jpreou Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 So I landed myself a job with Vertical Works in Taupo. We primarily do flight training but like any heli organisation we do hire and charter as well. Like most aviation organisations things are a little low at the moment so I was especially pleased to get a call last night by a holiday maker who had planned some activities in Taupo and decided to 'do it in style' and travel by heli. Sweet; weather permitting I'll be able to afford some dinner tomorrow night! Woke up to a beautiful day. My luck's in. My charter arrived nice and early so we hover taxi out to the runway, do final checks, get our final take off clearance and we're off. We fly over Lake Taupo, catching sight of the mountains over the other side. Klaus, my charter, wants to see Huka Falls, so we track along the river. We get a good view, but apparently this is not god enough. Sooo, I have one of *those* passengers! (Huka Falls is way more impressive IRL, by the way) Ok, its still very early and no-one is around, so down we go. (don't try this at home kids!) For his first activity today, Klaus has some trout fishing with a local guide. I know the guide well; he has his boat moored just on the edge of town and has a floating helipad. Its a tad small and a little tricky to get onto, but we manage it. Klaus goes fishing, and I head for breakfast along the water front. Usually plenty of, ahem, 'scenery' when the sun is out After fishing (he got a good bag) we track over the seaplane on our way back to the airport. Klaus reckons he might take that out tomorrow. Time for his next activity. NZ, of course, is often called the adrenalin capital of the world and I don't think any place does more tandem skydives than the various organisations at Taupo. Today Klaus will be jumping with Taupo Tandem Skydiving, a good bunch of guys. I jumped there myself some years ago with some skydiving friends. I think they have a PAC 750 now; what a rocket ship! After his jump, its time to drop Klaus at his waterfront apartments. As for me, I head back to Vertical Works. Got a good few flights in there. Some nice coin in my pocket. I'll get to eat this evening Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micjn66 Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Great shots Jeff.Brings back memories when I went for my heli ride with my uncle there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasi31 Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Great shots and story Jeff. Thanks for posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retep49 Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Great shots and story Jeff. Thanks for posting +1 Nice heli the Colibri. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonman Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 A great set here Jeff - a very nice narrative as well! And soem very nice and detailed scenery - Super! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradB Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 A great set here Jeff - a very nice narrative as well! And soem very nice and detailed scenery - Super! +1 - I enjoyed the shots and tour . Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifejogger Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Super shots, flight and story!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Very nice indeed Jeff. cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillwater Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Great story & shots, I like posts like this! (not to underestimate the hovering over the lake, and the pad landing, of course...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpreou Posted April 23, 2013 Author Share Posted April 23, 2013 Great story & shots, I like posts like this! (not to underestimate the hovering over the lake, and the pad landing, of course...) You wouldn't believe how long it took me to get down onto that thing! The 300 is quite sprightly; I don't remember it being quite that difficult when I hovered one in real life a few years back, but of course in the sim you have no 'feel' and no peripheral vision. My first ever heli hover went quite well; very stable; I have a video of it somewhere. The instructor was impressed that it was the first time ever he had given a first time flyer all the primary controls; the only thing he controlled was throttle. It was a fantastic experience, but just too expensive for me to pursue helis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D0S Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Enjoyed the story- nice scenery from NZAP too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orbxtreme Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Nice story and good idea to land that helicopter on the small green pad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirborneSTIG Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Brilliant post!! I very much love the "flight with a purpose" kind of posts and this one was top shelf! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-KDK Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Totally enjoyable set Jeff. Great caps and story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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