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West Auckland Airport Parakai is available for General Aviation, drop-in visitors welcome. Radio 123.5 in MBZ. Due to frequent skydiving, please join downwind, base or final (not overhead). Visitor parking by the hangars down taxiway

Covid Virus, Level 4:

The Airport will remain open 24 / 7 as it is used by Civil Defence, Police, Coastguard, Rescue, Ambulance etc, and is an essential service as defined in the Level 4 regulations. Emergency contacts below.

Airport Security will continue, usually 24 / 7, and has been stepped up with extra security gear installed. Other than this, the Airport Company and all the other businesses that operate from the Airport will have their people working from home rather than on-site at the Airport, unless needed for maintenance of the essential services. They can be contacted by email or phone during business hours.

The Pilot Room is closed and CAA advise that all recreational and training flying is prohibited 'for the duration'.

The cleaning solutions and disposable paper towels will continue to be maintained for use by any essential service aircraft that are active. The soapy based cleaning solutions provided should be highly effective against (lipid membrane) viruses like the Covid-19, and should be sprayed onto a paper towel and used to wipe down all switches, taps and controls in an aircraft that have human contact.

Anything we've missed, or any specific concerns... let us know.

--- Emergency services contact for aircraft fuel is ph 021 345 458.

--- Emergency services contact for aircraft engineering and aircraft parts is 021 681 900.

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Flight Simulators: During the Covid lockdown when the planes are grounded, Flight Simulators are a good way to keep up proficiency. Or improve it, as you can try things on a Sim that you would hesitate to try for real, such as Engine Failure After Take Off (EFATO) just as you climb out over the fence.

Harvey writes: "When I was flying a Cessna 172 in the 1990s, I had Microsoft Flight Sim on my computer and remember testing the instructor's teaching not to try to turn back from 500ft on climbout with EFATO. He was right, I did get the C172 down on the runway after a 180 degree turn on the sim... but only the 4th time, after stalling in the turn the previous times with what would have been unpleasant results. I was fully convinced after that. Even a simple flight sim with no special controls lets you try things like this and can make use of some lockdown hours."

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Whenuapai Airbase incursions: Instructor John sends in this comment from the flyers at Whenuapai...

"We seem to have had a bit of increase in M107 incursions recently. M107 extends surface to 1500 feet in a 3NM radius from the A/F, 24 hours seven days a week. Only aircraft that have sought and received permission are allowed in this area. Police and Rescue helicopters have such permission. Occasionally GA aircraft will seek and receive permission. However, there is a large number of GA pilots including helicopters that seem to think that the area is only active, when the tower is on watch. This is not the case. Base Ops have asked us to keep an ear out for registrations of such incursions and to let them know.

Obviously it is usual 3 mile radius airfield zone, clearly marked on the maps, but ensuring you know where exactly you are, when transiting Whenuapai, when they are off-watch, might be a good idea!

For Microlights, there are only two routes really anyway: stay well to the West, if transiting North/South, or across the top from Okura river, if East/West, otherwise you are illegally going over the conurbation, of course. You could get suckered in towards Kumeu though. "

and the official word from Whenuapai Airbase:

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First Solo: Matt Abraham after his first solo in the Tecnam Sierra ZK-TST, photo by his instructor David.... congratulations Matt (and David!).

America's Cup Races (Preliminaries were intended to start in December this year). The America’s Cup Match is scheduled to occur in Auckland in early March 2021. Between mid-December 2020 and late-February 2021 it is (was?) to be preceded by a World Series Regatta and the Prada Cup challenger selection series.

Qwilton Biel of the Auckland Airspace Users' Ground asks for feedback from those who will be affected. An abbreviated summary of his email is:

"All aspects of the venue to enable sailing of America’s Cup 36 are being organised by America’s Cup Event Limited (ACE). Qwilton Biel of the Auckland Airspace Users' Group has been contracted by ACE to assist them with development of aircraft operating procedures overhead the event, which includes an application to CAA for establishment of temporary restricted airspace. ....

The course to be used on any particular day will be selected by the Regatta Director on the morning of racing and it is proposed that only the airspace area containing the intended race course be activated. Racing is expected to occur on Saturday, Sunday, and also one week day (which day is still to be determined) between 1600 and 1800. The airspace would be active from approximately 1530-1830. It is proposed that each area be from SFC-2000FT. ...

Similar to the America’s Cup events in 2000 and 2003, it is proposed to establish a pilot authorisation system for anyone wishing to fly within the airspace. This would involve a briefing package, a signed declaration by the pilot, and potentially a requirement to pre-book entry to the airspace if traffic levels become unmanageable. It is proposed that event broadcast aircraft will operate at 1000 feet and below, all other aircraft would be accommodated in a circuit pattern at 1500 feet. It is not intended to permit aircraft to transit through the restricted airspace whilst active, the only aircraft within the restricted area would be those intending to operate overhead the race course.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback you have regarding this draft. My next step is to prepare and submit an application to CAA and before doing so I would like to try and address as many potential operator concerns. ..."

Airport Authority: West Auckland Airport Company Ltd has been granted 'Airport Authority' status under the 'Airport Authorities Act 1966'. The following letter was sent by the Ministry of Transport to those who made submissions in response to our application.

The Airport Company would like to thank all those who made submissions... those in favour for their support which is much appreciated, and also those against who identified the concerns that we need to address in developing a Master Plan for the future.

Weed Control: The Airport has been researching and experimenting with non-chemical control of the Alligator weed that has long invaded the ditches on the Kaipara and choked the drains. Letting in controlled amounts of seawater has proven effective, and is much kinder to the Inanga and juveniles of other fish species that breed in the harbour, compared to spraying weedkiller or using diggers to clear the ditches. Further work is being done in conjunction with the Council waterways biologists and the method developed is likely to be rolled out by the Council to other properties on the Kaipara Harbour and its rivers.

Bird Control: Work on this has also been quite effective, and by studying the habits of the birds and making the airport less attractive to them, its been possible to make the birds spend more time elsewhere. Skydive Auckland runs a bird scaring device on their swooping pond for the same reason... that's what causes the loud 'shotgun' type booms at regular intervals. The birds are not keen to settle if they think there are shooters in the area. With our 'Aimm' Movement Monitoring service now used by nearly half the active NZ airports, we use our client newsletters to spread the suggestions for non-lethal bird control to many other airports in NZ and Australia.

Low-emission Aircraft: The Airport's flight training aircraft have been low-emission for a long time, and produce less than half the emissions of a Cessna or Piper training aircraft. Partly this is due to the lighter weight of the Tecnam aircraft used at West Auckland, but mainly because their 1990s designed Rotax engines are considerably more efficient than the 1950s designed Lycoming and Continental engines traditionally used for training. The Rotaxes also use unleaded road vehicle fuel ('MoGas') getting a similar Km/Litre to an efficient car, rather than leaded aviation fuel ('Avgas') so there is a worthwhile benefit there too... more airports might move to Mogas aircraft if they were exempt from road taxes like those using Avgas :(. As soon as practical the airport would like to move to zero-emission electric training aircraft and ground vehicles, and is actively investigating these.

COROMANDEL NZCX: Second Sunday of each month from 12:30. Clubhouse Ph 07 866 2055. Click here for airfield details.

WHANGAREI NZWR: Last Saturday of each month at hangar 10, the Western end of the row of hangars. Whangarei Flying Club meeting at 10:30 with lunch to follow. Clubhouse phone 09 436 4053. Click here for airfield details.