The picture says it all really…
Even if you don’t go down there to fly, visiting Croyden is well worth the effort for any aviation enthusiast.
Gore Model Aero Club’s facebook page is a good place to start for more info, or the email addresses in the image below.
You can ask Santa for whatever you want, but not a day free from wind, apparently. True to form, the Nor’Easter blew down the valley from Gebbies Pass and threatened to take the club’s two Ezy-ups on an across-country excursion to Lake Ellesmere. Some patient members spent a lot of their time holding on to the inside frame of our Ezy-ups with one hand and a drink or a sausage with the other.
It was good to see a large turnout, considering the conditions, and a few families were on hand to get a gift from Santa. Dave, Ray and John had organised the food and we enjoyed a spit roast as well as a sausage, salads and drink. A few brave souls even managed to get a few flights in before lunch, especially the helicopters boys who seem to be able to fly in any conditions.
Thanks to everyone for a great day. I wonder whether the significance of the date (Sunday 7th December) had anything to do with proceedings. The significance wasn’t lost on Ray!
On Anzac weekend 2008, the club hired the Pioneer DC3 for a day trip down to the Ashburton aviation museum. One reason being that as the base was soon to close and the DC3 operation being transferred to Ashburton, it seemed to be one of the last opportunities to take such a trip from a historic military airfield. At $125 per head for a 100 mile day trip including lunch, there was no trouble filling all the seats on the plane.
The day started off calm with a low 600ft cloud base that covered the whole area that we intended to fly. However, after several hours of wandering the Wigram museum, Ashburton informed us that the cloud was lifting. Takeoff was a couple of hours late but no one seemed to mind. A smooth and very pleasant trip down to Ashburton cruising at about 1000ft gave a good view of the southern alps and Canterbury plains through a patchy cloud base a few hundred feet below our flight path.
Lunch, aviation museum (with an ex Falklands war GR1 Harrier jump jet) and the rail park was great. A nearby hanger had several YAK aircraft, an 18 and 55. The trip back was clearer with less cloud and you could just see our flying field before the descent into Christchurch. A great trip!!
