Build Progress Summary
Build progress has been stalled for the last month with your's truly being a wimp and not getting out to the shed because of the cold, damp weather we have been experiencing. I have no excuses now that it is warming up again and spring is in the air. I have just received some 1.25" aluminum channel from Wicks in the US which was on back order so I can now get the hinges for my HS and VS made.

Goals For The Coming Week
- Get back into the shed and re-start work on HS.
- Draw up hinges and send out to be made.

Recent News off the KRNet
The KR Gathering has been the main topic of conversation over the last week or so with the Gathering occuring a couple of weekends ago. By the sound of things it was a great success however the weather did not really cooperate for the weekend and caused problems for folks getting to and from the event. Next years Gathering is returning to Mt Vernon airfield.

Sonex JQP News
The Sonex aircraft in which I am a syndicate shareholder has been moved over the last month from Whitianga to Te Kowhai airfield out of Hamilton. It is now more accessible to the syndicate members who live in Auckland and as such has been getting flown a bit over the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately because of all the rain we have been having, Te Kowhai airfield is now very soft and the tailwheel has been cutting up the strip so we are going to have to find a alternative airfield to practise on and/or look at modifying the tailwheel to a larger 5" wheel.

The aircraft has also had its spats removed as the numerous touch and goes are starting to cause damage to them. The aircraft will lose about 5 knots top end speed without the spats but we think this is a small price to pay while we are learning to fly her and seems a better idea to remove them now than have to repair them latter.

My Flying
My PPL renewal training has been advancing well although the weather has not been very helpful. I have worked through Steep Turns, Stalls, Overhead Rejoins, Flapless Landings, Glide Approaches, Short Field Landings and Maximum Performance Takeoff's in the last couple of weeks and I am feeling much better about my circuits. I have only given my instructor a few nervous moments and he is still willing to fly with me so I figure I can't be doing too bad. I am hoping to get Forced Landings sorted in the next lesson and then spend a bit of time consolidating before moving on to do the Cross Country Navigation exercises. My target to try and sit a flight test in late October is still achieveable but I will leave that for my instructor to decide.

Other Updates
I managed to visit the Open Day held by the NZ Warbirds at Ardmore over the weekend of the 18th and 19th September and have put together a few photos I took on the day on this page or you can navigate there from the Airshows link in the right hand margin.

I have also added a couple of new links to the Aviation Articles page as well. I can recommend the video of the Mirage 2000 and Alphajet. This is amazing footage and well worth a look.