Archive for March, 2010

DC-3 Journey to Warbirds Over Wanaka—Unforgettable Opportunity

Monday, March 8th, 2010

The Warbird Dakota Syndicate (Also known as ‘Fly Dakota-NZ’) will be offering unique opportunities for anyone wanting to attend the Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow in comfort and style.

When the DC-3 flies from Ardmore to Wanaka and then onto Queenstown on April the 1st, places will be available for return travel to and from Wanaka and Queenstown.

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Workshop Opening Marks NMIT–RNZAF Partnership

Monday, March 1st, 2010

On the 26th of February, the Minister of Defence, the Hon Dr Wayne Mapp, opened a $1.2 million workshop at RNZAF Woodbourne that will be used by the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technolgy (NMIT) to train not only its own students, but also RNZAF engineering officers who had previously trained overseas.

In his speech, the Minister said that ...

Tower for Tomorrow—Christchurch’s New Control Tower

Monday, March 1st, 2010

By Hugh Mitton.

The new control tower at Christchurch International Airport opened in September last year; a distinctive addition to the city’s northwestern skyline and a major $7 million addition to Airways New Zealand’s infrastructure. Hugh Mitton took a look inside to find out what the “state-of-the-art” is, exactly.

Viewed from the ...

March 2010

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Tower for Tomorrow—Christchurch's New Control Tower

Christchurch's tower controllers no longer have to sit in a large cupboard at the top of the stairs using closed circuit TV to see bits of the outside world. A modern—real—tower allows them to do their job much better. Hugh Mitton reports.

What Makes a Good Airline Pilot?

After a ...

Five Accident-free Years for Part-135 Operators

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Commercial fixed wing general aviation operators—those whose aircraft carry nine or fewer passengers—are celebrating a period of five years free of fatal accidents, while it is some nine years since the last fatality involving equivalent commercial helicopter operations.

Irene King, the chief executive of the Aviation Industry Association (AIA), said, “This is a great record but one that ...

Air New Zealand Earnings Up

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Late last month, Air New Zealand announced normalised earnings before taxation of $96 million for the six month period ended 31 December 2009 (this represents an increase of $70 million on the same period last year), and normalised earnings after taxation of $64 million.

This was despite an operating revenue that was down 15%, and passenger demand down by ...

Boeing 787 Test Programme Progress

Monday, March 1st, 2010

At the end of January, Boeing moved the 787 Dreamliner fatigue test airframe to its structural test rig in the northwest corner of the Everett, Washington site. The company says that test set up is expected to begin immediately, with tests commencing midyear.

“Unlike static tests, where loads are applied to the aeroplane structure to simulate both normal ...

Safe Air Plans To Cut Back Workforce

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Safe Air in Blenheim, which is an engineering subsidiary of Air New Zealand, is planning to reduce its workforce by up to 100 positions—almost a third of the company’s total workforce.

The staff reduction has become necessary because of extensive delays by Canadian companies in delivering the first of the RNZAF’s upgraded C-130s. Initially, it was intended that ...

Letters from War—The Journey

Monday, March 1st, 2010

By Donald Harward

A friend of mine, Gerry, said something the other day that stuck in my head. We were getting ready to go flying on Thanksgiving Day and were preflighting the aircraft. He and I have both flown various helicopters and jets during our careers. Looking at the modern lines of our AgustaWestland AW-139, he said, ...