The increase of passengers to the Queenstown area has given the airport operators the opportunity to expand part of their baggage handling services.  A new building that will be starting soon is expected to optimise passenger handling.

Queenstown Airport General Manager Commercial Simon Barr said in a press release, the development of the new baggage make up area was necessary to accommodate the increasing number of passengers passing through the airport.

“Known airline schedules indicate 60% growth in international passengers during the next year, together with a 10% increase in domestic. Our current facilities are designed to cope with passenger numbers of around 700,000 per year while we are actually expecting to reach almost 1 million over the next 12 months.  Of those numbers, the airport is designed to handle 5% international (international passengers have a greater impact on facilities) and 95% domestic but our actual passenger mix is closer to 20% international and 80% domestic.”

Mr Barr said the new baggage make up area would remove impediments to growth at the check in end of the Terminal for the medium term.

Wile buildings were going up around the airport there was still no word about the well over due installation of runway lights.  The airport is subject to use only during daylight hours until it can install the lights.  Flights being able to land and takeoff before first light and after last light would increase the number of flights the airport can handle.

Queenstown Airport (NZQN) is located at 1171 feet AMSL slightly north of the township.

There are many videos on the internet that you can clearly see are ‘fakes’ but this video from AvWeb.com really made me sit up and think what a lucky guy 22 year old Dino Moline was.

The wing came detached from his aircraft during a routine in Argentina and it was because of his full-plane Ballistic Recovery Systems (BRS) parachute system, that he survived uninjured.

Watch the video attached.

Wile trolling though the abundant supply of aviation videos on YouTube I came across this one.  It’s a time laps of a 747 getting a new paint job.

The comment in the video says “Our new video detailing the long hours that went into applying the new livery to the G-VROC aircraft.”

Check it out.

This morning I looked out my window to see nothing but a grey blanket of fog covering the ground.  It reminded me of a cold hard lesson I’d been taught by my flying instructor back when I was training for my Private Pilots Licence.

After running through the lesson brief my instructor looked out the window and asked me if I was still keen to go flying even know it was foggy.  My limited experience at the time (pre solo) and over keenness to reach for the sky clouded my judgement.  With the plane ready to go my instructor asked again most probably hoping I’d make the right decision and call the flight off.

We taxied out to the runway that I though was best to use, listened out for other traffic and finished doing a run up.  The fog seemed like it was getting thicker but still I thought it was all right to fly.

As we lined up I realised visibility was way below VFR minimum but I still was going to roll down the runway.  My instructor with his many hours of experience pulled the plug of the flight and explained why as we taxied back.

Fog is usually caused by cold air from above mixing with warmer air closer to the ground.  As the sun comes up in the morning the fog will appear to become thicker and if it’s a cold day it could linger around all day.

It’s the lingering fog that would make it almost impossible to land again and require a diversion to another aerodrome.

This simple but effective lesson stays with me every time I fly… So if you’re ever put in the same situation, ask yourself, “Should I be flying into fog?”

If you have been trying to load the CAA’s website this week you’d either been served an error message or have a “Not found” error or a “Connection error.”

This morning NZAviation.com sent an email to the CAA’s info@ email address only to have it return with an error…

What’s happening? Have they all gone on holiday at once?

We’ll keep you posted and let you know when it comes back online.

Philip Newman

Out the window the weather looks somewhat bleak.  The remains of last night rain lingers in the clouds above.  Looking to the south the sky is a glowing shade of blue.

Sunday is here, the last day of Warbirds over Wanaka.  I’m sitting in the media centre with my Photographer, Matt Richardson waiting for the displays to start.

I’m looking at some of the coverage from the main stream media outlets and I’m enjoying what I’m watching.

Media Links:

TV3 – Warbirds thrill crowd at Wanaka – Video

TVNZ – Warbirds spectacular over Wanaka.

Some Tweets:

philipnewmannz: Heh that looks awesome @LookoutPointNZ: Just back in Queenstown after an awesome day at Warbirds Over Wanaka http://twitpic.com/1csswh

HolidaysZQN: The Warbirdsover Wanaka has been a big success so far with records numbers attending.The F-18′s are amazing aircraft.

GamejunkieNZ: F18A Hornets at Warbirds over Wanaka today were awesome. They can travel at 1000kmh and you don’t hear them till it’s too late! Awesome cool

flightseeing: Incredible first day at Warbirds Over Wanaka – looking forward to tomorrow!!! http://fb.me/uycGPezx

I’ll add some more photos of the action to the site today from the Media Centre.

- Philip Newman

After flying from Auckland to Christchurch then driving through the hills to Wanaka my Photographer and I finally arrived.  We picked up our media passes from the warbirds offices and got a feel for the atmosphere around the airport.

It was Thursday, so vendors were still setting up their stands before the Easter weekend.

It didn’t take me long to start having camera envy as professional photographers turned up with lenses that could take a quality shot of an ant from 50km away.  I managed to get a few wandering shots along the fence line as we headed into Wanaka’s township.

I’m excited to be here. The buzz and the hype of it all has been well worth the wait.

Blogging from Warbirds over Wanaka? Get in touch …

This week aviation enthusiasts will be flocking to Wanaka by the 1000′s to get a glimpse of one of the world’s best and well known Warbirds Airshows.

I’ve been planning this trip for sometime now and with the site almost ready I’m feeling like a kid.  I’m excited at the prospect of finally making it after years of trying to get there.

For those of you who can’t make it this year will be special.  Not only will I be broadcasting my tweets to the world, with the help of my photographer Matt Richardson we’ll be bringing you almost live images from the show.

Vodafone has supplied my team with a “Mobile Hotspot” for the event.  MyFi as it’s called is a small device that will allow up to five of us to post updates at one time.

To follow our updates:

Twitter @PhilipNewmannz will bring live updates from the event. (User interaction)

Twitter @NZAviation will be our website update feed only (No user interaction)

And out Warbirds over Wanaka RSS feed.

If you are tweeting from the air show make sure you comment with your twitter name below so our readers can follow you.

- Philip Newman

This year the RNZAF decided due to some budget constraints it would not be able to fund an open day at Whenuapai or Ohakea.  Instead they opted to display at this years Warbirds over Wanaka show.

“We could not justify having having two major air shows so close together so it was decided to make our major public event in 2010 in conjunction with Warbirds Over Wanaka” said Anna Sussmilch the Senior Communications Adviser for the Air Force.

“At this stage we expect to return to the Base Open Day format in 2011, but details around where and when are still to be finalised” she said.

We’ll keep you informed and let you know when dates are set in 2011.

- Philip Newman

The NZ Pilot Expo have announced that TVNZ’s Breakfast show will be dropping in on Friday morning.

“The Plan is for a couple of teaser transmissions before 8 am, and then a 1 1/2 minute link at 8.25 and then a 3 min. one at 8.40″ says Stuart Clumpas the event organizer.

“They are intending to do a walk around showing what’s on offer and speaking to stand holders whom they assume will be in the process of ‘setting up’. It goes without saying that this is great national coverage with a substantial audience”

This year the Expo has also been showcased across two pages in the Herald on Sunday.  Helicopter Flight Training took Lisa Bradley up for a flight to see if she had what it takes.  The article focused on the “flight training” aspect of the expo.

NZAviation.com will be at the NZ Pilot Expo Friday morning and again on Saturday bringing you pictures and updates from the event.

Remember to follow @NZAviation, @pilotexpo and @philipnewmannz on Twitter for updates to the live page.