After a weekend near the beach in Dunedin, I caught a ride up front in the Flight Club's T-6 Trojan trainer. We made the rather short flight over the middle of New Zealand's south island, landing at the first and original Flight Club HQs, NZFC. From there I spent the final week at the nearby hotel Peter had built. One day Brad and I were afloat on a small yacht discussing some topic of religious history when my cell phone began ringing. It was Dick calling to say we could head for the USA - East coast. At first I nearly considered flying west 'round three-quarters of the world to get there but then I saw that NZFC (and KOFC) were about to get a very special visitor.
I booked myself a room, (yes, that's right I said "ROOM") on the Gold Star Luxury Cruise Lines A380!
This airline operates three aircraft, (A321, A330, A380) each bedazzled in rich wood and gold accents as to make one recall the luxury cruise lines of the early 1900's like the Lusitania, Titanic and Queen Mary. The nearly 6,500-mile flight over to KOFC was, literally, more like a day at the spa. First we had lunch, on the ground, a feast of southern hemisphere squash and salads with grilled/breaded tofu parmesean and cheesecake. After departure from runway 20L (with some scattered thunderstorms around)
During the flight I watched a favorite old movie on the wide screen as we flew directly over both of New Zealand's islands. Then I was treated to a 90-minute massage by one of the on-board staff. Then it was time for dinner, a seven-course feast covering soup from Japan and a rice dish from India to vegetable wraps from Indonesia and Philippines and topping off with a light, fresh-fruit pudding from Tahiti. WOW! Next I took a steam bath in the sauna and collapsed into the king-sized bed for a 12-hour, silent sleep. Now THIS was travelling! Boeing's "Dreamliner"? Pfffft - got NOTHIN' on this airline! All of the aircraft in this airline offer similar services, just for varying numbers of passengers. The cost is just under $1 million USD per passenger per flight. I'm not sure how many people were on my flight from New Zealand to Oregon but while I was ooooohing and aahhhhing over the Indian rice I did meet a woman who was from India...Mumbai I think. We started talking...and she offered me a ride on her own, personal, A320 from Oregon to Washington, DC. Her name was "Something, something Rai."
Anyway...the next morning we enjoyed fresh raspberry crepes with whipped cream and the lightest, fluffiest eggs you have EVER had. Then we battened down for the wet landing into KOFC. From there I joined Rai (and her crew) and we boarded her A320 and set off straight-away for Washington-Balto. The flight was pleasant and uneventful although the service was nothing like the Gold Star Lines! Once in DC I looked up the pastor who married my wife and I and crashed on his futon until the information from Dick arrived via e-mail on Wednesday August 1st. Meantime I needed to see the local sites.
Within a couple of hours of my arrival into Gatlinburg I had my assignment - little more than a mail run (or a milk run) to some local airports, shuttling passengers and/or parcels between the various stops. Since Dick said that the Flight Club had been awarded the contract, I figured that meant I'd have to use Flight Club aircraft. I filed the flightplan for the month and took the Cessna Caravan, in Flight Club Colors, and readied for departure. Here was my plan: KGKT -> 57NC -> 24A -> 1A5 -> KRHP where I'd spend the night
Then, on the second day my route was as follows: KRHP -> 22W -> 0A7 -> 0NC1 -> 7A8 -> Apparently my departure from 0NC1 was a little bit TOO AGGRESSIVE as I now saw a little drip of oil coming from the engine. I called in for a new aircraft but had to wait 10 hours for it's arrival...meaning I was stranded at 7A8 until early the next AM. NC14 -> 6A4 -> 2NC0 -> 7NC4 -> KGKT for the end of this FOTM.
Dick - I must say that I was surprised by the hills and the general, overall scenery for this feature. I didn't figure there'd be too much to see - and the weather nearly limited all my views, but really this was a fun feature with good, landable runways. Thank you for the adventure and the bit of a US education.
