Advanced Mountain Flying Training – Hong Kong Helicopter Club’s NZ Visit

By Lily Fenn.

I recently spent time in New Zealand with a group of Hong Kong Helicopter Club members and their families. We all very much enjoyed our seven-day stay from 16–23 March, most of which we spent at Wanaka in the South Island of New Zealand.

Wanaka is a truly unbeatable location for cross-country and real mountain flying training, with Mount Aspiring and Milford Sound in the vicinity. There, we enjoyed the opportunity to undertake some advanced training at Wanaka Helicopters. The company’s owner and chief flying instructor, Mr Simon Spencer-Bower, and four of his instructors instructed us in advanced mountain flying in alpine and fiord environments.

During the time we spent at Wanaka, four of us—Mr Wolfgang Bern, Mr Eric Wong, Ms Teresa Tang and I—gained formal qualifications in the form of a New Zealand nationally recognised certificate in advanced mountain flying. The qualification covers general familiarisation with mountainous terrain—things like unusual horizons (or environments with no horizons), visual illusions, and mountain landing skills and techniques involving landing on pinnacles and beside mountain lakes at altitudes above 4,000 feet. My highest landing was at 7,000 feet with the wind blowing at 30 knots.

Mountain flying is challenging, especially on the west coast of the South Island. We learned how to navigate in valley streams, with high mountains towering 7,000 feet above us on both sides—and in front. Mountains behind mountains all looked alike. We were taught to make turns within valleys using imaginary lines in our minds to keep level. If there were trees, we used them for reference, sweeping perpendicular to them to help keep our turns level without climbing or descending.

During our stay, I flew some passengers in a Eurocopter AS350 Squirrel to Mount Aspiring, and the Volta and Bonar Glaciers, which are more than 10,000 years old. It was truly spectacular to be able to fly above and get close to the glaciers, and we all considered the flight a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

After leaving the mountain peaks of the Southern Alps, I then flew to Milford Sound, whose unusual and stunning geographical features make it a world-renowned tourist attraction. Along the coast, the weather was rather cloudy and we flew at low level looking for seals and penguins. There were hundreds of seals, many of them just babies, sunbathing on the rocks and we were lucky enough to spot two penguins as well. As we flew into the narrow entrance to Milford Sound, the sky opened up to a completely different situation and it was clear in the Sound.

The circuit at Milford is very tight and required a steep turn to establish on final. After shutting down at the aerodrome, we went to the control tower to chat with the controller before making our way to a café at the small settlement.

Our visit coincided with Easter and the biennial Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow. There we all enjoyed the helicopter “ballet” of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, many aerobatic displays and flying by World War Two warbirds. The warbirds on display included the Mustang, Hurricane, Kittyhawk and Corsair. Wanaka is the only place outside World War Two Russia that you could get to see and hear the extremely rare sights and sounds of formations of Polikarpov fighters in formation.

After the first day of the airshow, we all went to Queenstown, where one may try the bungy jump, paraglide from peaks above the town, ride a luge on a fast downhill track and enjoy a journey on Lake Wakatipu aboard the vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw (built in 1912) to Walter Peak high country station, where one can choose to take a farm excursion, or enjoy tea, a barbecue lunch or evening dinner. The farm show included sheep shearing and a demonstration by trained sheep dogs in controlling sheep by eye contact and without barking.

As well as the wonderful scenery, I mustn’t forget to mention the delicious and unpolluted seafood and meat in New Zealand: crayfish (rock lobsters), mouth-watering Bluff oysters, green-lipped mussels, paua (abalone), fresh lamb, venison, and a great variety of fresh catches from the sea.

I am sure there is nowhere in the world more beautiful to learn advanced helicopter flying—and enjoy a holiday—than in New Zealand. All of us who visited look forward to returning. Next time, we will undertake more advanced helicopter training at Wanaka Helicopters, perhaps learning sling operations.