NZ16-11: Mar 11th ~ The Bucket List Fast-Jet flight

Poop Poop
I should explain the heading, but if you've read The Wind In The Willows, I shouldn't need to!
However, a bit of an explanation required, methinks :-)

The view of Lyall Bay from Ann-Marie's car ~ see below

When I was younger - I can't recall exactly when, I became quite besotted with watching the Red Arrows doing their displays, & was a bit like Toad going "Poop poop" after his 1st glimpse of the motor car. 
I so wanted to fly in one, but the closest I got was when attending the Greenock Tall Ships event in 1999 when there was one there on display & I got to sit in it.
It was around that time I decided I wanted to fly in a fighter plane before I was 50, & it went to the top of my bucket-list.
Sadly, approaching that particular milestone I discovered I could only do it in Russia, & it cost £6k just for the flight (& then there would be the cost of me & Rob getting there & staying for however long it took to complete), so I decided to defer it until I was 60.
I didn't fancy Russia, anyway.

Lyall Bay breakers

Ditto from a window at the airport

Fast forward a few years, & I began to look into it again. This time the choice was between Russia, the States & SA. I still didn't fancy Russia, & didn't want to visit the States again, so sent an E to the SA company.
While I awaited their reply (which never arrived), the AA in NZ sent me an E showing I could do it out of Christchurch.
I didn't really need another excuse to re-visit NZ, but took this one anyway, & in August 2015 arranged for a flight to happen the next March. 
I would need to be in or around Christchurch for about a week (in case the weather proved too bad to go up on the scheduled day), & so arranged accom & a car so I'd be close enough to drive back to Christchurch within a few hours if it was a Go.
Come the end of September, I'd booked all my travel & accom as far as East Cape (see previous blogs & next one), & E'd the company with details of contacts.
I got no reply, & after several weeks of contacting Christchurch i-site, the airport, NZ Tourism & the AA, it turned out they'd gone bust.
Bummer!
Anyway, all was not lost as a lady from the Auckland i-site came up with an alternative up there, so I re-jigged my plans to hang out at Moana Lodge for a few days, & added a couple of nights in Wellington so I could fly up & back from there.
If you've read NZ16 from the beginning, you'll be aware of what I got up to that 1st week, & how I'd already flown out of Wellington to come back by train, stayed on a volcano, & seen glow worms deep underground.
Anyway, here I was, headed north for the day (albeit this time to have fun in a plane rather than a train).

I was sat next to a bodybuilder.
His arms were good, eh?

OK - here we go.

That morning I had a flight out at 0930, & Ann-Marie gave me a lift to the airport.

Not realising I would not be called for my flight, I missed boarding. 

Oops!

It didn't help that my watch hadn't worked since my dip in the sea off Kapiti Island 2 days previously.

I got to the gate just after it closed, which meant I had to buy a much more expensive flight up. It wasn't a prob re time, as Mark had said it was still cloudy & a bit damp up there, & if it didn't clear enough & dry out, the aircraft would not take off.

The new flight left at 1020, so I caught up with notes & sudoku sitting on the floor near the gate - I didn't want to miss this one!

Outside Auckland Domestic I was met by a taxi. Heather had advised me on a company to use, & I'd booked

Sol drives me from Auckland Domestic to Ardmore Airport

it back in the UK. My driver was Sol, & he looked Indian.
He took me to the 'other' Auckland airport - Ardmore, & it took him a while to find his way around the strange (to him) airport, but we found the office eventually & my pilot, Mark, was waiting for us.

I meet my pilot, Mark

Mark arranged with Sol that he'd give me a lift back to Domestic, which I guess made Sol very happy as he wouldn't have to hang around.

Mark shows me round the Air Museum at Ardmore . . .

The air museum ~ 1

Then Mark took me to get kitted-out in a khaki flying suit, & found me the smallest helmet there was - I have a very small head.



Then we went to a hangar where there was a small aviation museum, & I took quite a few pics.

The air museum ~ 2

The air museum ~ 3

The air museum ~ 4

Mark & Gary

I met a bloke called Gary who was something to do with the company who ran the flights.

& Mark showed me a Strikemaster.
We'd be up in one shortly :-))

I'd E'd Gary a few times when Heather Andrews hadn't been in the office.

The air museum ~ 5

The air museum ~ 6

I'd been told by Heather that Mark was an ex NZ Air Force fighter pilot who now flew for AirNZ. 

The air museum ~ 7

He took peeps up in the Strikemaster on his time off.

He clearly liked flying!

The air museum ~ 8

Ours was getting a once over & being brought out of the hangar, so I had quite a while in there before it was time to go & meet her.

The air museum ~ 9

Heather had sent me a voucher once I'd paid the NZ$2,999 
(ie approx £1,500 ! !). 
Mark had checked it in the office 
before he'd

The air museum ~ 10

told me that the event would also include a USB containing a visual record of the flight with sound from our headsets. 

Cool :-D

Mark had given me a flight suit & helmet in the office area

Mark took my pic by the wing & gave me the camera back.
Then I climbed in & got settled while the final checks took place.

Mark had

The Strikemaster instrument panel

said I could take the camera up, but must keep it attached to my wrist in case I passed out due to the Gs & let it go during a manoeuvre

Mark's helmet & the dials

If it was loose in the cockpit it might hit him on the head, knock him out, & then we'd Really be in a pickle!
I was very surprised to be allowed the camera.

When I'd done the canyon swing in 2011 & the skydive in 2014, you weren't allowed your own photo kit. If one were cynical, one might say it was so they could sell you photos/a video & make more dosh.

However, as this was 

The ejector handle ! ! ! !

already a lot of dosh, I guess giving me a USB to take home was a pittance in comparison

Once in, Mark showed me where the ejector

A helmet-less selfie

handle was, & said I'd need to pull it to eject if he became unconcious & lost control.

Crikey!

With the helmet I'd be able to hear Mark's
commentary & the control tower at take-
off & landing

You can see the camera which would record my flight above my left shoulder.

I've only seen the video footage once. 

Maybe it's time to upgrade my digital kit?

Me. Trying to look cool ;-p

My pilot ~ Mark

Looks like we're getting the thumbs up

Mark's fetching anti-burn headgear

This is the Engineer turning on the recording
kit ready to give me a sound & visual record
of my bucket-list fast-jet flight. Awesome  :-)))

Engines on, then it was time to go

We head towards the runway

Waiting for the Go from the control tower

Mark gets ready for Take-off

Ardmore flashes past

The nose lifts

We circle heading for the Hunua Ranges

We bank left with the ground below Mark's L shoulder

Mark planned to fly at a lower-level so we went SEish . . .

where we flew through the hills

Um?  I think this is the Waitoa Reservoir

& this may be the Mangatangi Reservoir?

However, don't quote me, as I'm probably wrong!
Gmaps wasn't very helpful on this occasion!

Gary & the ground beneath me to port

Now just the ground below to starboard.
Do they have port & starboard on aircraft?

I'd been to the Ake Ake vinyard on 2014!
No relation tho. I think?

We reach the Hauraki Plains

Once in the air, we were ultimately headed for the big
agricultural plain near Miranda.

Miranda is across the Firth from Thames, & kinda alone on the coast.

Gmaps says Miranda's about 9k either way to the nearest coastal towns on the Firth, & 11k to the nearest one inland.

However, it's got a hot spring thermal bath! 

Note to self: make time to visit in 2019.

To get to the Hauraki Plains we went via the hills & reservoirs of the Hunua Ranges which are nearly due east of the airport, & west of the Firth of Thames.

Mark had explained that we would do the aerobatic stuff over the plain. 

I remember thinking that it would be easier to get to the aircraft if it crashed on the plains rather than in the hills.

I turned out that wasn't the reason - see below


My excuse is that it has been nearly 32 months since it happened, I couldn't take notes up there, & I simply forgot why the Plains ;-)

On the way to the Hauraki Plains we flew quite low over the Hunua hills & there were some great views from up there.
Mark tilted the aircraft over both ways & the camera behind my left shoulder got some good footage :-)

I really need to find a friend with a USB socket in their telly & have another look!

Once we got over the Plains, we went upside down a lot & the weirdest thing

Upside down over Hauraki

Ditto

about it all was How Heavy the Lumix felt when we were pulling 4Gs

I tried, but can't make out the straight & C-shaped
roads on Gmaps

It was quite a struggle to lift it up to my face & hold it steady 

because the G-forces made it weigh 4x more than normal (in case you didn't know).

Mark did tell me the names of the aerobatics before & during, but I can't remember them all now :-/ 

I've written this nearly 2 & 3/4 years after it all happened, plus I'm

This is looking straight down at the Hauraki plains
from my window .  .  . 

blonde & now an OAP: technically anyway  ;-), even though I'm inclined to act more like I'm 26 not 62!
Oops ;-)

& this is looking straight up through the canopy ~
the gound was above me here

I guess I could listen & watch the USB & make notes, but I haven't got a telly which takes USBs & this Chromebook hasn't got enough memory to cope with it either.

Sideways on to the sky
Please resist the temptation to tilt your head/monitor ;-)

Maybe I will get a decent PC one day?

Anyway, it was great up there & I could've stayed up there 10x longer.



Sadly it was only a 30 minute flight & we still had to get back. 
Meanwhile -  -  - 
For your delectation, here is an excerpt from a NZHerald report from one of their journalists in 2015. It came from good old Google, & Winston says it all much better than me!

Winston Aldworth flies aboard Strikemaster70, from Ardmore to Ardmore. The plane: A BAC 167 Strikemaster Mk88. This is a British jet-powered training and light-attack aircraft. Regular readers might notice that this week's edition of the Flight Check column is taking a radical departure.   I'm out at Ardmore Airport, you see, going for a wee ride in a fighter jet.   Well, when I say "a wee ride", I mean the most hair-raising, gut-churning, exhilarating thing I've ever done. Terrifying in parts, mind-boggling throughout.   I'll happily raise my hand and say that taking a joy ride in a fighter jet is a bona fide bucket-list item now safely ticked off. Mid-life crisis? Yeah, probably.   I enjoyed watching Top Gun in 1986, but living it - even just for half an hour - in 2015 is an experience that will never be matched.   Price: The Strike Mission - a 30-minute trip with low-level flying over the valleys of the Hunua Ranges followed by a spot of aerobatics - will set you back $2999. If there's a plane nerd in your family, that's $2999 of the best money you'll ever spend.   On time? Yes. We're airborne for pretty much the full 30 minutes. Part of me didn't want to stop. But most of me was actually pretty grateful to get back on terra firma, exhilarated and exhausted. In the photo on the top right-hand side of this centre-spread, you can see us taxi-ing in after landing. I'm not normally that pale.   Where to begin? One minute into the flight and we're swooping over the valleys and hilltops of the Hunua Ranges, buzzing along at 250kts (470kp/h), just 500ft (150m) clear of the ground. It feels more like 5ft.   Dean quickly introduces me to the weird world of G-forces. It's not so much that the power of gravity is pulling you down to Earth, it's more like the momentum of the plane is tearing you along and, when you make a sharp adjustment, your body wants to keep going in that direction. So, over the Hunuas, where we're banking sharply to the right and left, I'm being pulled into my seat, even when the plane is pretty much at 90 degrees to the Earth. All of which happenes while we're at times a sniff over 500ft from the sides of the Hunua valleys. This is definitely not a normal Flight Check. In those early turns, we reach about 3Gs - three times the force of gravity. I was trying to get footage of my face (for your amusement, dear reader), but the camera suddenly weighed three times its normal weight. Which would be manageable, if not for the fact that my arms were also suddenly three times their normal weight."A bit of Gs coming on there now," says Dean, as my guts make their way down through my groin and the Earth looks up at us from its weird side-on position. How are you feeling?" "Y-e-a-h," I reply. "G-o-o-d."   Play time in the Hunuas done, we head out over the Hauraki Plains. Clear of the traffic from Auckland Airport, we're able to get more altitude and do some aerobatics. First up, a loop. It's throttle forward, stick back and up we go. Right up. You think you have some idea of what physical terror is and then you find yourself 6500ft above the Hauraki Plains, upside down in something that feels like a Land Rover with a rocket strapped to the back of it. But how can terror feel so wonderful? The shadows of the canopy frame and the stark sunlight move steadily across us as the roller coaster goes through its course. Next the aileron roll. Flying dead level above the clouds, Dean takes the plane through a tight corkscrew spin. Real tight. And we finish with a barrel roll. "Nice, gentle manoeuvre, the barrel roll," he says. Yeah, I think, if you're like the Red Baron or something. But he's right - we start into a loop and roll out of it gracefully near the top. Maybe I'm getting the hang of this stuff. At their dramatic peaks, we reach about 4G in the manoeuvres. My thighs become concrete.  It's no overstatement to say that I was blown away by this ride.   I've flown in a lot of things, some of them pretty damn scary, some spectacular. A fighter jet?  There's nothing like it on Earth - and nothing like it in the skies either.
From what Winston said, were were over the Hauraki plains to keep out of the way of the Auckland International flight paths. 
So now I know. 

Manoeuvres over, Mark does the Tour Guide thing

Back with Mark, it was time to fly back via the coast, & he pointed out features on the ground - like extinct volcanos.

I asked various i-sites about the 'pincer' headland in
this pic, but no replies yet.

There're quite a few in the Auckland area, including some in the sea.

Nearly back over Ardmore

Although my favourite bit was over (I'm the kinda girl who likes the Waltzer guy to stand there & turn the bowl as fast as possible if I'm at a fairground), the scenic flight back was great, too.

As I said before, it was just a shame the whole thing was too short for yours truly. 

If I win the Lottery, I'll go up as often as possible  ;-)

Banking left before the approach

Mark has a chat to the control tower

They are keen on harness racing in NZ,
& I think that's a track?

We touch down at Ardmore

I managed a pic just as we touched down,

I tried to get another aircraft on the runway, but mis-timed it!

Mark does his post-flight checks

but missed a cute little white thing on the runway.

Sadly, my awesome bucket-list fast-jet flight is over

The Engineer & Mark get ready to put
No.70 to bed

Not sure what's going on here? Maybe
it was simply Mark getting off the wing?

Thanks to No.70 & Mark for making a dream come true

Thanks again :-)))))

Shame those flying suits aren't more fetching ;-p

We taxied back to base with Mark continuing to chat over the comms.











Post-flight portrait pic done, I hopped out, gave No.70 a pat & took a few pics about the aftermath.

She is taken to bed .  .  .

The  sandy-haired Engineer fiddled about (that's a technical term harhar ;-p ) with something by the wing.
No idea what, but his blue overalls added a bit of artistic interest ( ;-p ) to the camo. colour scheme.

& gets tucked in

Thank you little bird xx

Mark puts the cockpit flight recorder on a USB for me

Mark & No.70 posed for a post-flight pic, & Gary took a couple of us all.



























It was all still very interesting to watch Mark & the Engineer doing their No.70 de-brief, & I got a couple more pics of what went on afterwards.

Then Mr Engineer hitched No.70 up to a tractor & took her back to the hangar. I didn't write down his name, so apologies for the fact that he doesn't get a Cast Credit in this tale. 

After No.70 was back in bed, Mark took me back to the office to transfer the video data onto a USB.

The screen shows a view of what it would take me >6months to watch.
Like I said, I didn't have the necessary kit, & eventually watched it at a
mate's house before we all sat down to watch Strictly Come Dancing!

When/if I go back to NZ, I will check out if these guys
are due to perform anywhere

I had promised Gary I would write a report for their promos, but I'm sure I added the caveat "eventually"?  Mega apologies for taking so long!
Then Gary offered to buy lunch - cheers, mate :-q
While I waited for the gents to be ready I took some more pics inside the museum.

Here's some of No70's history .  .  .

& her vital statistics

A bit more Strikemaster history

Looks like she's getting dentistry ;-)

Ready for bed & getting charged up.
Is it just me, or does she look like a shark?

My final view of No.70

All the aircraft were locked inside the hangar & we went to the airport's little cafe where I was treated to a tuna butty & tea. tbh, I could've earen another - all that adrenaline, I guess.

Over lunch, I reiterated I would get something in writing, but being 2 years behind with blogging at that time, I knew it wouldn't be anytime soon after. Not doing facebook or anything like TripAdvisor, I will send Gay this once it's finished.
I think I said at the time "Don't hold your breath", but I've finally got round to it - taking a week off work to catch up with things like my blog.

I sent an E to 3 Auckland-based i-sites, but no-one
has provided me with a clue as to who he/she* was.
* In case you were unaware, lady dwarfs have beards, too!

I said final goodbyes to Ardmore & the lovely peeps there, & Mark took me back to Domestic. 

He dropped me off with plenty of time to go & checkout the interesting shops at the International Terminal.

At the top of an escalator I found a dwarf with a humungous axe!

Awaiting the flight back to Wellington .  .  .

which was delayed, so I ate some stodge

Arriving back at Domestic, I found out the flight was delayed 40 min.
Bum :-(




As this would mean a fairly late arrival back at Wellington, I went in search of some food.

It was mostly stodge, but I guess there been plenty of adrenaline floating around earlier in the day, so I could afford the calories.

Sunset over the Tasman from the air

The flight back south wasn't full, & I managed a great sunset pic through the window.

It was dark when I left the airport just after 2130, walking back to Ann-Marie's under the runway again, & hearing the Lyall Bay breakers giving it some to my left.
Awesome, or what?

Ann-Marie was up when I got back at 2155, but as I probably wouldn't see her in the morning, I did the Goodbye & Thank you thing before I went to pack my stuff for the flight to Napier the next morning.
Setting my alarm for a 0745 wake-up, I fell asleep again to the wonderful sound of the sea through my open window :-D
OAO