I was creating a flight plan today for my b1900d Link from NZAA to NZTG, but didn't know what altitude to set my cruise for.

Could anyone provide me with the recommended altitude for these aircraft, and a list of the routes that Eagle Air fly?

Cheers

On a typical flight they dont go above say FL160. As it is North-odd South-even, Id say FL140 is right. I heard a Beech being cleared TG-AA at FL130 today so there ya go hehe. Cant help on the timetable sorry

Well actually FL140 isn't correct. The New Zealand Transition Layer is between FL130 and FL150. From what I've read in my PPL navigation textbook, you cannot cruise insider the transition layer.

As a rough guide Andrew..
They pretty much operate Air NZ routes (route maps at airnz.co.nz) in and out of every north island airport, with the exception of New Plymouth and Napier, as they are primarily served by Air Nelson with the Saab or the Dash. All the flights from the airports of the north island pretty much originate and return to Auckland or Wellington..
South Island, the Beech does Wellington to Timaru, Wellington to Westport, and Welly to Blenhiem. Auckland to Blenheim is done by the B190 as well. Chch to Wanaka, Hokitika, and Blenheim is done by the B190.

The surface ceiling of the B1900D is 25000ft, so anything below that is ok, however like KAG said, they usually stick to the lower altitudes, on one flight from AA-RO they cruised at 12000, just to give you an idea.

Alex

Of course it will depend on the length of the flight. As an example I went on an ATR from Ham- Well and the pilot said we would be at 16,000 ft and from Dun-CHCH also on an ATR and also at 16,000 ft. Depending on weather conditions. I would say that is a good altitude for a turboprop and they aviod that transition altitude of 18,000. Although I have a have a DVD of an AirNZ B737 flight from CHCH- Qtn and they tranitioned at 13,000 coming into Queenstown so there must be other factors when you set your altimeter to standard.

I've just read the above posts which explain it all. I wonder why our transition is not the standard 18,000. Maybe our flights are short compared to overseas and 18,000 is too high for alot of flights in NZ

The TA of 13000ft is that high to ensure clearance over the Southern Alps and other large mountains. In the area around Mt Cook however I think the TA is 14000ft...

The Transition Level is FL150, and the 2000ft spacing between the layers is to ensure that aircraft with their altimeters set to high (?) pressure QNH's don't come too close, or above, the TL.

Alex

My last flight on a 1900D was in September from Timaru to Wellington. We climbed to 23000', which I thought was blimmin high. They climb like a rocket though.

I have flown TG - AA - TG at least a dozen times over the past 20 years I've lived in Tauranga. The last time I think it was 15000' but it was a case of up to there and straight back down again. I've never flown over Mayor Island though.

When i went and got the gf, i did AA-AP that was at bout 14,000. But the first time i went over the "beast" ( 1900d ) went to FL210 WN-AP.

Thanks for all the info guys- I wonder why each airport-to-airport hop have such different altitudes?

Perhaps it has something to do with the distance of the flight (longer flight, higher altitude), but also because of the standard routes used. If a waypoint is used in many different flights (e.g. POKOM), different routes should use different levels so they don't collide.

Trolly I have some copies of out of date ( only the last cycle or so ) IFR charts put aside and I will drop them in your letterbox over the next day or so - I will save all the ones I can get my hands on and distribute them around as I can - (THESE ARE NOT FOR ACTUAL AVIATION USE - SIMULATOR ONLY! legal stuff over)

also for you aussies I'd be interested in any recently out of date IFR or WAC charts on a swap basis I grab the expired ones as they do the updates at work.

and for general info for all
any general questions on routes/levels etc just ask or Pm me, quite happy to help out.
cheers

Choice Towerman, that would be fantastic

I'll PM you my address right now!

Thanks very much for bringing over the charts, now I will be able to recreate many NZ flights I have wanted to do previously!

Sorry I wasn't awake when you came round this morning, I had quite a late one last night

no worries - my eldest son has just finished his level 2 exams as well so sleep seems to be the big item at the moment

While we are talking aboutr altitudes, what is the recommended height for NZWN to NZNS and back?

Cheers

Towerguy - is your "system" like a backlog of IFR flights filed? And is it available to the public?

hi
nope - our "old" system was great as it was a database of "standard plans" so if someone called up out of the blue we could just call up a standard plan and fill in the details and put it into the system. now the system we have at the units shows the active plans and what is due in the next 20 mins or so unless you seek out a specific detail to match - ie today I just pulled up the flightplan function, entered dep= NZWN and dest= NZWB and it spat out about 3 flights - at a different time it would show more or less depending on traffic or I could narrow the search by putting in other parameters ie B733 flights only etc. the big advantage now is the system is a windows similar system where you can have multiple windows open - some with the radar picture in it and others like flightplans or departure messages or met info - and move them around just like a normal windows system and the new system can hold heaps more traffic without freezing or falling over. but definitely not open to public!

If people need specific altitudes for routes just let me know or pm me and I'll do my best to find out at work - it may take a few days just depending on when I check emails etc and when it coincides with days on/off etc

See "Flight Levels" pinned above for more Towerguy posts on this subject