New Plymouth - October 2002

When IFFR New Zealand President Phil Pacey asked me to report on the New Plymouth Fly-In held over the weekend of October 18-20, 2002, I accepted with pleasure. Rotary fellowships are a passion of mine, and of course so are fly-ins, particularly when I get to partake in my recreational passion - flying.

As with most IFFR weekends, many members found a way to start the weekend early. On Friday morning several Auckland members gathered at Ardmore in front of the ‘War-Birds’ hanger on the eastern apron. Mark Sullivan arrived from the North Shore in his Cessna Skywagon 185 to meet up with Phil Pacey flying his Cessna 172 with his wife Judy and Keith Sinclair, and myself in the Cardinal 177RG co-piloted by Mal McLennan. Travelling with Mark was Hunter Randleman, Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from Florida, and Robert Mullins from Drury. Others gathered in the deep south of the mainland like Brian and Judy Fielder, who travelled north from Ashburton Plains with Philip and Vicki Evers-Swindell in their 1954 Cessna Skywagon 180.
In bound from Feilding were Colin Kay in another Cardinal 177RG with Ian Wood followed by Graham Gimblett in a Cessna 172 with Michael Bryant and Malcolm McClure – Castlemaine, Australia. Out of Putaruru came Ted and Lyndsay Mason in their Piper PA28 Cherokee. Roy and Marlene Marsden travelled west from Taupo in their Cessna 172 with the IFFR merchandise safely stowed aft! Other members found a way to start the weekend a few days earlier and from further a field and thus the award for flying themselves the greatest distance to the fly-in went to John and Judy Berends and Roger Griffiths who flew their Navaho from Vic. Australia with a overnight break at Norfolk Island. Regrettably Ian Jenner and Julie could not get airborne at Ardmore due to “engineering requirements” (remember that’s the term used by airlines all over the world to mean ‘maintenance had not got the fixes done in time’!). Newly qualified PPL Roger Leadbeater was grounded by the weather, as his departure was scheduled for later in the day so he drove down with Glynes as did Harry and Denise Maidment. A last minute cancellation from the Van Der Helm’s due to illness meant Koos and Greet were unable to attend.

The weather front that was rapidly travelling up the country saw the ever-flexible Rotarians from the north abandon the lunch stop in Raglan and proceed direct to New Plymouth. A strong north westerly at about 25 knots pushed us down the coast at a good pace and it was there to greet us at New Plymouth. Moments after we made the challenging transition from that wonderful 3 dimensional space to the 2 dimensional space (i.e. landed!) the rain started. Picketing was completed by dedicated pilots while crews ran for the shelter of the New Plymouth Flying Club! I’m guessing that is the price for having a licence for that 3 dimensional space!

Howard Vosper met the flyers at the airport, and immediately lightened our pockets of the registration fee. This was done with a big wide welcoming smile matched only by the wonderful welcoming signs hung about New Plymouths airport and hotels. From this point on we were treated to a wonderful weekend with the highest organisational level anyone could ever hope for. A very big thanks to Howard for ensuring the success of weekend with his superb attention to detail.

Friday evening saw the first fellowship gathering of the weekend at the home of President Roger Jones and Catherine of the Rotary Club of Pukekura Breakfast. All 64 people sat down to dinner at tables in their dining-room! Much chatter occurred as old friends, from the length and breadth of New Zealand and across the Tasman, reacquainted with each other, and of course new friendships were created. Some of the members present included Bryan & Joyce Condon - Past World President IFFR, Brian & Jeannette Souter - IFFR VP, and Ray and Nan Wells from Parramatta City.

Saturday saw a break in the weather with winds down to the low 20s and broken cloud. All aircraft departed for Hawera either directly, via the summit of Mt Taranaki (if your Readers Digest is as old as mine you will find it labelled Mt. Egmont!), or via the coastal route. Regretfully a covering of cloud hid the top of the mountain. Most aircraft carried additional crew who had arrived by road or commercial flights, and more travelled by bus. For a brief time the skies over Hawera airport, in particular finals for 25, looked like O’Hare on a Friday evening! At times 3 could be seen on finals while more were joining overhead. Several locals arrived at the airport to view the action as 12 or so aircraft squeezed onto the grass apron outside the clubhouse. A tour of South Taranaki taking in the Tawhiti Museum with its detailed displays on life in the ‘olden days’ reminded us how long we’d been around! Lunch, served in an old barn, restored us for the afternoon tour that took in the largest milk treatment plant in New Zealand and for those returning to New Plymouth by bus, a garden tour. Pilots and crews that flew back to New Plymouth again took a variety of routes so as many people as possible could have the benefit of seeing Taranaki from the air.

The formal dinner hosted by the Rotary Club of Pukekura Breakfast was well attended by nearly 100 people who enjoyed a most informative presentation by Phil Rakena, an air traffic controller from New Plymouth. Phil had hosted pilots and crew in the tower earlier in the day to see how it operated and to view the latest tool available to the aviation industry on the web, Flight Explorer (check out www.flightexplorer.com if you want for information). Phil told of his ‘previous life’ as a member of the RNZAF… and if anyone had any doubts at the start of the presentation about the contribution these young people are making to our country they were clean swept away by the end. Many personal photos that Phil had taken during overseas operations accompanied the presentation. We saw some incredible images from the deserts of Mogadishu and Australia, the hostile areas of East Timor; to the tranquil areas of ice crystal caves in Antarctica. Well done Phil.
Other members who were able to attend from the Manawatu area were Mike and Lyn Hoggard, and Eric and Patricia Linklater. Keith Sinclair ran an effective Sergeants session relieving many people of surplus funds and bolstering the PolioPlus campaign resources.

Sunday morning brought a forecast of a front moving up the country laying over New Plymouth near noon. This placed some pressure on the IFFR members to keep the formal meeting brief, to the point, and relevant! The meeting, chaired by President Phil, resolved to have an early 2003 fly-in probably in Rotorua, and host the pre-Brisbane Conference fly-in based at Fielding. Michael Bryant has taken the lead on this one and will be the fly-in coordinator – thank you Michael. If any members are able to offer assistance to Michael don’t hesitate to speak up please.

Members also welcomed Lynette Jenkins as our first honorary member to the Fellowship. Lyn was awarded a honorary membership in recognition of the contribution she and her late husband, Past President Dave Jenkins, have made to the New Zealand IFFR.

We also had a brief from Australian IFFR President Alan Grady who spoke about the tragedy in Portugal following the 2002 World Conference when four IFFR members died. He also outlined some preparations being made for the post 2003 World Conference fly-in to be held in Brisbane.

Following the meeting some pilots and crew made for the airport and a quick dash north, first away being Chris and Vicki Snelson with their guest from Canada Joe Howse. Joe had drawn the short straw for a ride in the immaculate Vampire based at New Plymouth and operated by Brett Emeny on the Saturday afternoon. Others lingered for the front to pass and visited the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust Park with brollies and raincoats in hand. Late Sunday the front cleared for those travelling south so most headed away. President Phil and Judy, Ted and Lyndsay Mason, Roy and Marlene Marsden, and John and Judy Berends all stretched the weekend out another day with a further night in New Plymouth, taking in a movie and more fellowship at the hotel before departing Monday morning.

So to sum up the weekend I could list some highlights like the views from Roger Jones’ deck, his lounge, the BBQ, the trip to Hawera, the Tawhiti Museum, the lunch served in the barn, the smile on Joe’s face after the Vampire touched down, the 20 plus Cadillac’s at the Plymouth Hotel (they also had a gathering in Taranaki over the weekend), the Rhododendrons, the Australians trying to figure out how to put on raincoats and open umbrellas, or I could just say two words that I think really do encapsulate the weekend experience - “Rotary Fellowship”.