Runway Works Commence in Hamilton

[Ian Warren]

Cheshsss HCP , I thought these were pics from the HAM500 , second curcit of the track , the Higgins Racer mobile wheel spinning it as hes going thru the gears , by the way who did win that race

[ardypilot]

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Jul 14 2009, 02:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cheshsss HCP , I thought these were pics from the HAM500 , second curcit of the track , the Higgins Racer mobile wheel spinning it as hes going thru the gears , by the way who did win that race

It's only 400 laps Ian, and Jamie Whincup from Team Vodafone (Ford) won it, just like he did in Townsville this weekend

[deeknow]

QUOTE (HardCorePawn @ Jul 14 2009, 01:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One of these craft is trying to take-off/land in the wrong direction!!! And judging by the way the steam appears to be moving... I'd say it isn't the Katana!

LOL!!! ... is it smoke? ... or Fog? ... Thanx for keep us up to date Matt, so cool to see this coming along. Keep us posted on the opening events, being local I'd be keen to pop out

[ardypilot]

Ughh I wish Hamilton hadn't done the paving on that grass runway- I just spent the last hour or so updating about a billion pages in my AIP volumes, was what is effectively a new bold line on the HN AD 2 schematic diagrams!

[mfraser]

Yup - and there's more AIP changes coming up in the next cycle...... such as renaming the runways and approaches to 18L/R and 36L/R and new ground movement charts!!

Here's a photo I took a couple of weeks back. Not much has changed since then. There's more finger pointing going on as an inspection of the seal revealed that it had bubbled and weakened in some places. So they're re-sealing over it which is causing more delays!! The airport company is still hoping to hold an official opening on the 11th of September (Great date to choose guys!). It will be open to the public and there will be a pseudo-flying display of all the aircraft that are manufactured by Hamilton based companies (CT-4, R200, FU24, Cresco, XL750, Microlights etc). More info to follow.........

[Bazza]

Good stuff, hope my nose wheel will follow that chicane.,...?

[mfraser]

I think they put it in for the pilots that couldn't land in todays 22kt crosswind Bazza!! Very few flights today but lots of pilots doing 'taxi practice'!!

The new sealed taxiway will mainly be used to get CTC's twins onto 18L so they don't waste valuable runway time backtracking as they do now.
For light singles you'll still get taxi instructions via the grass taxiways to holding point Golf to depart on the new 18R.

QUOTE (Bazza @ Aug 27 2009, 09:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good stuff, hope my nose wheel will follow that chicane.,...?

[redkiwi]

Well it's finished and officially opened as of today. I went down to checkout the Waikato Aero Club and ended up getting a 1hr Air display put on by a P750XstoL, RNZAF CT4E, Fletcher FU24 (including fert. drop!) a few formation fly-bys of Alpha 160's, and then a solo Alpha 160 handling display - which was actually quite spectacular!

The thing that surprised me the most was the P750XstoL... Probably did a takeoff roll of all of 50m, if that much, and proceed to climb out just about the stall speed , it spent the first bit of the display doing some insane low passes and some pretty cool wing-overs and about as close as you'd want to come to a loop in a non-aero certified airframe! Short landing was also very awesome.

I wish I'd known this was going to be happening because we were pretty close to the action, and it would have been great to get some camera footage.

[mfraser]

Well....... officially opened but not really. Although the 'redtape' was cut, the runway will not be available for takeoff or landing for at least another month if not two!! The airport company has sensibly decided to let the grass on the runway edges grow back because aircraft can choose to land either side of the new runway in the grass if they wish! At least ATC will be able to use the new taxiway which will help alleviate some of the delays currently experienced around the airfield.

I was going to post a heads up but didn't as I was told that the opening was only open to invited guests. Any members of the public wishing to view the occasion would have to do so from outside the confines of the airport - unless they could wrangle access through another avenue (Such as the aeroclub, CTC etc etc). I also had a death in the family over the weekend so flight simming and posting had to take a back seat unfortunately.

I'll be posting some photo's of the completed runway shortly and will ask if any of the tower guys took any photo's 'cos they're all plane spotters up there!!

Mat

[redkiwi]

QUOTE (mfraser @ Sep 17 2009, 11:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well....... officially opened but not really. Although the 'redtape' was cut, the runway will not be available for takeoff or landing for at least another month if not two!! The airport company has sensibly decided to let the grass on the runway edges grow back because aircraft can choose to land either side of the new runway in the grass if they wish! At least ATC will be able to use the new taxiway which will help alleviate some of the delays currently experienced around the airfield.

I was going to post a heads up but didn't as I was told that the opening was only open to invited guests. Any members of the public wishing to view the occasion would have to do so from outside the confines of the airport - unless they could wrangle access through another avenue (Such as the aeroclub, CTC etc etc). I also had a death in the family over the weekend so flight simming and posting had to take a back seat unfortunately.

They had a few aircraft take off on it yesterday, not that it'll really make a difference. The soil under the grass adjacent to the runway is apparently VERY soft at the moment, so I think part of the reason was to let the ground settle and harden up a bit.

Funny about the 'not open to the public thing'... I just walked through the gate they had open! No ID checks or anything - good old AvSec

Condolences for your lost.

[ardypilot]

QUOTE (mfraser @ Aug 27 2009, 10:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yup - and there's more AIP changes coming up in the next cycle...... such as renaming the runways and approaches to 18L/R and 36L/R and new ground movement charts!!

OMG I just got November's updates. The package in the mailbox is about as thick as my Volume 1!

[mfraser]

QUOTE (Trolly @ Oct 21 2009, 05:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OMG I just got November's updates. The package in the mailbox is about as thick as my Volume 1!

Yup - I hate to say it but I told you so!! At least that'll be the last of HN's changes for the foreseeable future!! And guess what....... the new runway and taxiway ARE STILL CLOSED!!