Cromwell – Spot landing May 3rd 2015
Saturday morning and the day looked perfect
for flying. Heading to Alexandra through
the Cromwell Gorge and lines of cars coming towards me with their lights on was
not a good sign. Sure enough, by the
time we got to Clyde, we were in dense fog.
Our 10.00am take-off time may be on hold again.
With a welcoming cup of coffee in Dave
Mitchell’s new hangar, the conversation moved from the weather to planes and
flying. By 10.30am the fog had lifted
and four aircraft were being fuelled and prepared for a flight through to
Cromwell. I had planned to do some Spot
landing practice and had invited some of the new members along to become
familiar with what was on offer in Cromwell,
Cromwell has a long history in aviation with
Kingsford Smith landing on the Racecourse, and early records of an Aero Club
based there. My mother talked of landing
there when she was in the Airforce. But
with commercial flights using DC3 planes, the Racecourse was replaced by a new
Airfield on the Sugar loaf just north of
Lowburn. Both airfields still operate,
although the Lowburn field is used for flight training, while the Racecourse
has because more of a Helicopter base.
After a short 10 minute flight, all four
aircraft were on the ground in Cromwell, and I give the pilots a quick talk
about the airfield and the area. Before
long we were back in the air and in the circuit for landings as close to the
mid-way marker as possible. While Fin
tried different flap settings, I was focused on accuracy and a precious landing
with the main wheels touching down in line with the marker.
With my three attempt, one was slightly
short, one about 15m over and one spot on.
By now it was time to return to base.
With the delayed start, I was well behind my ETA back to Alexandra,
should the plane be booked for other flights.
Thanks for Dave Mitchell, Fin White, Dave
King, and Pauline Hogue for their
company and participation.
Happy flying
Stephen Morton