Mountain Flying

No matter where you fly in New Zealand, at some stage you will be affected by the mountainous terrain that makes up over half of this beautiful country.

Up there, the forces of nature have a greater impact and pilots who operate in the mountains have developed a special set of skills and knowledge to help them survive.

A healthy respect for these areas and an understanding of their peculiarities and pitfalls may one-day save your life. Our courses have been designed to introduce the basic techniques and then progress you further, in order to give you the confidence, skills and understanding for mountain flying.

In the classroom, we will study mountain weather, what to look for and more importantly what to avoid. At height, power available is less, power required is more. An intrinsic understanding of weight, power, and density altitude is paramount to ensure maximum performance whilst operating in the demanding environment. Finally, we will look at flying techniques, physiological factors associated with mountain flying and the worst case scenario - surviving in the mountains in the event of a forced landing.

We will then fly to the Coromandel Ranges or elsewhere and put the theory into practice. The Coromandel is a fantastic environment for pinnacle and ridge operations to experience the effects of turbulence, learn how to navigate and fly through valleys and operate with tight power margins and plan escape routes.

Depending on student numbers and availability we also run mountain “overnighters” where as a group we will base ourselves in Thames. This provides a cost effective way for students to attain a consolidated chunk of mountain flying experience and obviously there is a 'social' aspect to these trips!