Bashing (ever so gently) the Ardmore circuit today is this little beauty, a Hatz CB2 ZK-PEC. First registered in Nov 2004 to a PE Carpenter of Kerikeri, it has moved to be with ME Vodane with an Ardmore PO Box number from February this year. I've not come across this little machine before and thankfully they were using the radio so I could get a registration as little else gives it identity away!

A dawn patrol at Masterton on 21-03-2009 found the Balloon competitions underway.
Above being a general view over the Lake.
As far as I understand; the mission for the morning was to wet your feet followed by dropping a marker into a target area. I must admit that I was surprised at the manoeuvreability of these great beasts in the fickle breezes of the early morn.
ZK-FAC2 is a Lindstrand LBL 90A with c/n 434 listed with John Clifton of Nelson since 01-04-2005. Its previous UK id of G-ULLS is faintly visible.

ZK-FAI is the Boland 38-8 c/n 147 with Craig Scott of Masterton since 06-06-2008.

ZK-FAN being a Cameron N-77 with c/n 3363 registered to Peter Mills of Queenstown since 02-02-1999. This is ex G-ITAL.

ZK-FAX belonging to Balloon Expeditions of Auckland since 25-01-2000 is a Kavanagh E-180 , c/n being KB222.

Nearest is the Kavanagh C-77 ZK-FBA3 c/n KB310 of Howard Watson of Wellington; with the Cameron O-65 ZK-KKH c/n 938 behind. This one has had a career in the UK as G-BKUD followed by a stint in Australia as VH-BKH. Now with Mark Wilton of Carterton.

ZK-FBQ is Kavanagh E-120 c/n KB125 of the Murray's. This was first registered here on 07-04-1994 having been originally registered as a Cameron A-210 since 15-11-1989 to J & D Hall.
It was originally listed in the US as N2979A in 1984. Correct me if I am wrong; but from this I assume the type change comes about with a "bag" change to a different type and that the registration belongs to the "basket".

ZK-LAR c/n 3601 is a Cameron C-80 Concept registered to Scott Cursons of Manukau. Initially regd on 27-06-1995 to Richard Grant of Christchurch.

Thunder & Colt Ax7-77 carries the initials of its owner; Murray J Carlaw to make it ZK-MJC with a c/n 1531. Ex UK and G-BSBN it was listed in NZ on 22-08-07.

Kavanagh D-105 ZK-PUF c/n D105-359 belongs to Denis Hall of Wellington. Has done since 26-03-2007.

Kubicek BB60 ZK-UPP with the c/n 451 for the Kiwi Balloon Co of Hamilton since 31-10-2006.

ZK-WON is a Cameron C-90 with c/n 10492. Has been with the Balloon Promoters since imported 18-12-2003.

ZK-WRU is the Cameron V-90 c/n 3038 of Mike Oakley of Hororata. Was originally G-MANI in the UK from 08-03-1993. First listed in NZ on 29-09-2003 with Peter Dunn.

& Last, A to Z speaking, was the Cameron A-210 ZK-XXF c/n 4300 from the Early Morning Balloons from Waipukarau. Been with them since 26-01-2000 following a period as G-BXXF from 02-04-1998 with Gone With The Wind Ltd of Bristol UK.
There was this unidentified (Coka Cola) balloon, which would not spin around to expose its registration. Any body ID it please ?

Emergency or abnormal situations can occur during a takeoff that will require a pilot to reject the takeoff while still on the runway. Circumstances such as a malfunctioning powerplant, inadequate acceleration, runway incursion, or air traffic conflict may be reasons for a rejected takeoff.

Prior to takeoff, the pilot should have in mind a point along the runway at which the airplane
should be airborne. If that point is reached and the airplane is not airborne, immediate action should be taken to discontinue the takeoff. Properly planned and executed, chances are excellent the airplane can be stopped on the remaining runway without using extraordinary measures, such as excessive braking that may result in loss of directional control, airplane damage, and/or personal injury.

In the event a takeoff is rejected, the power should be reduced to idle and maximum braking applied while maintaining directional control. If it is necessary to shut down the engine due to a fire, the mixture control should be brought to the idle cutoff position and the magnetos turned off. In all cases, the manufacturer's emergency procedure should be followed.

What characterizes all power loss or engine failure occurrences after lift-off is urgency. In most instances, the pilot has only a few seconds after an engine failure to decide what course of action to take and to execute it. Unless prepared in advance to make the proper decision, there is an excellent chance the pilot will make a poor decision, or make no decision at all and allow events to rule.

In the event of an engine failure on initial climb-out, the pilot's first responsibility is to maintain aircraft control. At a climb pitch attitude without power, the airplane will be at or near a stalling angle of attack. At the same time, the pilot may still be holding right rudder. It is essential the pilot immediately lower the pitch attitude to prevent a stall and possible spin. The pilot should establish a controlled glide toward a plausible landing area (preferably straight ahead on the remaining runway).

After a positive rate of climb is established, and the airplane has accelerated to VY, retract the landing gear and flaps, if equipped. If departing from an airstrip with wet snow or slush on the takeoff surface, the gear should not be retracted immediately. This allows for any wet snow or slush to be air-dried. In the event an obstacle must be cleared after a soft-field takeoff, the climb-out is performed at VX until the obstacle has been cleared. After reaching this point, the pitch attitude is adjusted to VY and the gear and flaps are retracted. The power may then be reduced to the normal climb setting.

Common errors in the performance of soft/rough field takeoff and climbs are:

Failure to adequately clear the area.

Insufficient back-elevator pressure during initial takeoff roll resulting in inadequate angle of attack.

Failure to cross-check engine instruments for indications of proper operation after applying power.

Poor directional control.

Climbing too steeply after lift-off.

Abrupt and/or excessive elevator control while attempting to level off and accelerate after liftoff.

Allowing the airplane to "mush" or settle resulting in an inadvertent touchdown after lift-off.

Attempting to climb out of ground effect area before attaining sufficient climb speed.

Failure to anticipate an increase in pitch attitude as the airplane climbs out of ground effect.

Malev increasing flights to Croatia

The Hungarian national carrier, Malev, will from March 29 when the 2009 summer season begins, introduce 6 new flights from Budapest to the Croatian capital Zagreb which will mean that there will be a total of 18 weekly flights between the Croatian and Hungarian capitals. Besides introducing new services to Zagreb, Malev will also be offering 5 weekly seasonal flights to Split meaning there will be a total of 23 flights between the two countries. Malev has been operating to Croatia for the last 10 years and reports it has transported a total of 330.000 passengers to Croatia while last year it recorded 40.000 passengers travelling to Croatia while the cabin occupancy varied between 70 and 90% depending on the time of season. The Hungarian carrier expects that with the added flights passengers from Croatia will be tempted to transit through Budapest onwards to Scandinavian destinations such as Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen as well as flights to other European cities such as Warsaw, Dublin and Madrid.

The first scheduled service from Zagreb to Budapest was operated on July 21, 1999. In 2003 it introduced seasonal services to Split and increased weekly frequencies between Zagreb and Budapest to 17. From May 2004 until the winter of 2007 Malev also operated services to Dubrovnik.

Added to our register on 11-03-2009 for Andy Miller was this De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk T10.
ZK-CPY2 is listed with the c/n of DHB-256. This is in fact its fuselage number. Its factory c/n is C1-0389. As such it was delivered to the RAF on 06-06-1951 with the serial of WG304 and is known to have served with the Cambridge University Air Squadron followed a stint with the number 5 Air Experience Flight, also at Cambridge. It was sold off on 07-07-1975 and became N48098 with Win J Donnelly of Denver, Colorado. For reasons unknown (to me) it was cancelled from the US register for a period and was restored in July 1985 with the c/n listed as DHB-256.

Clad in a somewhat different colour scheme, basically red, white and blue. The upper surface of the wings are in a red and white sun burst pattern (for lack of a better description) from about the spar back with blue leading edge, whilst underneath the wings are all blue with four stars on the right wing and two under the left wing (one on the inner & one on the outer section - Presumably the gap being for the removed full VH-NMX markings).

It carrys three patches as depicted above.

After becoming airborne, the nose should be lowered very gently with the wheels clear of the surface to allow the airplane to accelerate to VY, or VX if obstacles must be cleared. Extreme care must be exercised immediately after the airplane becomes airborne and while it accelerates, to avoid settling back onto the surface. An attempt to climb prematurely or too steeply may cause the airplane to settle back to the surface as a result of losing the benefit of ground effect. An attempt to climb out of ground effect before sufficient climb airspeed is attained may result in the airplane being unable to climb further as the ground effect area is transited, even with full power. Therefore, it is essential that the airplane remain in ground effect until at least VX is reached. This requires feel for the airplane, and a very fine control touch, in order to avoid over-controlling the elevator as required control pressures change with airplane acceleration.