I wished, today, to fly a nice (new) repaint, recently posted here, of the Cessna 185F Amphibian in the color of Australian Volunteer Coast Guard. And, the C185 Skywagon has been always one of my favorite aircraft. The C185 (see the nostalgic "185" print, in one of the shots, on the Yoke column), was a more "muscular" version of the (previously) popular C180 (with strengthened fuselage and a higher hp Continental engine). The C180 had flown first in 1952, and the C185 flew 8 years later, in 1960. Both models were manufactured in thousands, and were/are extremely well recognized (and widely used) for bush flying operations e.g. in Canada and Alaska.

For locale, I'm revisiting, here, only for the 2nd time, Whangārei (NZWR), which is a picturesque town (of beautiful low-lying mountains (see shots), scenic waterfalls, and magnificent beaches etc.) tucked away on the eastern part of the northernmost region of NZ North Island. It's located off the large (inland) body of water, called Whangārei Harbour. To further east, lies the Bream Bay, where, in 1769, the legendary explorer James Cook and his crew, supposedly, caught about a "hundred" fish, which they called "Bream" (probably the Australasian snapper)...prompting Cook to name the area, Bream Bay...

NZWR has two Runways:

1. The Primary (Asphalt) 06/24 Rwy - (~3,600 ft) hard and sealed all weather runway
2. The Secondary (Grass) 14/32 Rwy - (~1,500 ft) soft cross-runway (subject to closure during winter rain)

Here, for this post, for a bit of added (virtual) excitement, with my C185 (after ensuring on-board fuel minimized to 20%), I've opted to lift off the (shorter) Grass Runway (14), southward, directly towards the harbor (away from inland)...And, I barely made it off (and over) the airport perimeter fence...🙂...please see shot below...

The official Airport website cautions us with bold text, "Please don’t begin turns after take off until out over the water.", which I've adhered to, being cognizant of the fact that the airport is located in a (nestled) residential area, adjacent to the low-lying mountainous terrain. In fact, as you can see, in my shots below, I've initiated my LHS (eastward) turn (final objective being to land back on the (westward) asphalt Runway 24) only after nearing Whangārei's dominant landmark, Mount Manaia. These mountains (which are actually scattered remnants of volcanic eruptions from millions of years ago) lie less than 20 miles southeast of Whangārei city. Shrouded, here, in my artificially created low-visibility haze, these mountains seem to signify impressions of their (RW) majestic and mysterious look...

My takeoff shots are in daylight and the approach/landing shots, in twilight, both sets preconditioned, for a bit of extra effect, with (reduced) visibility of a few miles ...

Hope you enjoy these pictures of this exotic NZ locale, comprising officially the northernmost city in the whole of New Zealand, visited, here, by this virtual pilot's Cessna Skywagon, an endearing plane, in its own right, indeed...!

[Carenado (C185F - please note C185 variants range "A-F", this one been noted as an 185F), Orbx (NZ-NI/NZWR), REX, Livery Repaint by Matt L (jeansy)]

Edited September 17, 20214 yr by P_7878

Beautiful pics mate! 😉 

Great set, i am not doeing ( at the moment )

that mutch with the waterplanes, maybe i should by watching your pics..

cheers 😉

Folks, Many thanks...!!

 

8 hours ago, pmplayer said:

Great set, i am not doing ( at the moment )

that mutch with the waterplanes, maybe i should by watching your pics..

cheers 😉

Thank you, pmplayer...! NZ is fantastic for (virtual) sightseeing with seaplanes...and you know NZ (reasonably) well by now...🙂...(just need to convert that C208 to an Amphib...or maybe get another)...

(Looking to see a bit of seaplane activity from NZ...)...