Ardmore to Taupo (OrbX)

[FlyingKiwi]

My first full A to B flight using the NZNI scenery is one I've done a few times in real life - Ardmore (Auckland) to the central North Island town of Taupo, located on the shores of New Zealand's largest lake and not far from the volcanic plateau which contains the three active volcanoes Ruapehu, Tongariro (which erupted only a couple of weeks ago) and Ngaruahoe.

Using ActiveSkyX real weather conditions were fairly borderline for VFR in some parts of the intended route so I elected to go IFR instead. The aircraft is the Carenado Rockwell Commander 114.

Taxiing out at Ardmore, with a rain shower passing through.


Airborne off runway 21, I like the "one at a time" gear retraction sequence of the Commander - reminds me of a lot of old WWII fighters.


Climbing over the suburb of Papakura and turning left on to our required heading for Hamilton, the intermediate waypoint enroute to Taupo.


Climbing away.


Over the Bombay Hills south of Auckland, with Pukekohe in the background - it's a completely separate urban area but is generally considered part of Auckland.


Climbing to the cruise level of 6,000ft near Mercer airfield.


In the clouds.


Over Kelly Field, a small private airstrip near Mercer.


A bit of a break in the clouds near Hamilton gives us a good view of the surrounding countryside.


Over Hamilton airport. This is a fairly busy domestic airport and has some limited international services to Australia and the Pacific Islands. It is the home of the Waikato Aero Club, and CTC Aviation (the NZ branch of the large British flying school) and is also the home of the Pacific Aerospace and Alpha Aviation aircraft factories.


Second part coming up in the reply.

[FlyingKiwi]

Part 2.

Passing Tokoroa, about halfway between Hamilton and Taupo. Tokoroa has one well maintained sealed runway and is a useful intermediate stopping point on crosscountry flights.


Commencing the descent approaching Taupo.


Conditions looking a bit bleak ahead, the decision to go IFR was definitely the right one today - as you can see I'm cheating and using radar vectors, which would not be possible in real life as Taupo is NDB and GPS only.


Some fog just north of Taupo.


Set up on the approach to Taupo airport. Note all the steam rising from the ground - this area is heavily geothermally active and there are numerous geothermal power stations in the area.


Passing Centennial Park - this is a race course and also a glider airstrip (the long open grassy area on the near side of the racetrack). Mt. Tauhara in the background.


You can just see Mt. Ruapehu in the clouds on the far side of Lake Taupo. This is the tallest mountain in the North Island at around 9,200ft elevation and as mentioned previous is an active volcano.


Because the runway runs parallel to the lake shore, Taupo airport often has a howling crosswind in real life but fortunately today conditions are reasonable.


Touchdown.


Parked on the grass apron next to the terminal - better not leave that door open too long!


That's it for now, comments are welcome as always - I'm enjoying being able to provide a more detailed commentary than usual with the benefit of local knowledge!

[adamb]

Your posts on NZNI is almost like reading a travel brochure Leo, excellent job all around.

Adam

[lifejogger]

I sure like your posts on the North Island Leo, it is like having a guided tour of New Zealand. Great shots.

[FlyingKiwi]

Thanks Adam and John, glad you guys are enjoying these, you can rest assured there will be plenty more to come!

[tr45]

Now that's what I'm talking about... very nice!

[alexczarn]

Terrific!

[HardCub]

Leo, this was an awesome posting! I loved it. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[FlyingKiwi]

Thanks guys, I actually took a quick break from NZ in FS last weekend to do another airliner flight which will probably be my next post, but I'll be back into NZNI or SI this weekend.