June 2008 Newsletter - What a great summer....roll on another one!!!!!!

Yes, yes yes, I know its been a while...but hey what a great and busy summer its been!

For all new readers out there, a very warm welcome. Our aim has always been to keep you all informed of the exciting events taking place, current topics in the aviation industry and from time to time some theory to keep your knowledge current. With winter nipping our heels, its great to reminiesce but also good to catch our breath, tidy up some outstanding jobs....and then look forward to spring and another gorgeous summer.

Firstly, CONGRATULATIONS to all the students below for their achievements over the past few months

PPL                                          CPL                                          Solo’s

Andrew Cronbach                      Gary Birchfield                          Steve McCowan

Rick Giddy                                                                                Lance Taylor

After the disappointment of having to cancel in February due to the mini cyclone passing through, the 2008 NZ Helicopter Championship turned out to be a brilliant day with teams competing hard out…sometimes too hard…  to win the coveted BP Challenge Trophy.

With an Air Force Huey, a Squirrel, a Jetranger, an EC120, 2 R44’s, 2 Hughes 300’s, 4 R22’s, plus a lunchtime race against a rally car; North Shore airfield was no place for those wanting a quiet Saturday! 

Being the only FAI sanctioned competition in the southern hemisphere, for the first time this year’s event saw all four stages of the World Championship format of Navigation, Precision Flying, Slalom and Fender Rigging being completed; plus the jaw dropping bottle opening stage!

Congrats to our well deserved winner - Hamish and Simon in Hox Rox...For a full report of the day, go to our events page and enjoy!

• Some great news, we now have a new instructor, Riaan, to take some pressure off the regular crew and who is a very welcome addition to our team. Welcome on board chap!

• Paula wangled some time off recently to support ex All Black Captain Buck Shelford who is recovering from prostrate cancer. He got some of his AB mates locally to highlight the need to get checked. His view was shared by one of our ex-students and my Targa rally driver Rick Martin, who will be cycling the length of NZ in "bro - vember" in support of the same cause. Rick and Buck have both said - "if I can motivate just one guy to go to his doctor and get checked then its worth it"

• New CAA regs have come in about Language Proficiency - if you are upgrading your license, you need to sit the new test.

• Paula has organised another PPL Helicopter Air Tech course for early July. The 4 night course for $100 covers the entire syllabus to help you pass the exam...please call us and book your spot.

  Like seems to attract like ... not only do most of us share a passion for things that fly, it now seems that includes fast cars?! We have a considerable pool of our students who love the thrill of fast four wheels.  Some of us rally, some drive fast around tracks and others just drive fast and enjoy the sound of the purr! With that in mind, we'll organise a social to the local go-kart track in a few weeks, have some fun and see what we're all made of - flick us an email if your keen.

Student loans: STILL no further update at this stage despite us bombarding the TEC. It remaisn ridiculous that the largest flight school north of the harbour bridge cannot offer this service for the select and dedicated future heliopcter pilot! Paula has kept a list of all enquires and as soon as we hear anything, we will let you know.

The demand in the commercial industry for pilots and engineers worldwide continues abated. There has truely never been a time in recent memory where the demand for pilots of all experience levels seems to be inexhaustable. With fleets growing expotentially, the industry is struggling to keep hold of good people who are now going where the opportunities are the greatest. This transience, opens up sought after positions for all and there has never been a better time to really achieve that dream job. Give us a call if you want to find out more.

Never too late to start…

Don’t forget we have 4 different types of introductory flights for you to choose from to either get you or that someone special flying. Also as winter sets in we can organise lunch at a cosy vinyard or two...so give us a call and explore all the wonderful opportunities!

 

All of us here look forward to seeing you over the coming months and relish the opportunity for you to come and make all your dreams come true!!!!