New Zealand North Island Flightseeing

New Zealand North Island Flightseeing
For Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Michael MacKuen

Today we shall do a quick flightseeing tour over New Zealand’s North Island. Gather a bunch of enthusiastic visitors and show them the world. We shall see the main volcanoes that dominate the landscape. And we’ll take a look at some of the geothermal action around Rotorua and at a tourist movie set for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film series.


For our tourists, this is Mt Doom

We depart from New Plymouth [NZNP] and climb up to take a closer look at the conical volcano Mount Taranaki [TARA and NAKI] (or Mount Egmont). We get a good look at the dramatic surfaces that form the beautiful shape. This is a relatively accessible peak, it can be climbed within a day, but it can also be dangerous due to the changeable winds. We descend to land at the neatly maintained grass airfield at Hewera [NZHA]. Then along the coast to the regional airport at Whanganui [NZWU]. The town and airport are at the mouth of the long winding Whanganui River. We follow it to the north (more-or-less) toward its source in the Tongariro volcanic zone. We arrive first over the heights of Mount Ruapehu [RUHU]. The main active crater has filled to become Crater Lake ... but occasionally the volcano will erupt to empty the water and send destructive lahars down the mountainside. (Eruptions occur frequently but major events have occurred only twice in the last seventy years.) If you look carefully for a few minutes, you can see the North Island’s main ski field Whakapapa [WAKA] on the barren northwestern slopes of Ruapehu.

Next is the dramatic Mount Ngauruhoe [NRUHO] which is the youngest of this complex of volcanoes. It experienced 45 eruptions in the 20^th century but has been mostly quiet in the 21^st century. The ominously stark slopes made it a perfect candidate for Peter Jackson’s Mount Doom.

In 1974, as part of a promotional campaign for his sponsor Moët & Chandon, champion skier Jean-Claude Killy was filmed skiing down the previously unskied eastern slope of the mountain. The average slope on this side of the volcano is 35 degrees, and Killy was caught on radar skiing more than 100 miles per hour. As he fell on the first run, he did the descent twice. He used helicopters to access the mountain top when the last eruption had been the day before and an eruption occurred at the end of his final run. Wikipedia

A couple of miles north lies the large but less shapely Mount Tongariro [TONG], for which the broader Tongariro National Park is named. On these slopes lies the source of the Whanganui River.

We continue on over Lake Taupō which is a large crater lake in the caldera of the ancient Taupō Volcano. (The caldera was created by a supervolcanic eruption 25,000 years ago, the world’s largest in the last 70,000 years.) The most recent eruption (around 200 CE) was one of the top three volcanic events of the last 5,000 years. The volcano remains active and is monitored, but there is no reason to expect a major event this week. We land at Taupo [NZAP] which is a tourist center for activity on the Lake. If you care for something more exciting, you have a choice of two skydiving operations.

Next is Rotorua [NZRO]. This is a busy tourist region, known mainly for its geothermal activity and geysers. There are hot bubbling mud pools, hot springs, fumaroles, and geysers all around the area. The most famous (just southeast of the city) is Pōhutu Geyser  - only passively portrayed in the simulator. However, we do have a specially-crafted rendition of Tikitere or Hell’s Gate [HGATE], the region’s largest geothermal reserve, located northeast of Lake Rotorua a few miles from the airport. Many of the pools of acidic water can reach over 100C, the normal boiling point, due to minerals in solution. We can circle low over the steaming lakes and hot water falls either before or after landing at NZRO.

After Rotorua, we execute a low pass over the Peter Jackson movie set for Hobbiton [HOBIT]. It is hard to see much from an airplane so Frodo Baggins aficionados will want to return via helicopter. We continue on to Hamilton [NZHN]. This is the country’s fourth largest urban area. Once a rural agricultural center, Hamilton is now a fast growing and diversified education/research service economy. The airport is home to Pacific Aerospace, the nation’s largest aircraft manufacturer (whose designs include the P-750 XSTOL).

We make a quick stop at the Mercer Aerodrome [NZME], a modest sealed strip that is popular among recreational GA pilots in the greater Auckland area. The field also hosts GoSkydive New Zealand.

We finish at Auckland’s general aviation field Ardmore [NZAR]. This is New Zealand’s busiest GA airfield and serves private aircraft and the classic planes of the New Zealand Warbirds Association. We can gather at the Auckland Aero Club (Parking #4) about 1/5 mile north of the threshold of Runway 03R. The folks at the Ardmore Café promise to stay open for us.

Documentation
The flightplan is available here.

Aircraft
This is a tourist “flight-seeing” occasion so you might consider a small passenger craft. For the 319nm route, we need something with a “high cruise” of about 155-160 kts. Popular options might include the Cessna 208, Daher Kodiak, and DHC-6 Twin Otter. The Kiwi-born Pacific Aerospace P-750 will do the job even if it is marginally slow. I’ll choose the stock Asobo Cessna 208 in Reaver’s Air Milford livery. As ever, please fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
None necessary. All airports are in the default simulator. I would recommend the following freeware sceneries to enrich your experience. Thanks to these fine authors.

Hawera [NZHA] STR1KEStudioz
Whanganui [NZWU] STR1KEStudioz
Taupo [NZAP] fras444
Rotorua Addon [NZRO] NZA Simulations (details for new WU12 update)
Mercer [NZME] (Download & install 2 files) GuiFarias
Ardmore [NZAR] (Download & install 2 files) LswainStudiosNZ
Volcano Tree Fix (global) THEOLI4D. (Works on our 4 volcanoes to cut the extra trees. Global fix.)

You can get a package here.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Wednesday, set the simulator at 4:00 pm local for March 8, 2023. This is a late summer afternoon in New Zealand. We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, March 8, 2023. 1900 UTC
Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel
Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the Wednesday multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!