Queenstown

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Queenstown the extreme sport capital of the world. Where people go to jump out of planes, bungee jump, white water raft, hang glide, para glide, heli ski, the canyon swing and all sorts of readily available adventures. Queenstown is great for those adrenaline junkies but what about a none adrenalin junkie. Would Queenstown serve me up something for my wild side? Do I even have a wild side?

I arrived before noon after a snowy drive through the mountain sides. I had to take the highway because I would have needed chains to go through the mountain pass. I was to meet Robin, a girl I met in Franz Josef a few days back. We had made vague plans to have some fun in Queenstown. But I did put in one rule, no bungee and no sky diving (thats two rues isn't it). I literally jumped off the bus, I had returned my big Daihatsu, took about 10 steps and seen Robin. She was in the tourist office already making plans. So moments later I found myself signed up for one more thing I thought I would never do. In the morning I was going to fly a plane.

If I recall correctly, the last thing I said to my mom was along the lines of "No I won't jump out of a plane or anything like that". But this was totally different, I would not be plummeting towards the earth (or shouldn't be). I took in the sights of Queenstown during the day, cracked a lot of bad pilot and plane jokes. Robin didn't seem one bit worried about this plane thing. Myself on the other hand was in disbelief that I would fly a plane in the am. It just didn't seem real.

A little past 7 am and I was on the streets in search of coffee (can't fly a plane without caffeine). Checked with the tourist office to see if our flying plans were hopeful. Our 8:30 time was postponed, so we showed up at the airport around 9 am and walked down to the little building with a few small planes parked in the rear. I was getting nervous, as is the case with most things. We could see the wind gusting through the fields, we didn't know if we would get to fly. Our instructor came in after 20 minutes, she said that it was a borderline kind of day. But if we went out to the lake we shouldn't get shook around too much. So the flight plans were filled out and were we whisked outside to meet our new friend. The plane is a Cessna ( I think that is right) its a four seater with a big gasoline four cylinder engine. Our instructor explained the what some things were used for. Like the flaps on the wings or the tail fin or why the wings are shaped the way they are. In about 20 minutes Robin was in the pilots seat with the engine running. I was in the back holding on to two cameras and trying to hold on to my lunch.

Robin and our instructor, Julieanne, taxied out towards the Queenstown International Airport. You will be happy to know that ther are two steering wheels and two sets of peddles in this plane. After a call to the tower Robin was pulling the throttle to full and we were bouncing across big grassy runway heading towards The Remarkables (mountains). We all have our headsets on and Julie just says what to do and Robin does it. At one point the front end is in the air and the back is still on the ground, then seconds later we are in the air gaining altitude and heading towards the mountains. The wind was gusting and our little plane took a little rocking at the start. But once we were lined towards the lake and Queenstown, things went smooth. The sun came out, I snapped loads of beautiful pictures of snow capped mountains, lakes, islands. What a view. I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but my belly was suffering. We peaked at about 5000 feet. Robin did a great job of flying, she seemed quite relaxed behind the wheel. I was a very unrelaxed passenger, but after we landed out by the lake and I was on ground again, I felt better. I gave myself the little pep talk that is needed when I find myself out of my comfort zone. Then I was in the cockpit.

First thing I needed was my Aviator sunglasses. Just like Top Gun. The cockpit seat was much more comfortable then the back. The cockpit feels a bit like a sports car with a load of gauges in front of you. I turned the key, fired up the engine, the propellors began turning. So we taxied across the field to line up for take off. "Pull the throttle" said Julie and we were off bouncing down the grassy runway. Once you get you speed up you pull back on the steering lever and the front pops up, then in a few seconds the back pops up. So hear I was gaining altitude above a perfectly blue lake. I was much calmer in the cockpit then in the back. You watch out the windscreen and when the front end lifts to high, you push the lever forward to level out. The cross winds were not fun. The mountain winds would gust catching one wing raising it several feet. The feeling when the one side raises quickly is hard to explain. Similar to the feeling when your car takes a slew except 10 times the intensity. I just tilt the lever to level out and continue on.

What would you do if your flying instructor says "Hey wanna do a stall". Well you would probably just say "That sounds great". In reality it went "Ok I guess so". Next thing I know I am pulling the carb lever and pulling the throttle to off. Then hauling back hard on the lever to keep the nose up. Then Julie tells me to level out, you let the plane come down and your flying level again. The buzzers all stop, just push the throttle back on and continue. So my twenty minutes of flying were much easier then my twenty minutes of being a passenger. But I wasn't out of the hot seat yet. I had to fly to the airport, where the wind is much worse, and land. So we started our decent over Queenstown from 5000 feet to land at about 1200 feet. The wind gusts were stronger and the plane did get tossed around a few time but with my 18 minutes of experience it was no problem.

Ahhh the landing. Here we are headed straight at a side of a huge mountain range (The Remarkables) then we do a hard left, while trying to descend. We squared up to line up with the runway and made the last descent. It happened fast, but I remember feeling confident as we were headed right at the runway. We might have been a bit high but I had the nose tipped down. A huge gael of wind (it seemed huge anyway) shoved my right wing several feet into the air. I kept the nose down and turned the lever to level out. Then just before you land you haul the lever back as hard as possible to get the nose back up. The back wheels touch, the front wheel only touches when the plane slows. I'm sure Julie had some part to do with the landing going so well. She did run all the wing flaps for the slowing down and I think she straightened me out on that last wind gust (I was trying too). We taxied back across the runway to the shop. Taxiing is very hard, you have two foot pedals. One turns right, one turns left. Sounds easy but it is difficult to predict where the plane will go with the wind and such.

We received certificates of completion, complete with a picture of ourselves and the plane. I am now credited with 20 minutes of flying time towards a pilots license. Maybe a career change in the future... I don't know. I will admit it took about one hour to calm down after my flight. I was a little bit tense. But after a good talk with Robin (who then flew to Auckland but as a passenger) and an Italian girl I met, I started relaxing. Then I met a group of elderly adventures who thought it was great that I flew a plane. These ladies told me more adventure stories then I have ever heard. These people with an age over 60 and likely near 70 do many trips a year to hike, scuba dive, kayak and all sorts. It was kind of inspiring, maybe I will be a 70 year old man hiking mountains and jumping from planes. Man I hope so...

So this was one adventure that took far away from my comfort zone. After I was back on ground I got almost an adrenaline rush or maybe it was just a great sense of accomplishment. All I can say is if you get the chance fly a plane.

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Comments

[Robyn]

What a great story! love your writing style. I will read more of your entries soon!