came back to Hamilton via Palmerston North where I did an NDB arc and approach. We were cruising at eight or nine thousand feet for most of the flight and it was fun sticking the auto pilot on for most of the cruise. Sadly though it had a malfunction shortly after we left Wellington so I had to fly most of the way back manually. Luckily it was still and I had it trimmed out well.

My Route

Tip of the South Island

I was radar vectored (following headings given by ATC) for the ILS (Instrument Landing System) at Wellington. We were sent out over the sea and around to line up for the runway. I could see the top of the South Island clearly, it was so close! We were slotted in behind a Jetstar A320 coming in from the Gold Coast which was pretty cool. It was rather cloudy sadly so I didn't get many good pictures en-route but the view on the approach was amazing. Coming in over the water and looking at a runway strip with more water at the other end was definitely a memory that will last a life time. I flew for about five hours in total so was quite tired by the time I got back but it was so worth it, what an amazing experience.

ILS approach for runway 34 at Wellington International 

Parked up with the main terminal in the background 

I then had my PT2 which is an internal assessment of your IFR flying, I guess like a mock instrument rating with a little more leeway. I was lucky to have really still conditions and the flight was fairly standard. I had to do a VOR DME hold and approach at Rotorua then a DME arc and NDB approach back at Hamilton, with a bit of unusual attitude recovery and limited panel stuff on the way back. Having done these procedures plenty of times in the Cessna, sim and Twinstar I felt in control all the way and actually kind of enjoyed it. The instructor assessing me was very nice so I felt relaxed and it was a pass so that's another box ticked.

Waiting to line up behind this Jetstar A320 back off to the Gold Coast

Wellington on departure

My final flight for the week was my first CPL profile. The weather man must have realised that we were suddenly back to VFR flying and therefore dependent on the weather so he decided to chuck a couple of cold fronts over the country, bringing plenty of cloud, wind and rain! Looking at the forecast I thought there was no way we'd be going but Mitch seemed keen to go and I'm glad we did because we managed to get the whole flight in and it was good doing it in challenging conditions because I won't be flying in anything worse than that, so if I can do ok in that weather then hopefully I'll be ok in whatever I have on the day.

I had a nav leg first, followed by a diversion which took about forty five to sixty minutes in total. The places we are asked to find for the CPL are much smaller than the ones for PT1 which makes navigation more challenging. Although, it's much easier to fly the Twinstar accurately than the Katana. To my surprise my planned times and headings took me directly over the point and I found my diversion point quite easily too so I was pretty happy with myself as that's the part I was most worried about.

I then did some instrument and limited panel flying (compass turns, unusual attitude recovery etc) followed by some general handling (stalls, steep turns) then finished with circuits at Hamilton.

The weather certainly didn't make it easy but I did feel a bit scratchy. It's been so long since I've had to fly by looking out the window. Apparently it was pretty good for a first profile which was good to hear but there are definitely things to work on and tidy up. I'm glad I got one profile in before my days off because I now know the things I need to go over. I'm sure the next one will be much better and the one after even better then hopefully the CPL will be excellent! That's right, only two more flights (four hours) until the CPL!!

Landing at Wellington

Taking off from Wellington

On a domestic note, my car group managed to sell the car which is a big relief and one less thing to worry about during this busy time. We advertised it on trade me, auto trader and a number of local car websites on facebook. Our starting price was $2500 but after two weeks we'd had no offers so had to bump the price down. In the end someone on one of the facebook groups offered us $1100 which we figured was the best offer we were going to get so that's it, bye bye car. We've rented a car from a local company (RFM rental cars) for the final two weeks which has set us back $250 total. Not bad considering most companies charge about $45 per day!