NZFF

Sunday Night Ops for 5th July 2009 - Queenstown Winterfestival Finale



This Sunday is the finale of the Queenstown Winterfestival 2009. An estimated 60,000 people will descend on Queenstown for the event, and after a week and a half of fun on and off the slopes, all these overseas and domestic visitors need to get home in time for the coming work week.

Fly your aircraft from one of the other main centres into Queenstown to pick up your share of the departing passengers and return them to your home base.

Members from our sister division - VATPAC - will be joining in the fun as well with flights from and to the Australian eastern seaboard.

Sector lengths will vary depending on aircraft choice and the other centre you're flying from. Real-world Queenstown is served by B737/A320 and smaller; given the challenging approach, it is recommended that you fly in an aircraft that you're comfortable with.

Events based around the mountainous Queenstown airspace are always popular and always a challenge for pilots and controllers alike and this event will be no exception.

• Event Times: Sunday 5th July 2009 1900-2330 NZST / 0700-1130 UTC / 1700-2130 AEST
• Flight Time: variable (approx 45mins to NZCH; 60mins to NZWN; 80mins to NZAA)
• Flight Plan Routes:
  NOTE: start the evening at ANY of the other airports and fly a return trip to Queenstown and back.
  NOTE: where possible, please fly the routes listed below as this will help to manage the traffic for the event.
  
  Auckland
  NZAA/NZQN: (AAQN4) H384 NP H252 NS V288 YW DCT GULOV H291 SH
  NZQN/NZAA: RNAV: (QNAA2) SH Y569 OR H277 AA
  NZQN/NZAA: Non-RNAV: SH H438 NS H126 OR H277 AA
  
  Wellington
  NZWN/NZQN: (WNQN3) WN V306 SABDA H622 MESIX H159 CH H291 SH
  NZQN/NZWN: (QNWN5) SH H438 BELEE H567 CC V393 WN
  
  Christchurch
  NZCH/NZQN: RNAV: (CHQN1) CH H476 ANOLA DCT GULOV H291 SH
  NZCH/NZQN: Non-RNAV Only: (CHQN4) CH H476 RY H438 SH *
  NZQN/NZCH: (QNCH5) SH H438 RY H203 CH
  * Expect delays on CHQN4 due to northbound traffic; file CHQN1 if at all possible.
  
  Click on the image above to view the preferred routings in the interactive airspace map.
  
  
  
• Airport Details: Queenstown Airport
  Caution: There is mountainous terrain in every direction at NZQN, and the arrival and departure procedures reflect this. Familiarise yourself with the arrival procedures before you arrive in the area!
  SID/STAR data is available for Level-D and PMDG aircraft in the Pilots Download section.
  
  
• Airport Details: Auckland Airport
• Airport Details: Wellington Airport
• Airport Details: Christchurch Airport
  
  
• Charts/Airspace Info: Charts for all the procedures listed here are available by clicking on the airport links above.
  General Airspace information and details for all VATNZ airports available from the VATNZ Airspace Reference site.
  
  
  
• Priority ATC Positions:
  NZQN_TWR - Queenstown Tower
  NZCH-S_CTR/NZCH-W_CTR/NZCH-A_CTR - Enroute Control
  NZZO_FSS - Oceanic Control
  
  Note: If you're providing ATC on the night, please give priority to these positions. They are not an exclusive list, but they are the ones that will see the most action this Sunday.
  
  To reserve a particular ATC position, please post a message to that effect (including the times you expect to be online) in this thread. If possible, also book your position using vroute - large numbers of bookings in vroute attract additional traffic.
  
  
• Late-comers/Shorter Alternative: Late-comers or people looking for a shorter flight should consider flying from one of the nearer other centres.
  
  
• Queenstown does not have an ILS. For tips on how best to manage without one, be sure to check out this excellent Non Precision Approach tutorial from VATNZ member and real-world Air NZ flight crew, Steve Hall.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me, or reply to this thread.


Nick