​New Zealand Provides World-Class Pilot Adventure

When I signed up for a cruise around New Zealand, I never imagined it would lead to some of the most spectacular aerial views I’ve seen in my 50-plus years of flying.

It was a world of misty valleys, jagged peaks, and waterfalls spilling off sheer walls into dark fjords. In two and a half weeks and two general aviation flights, I learned that the pilots are friendly, the weather is challenging, and the flying is in a class of its own. I can’t wait to return. 

New Zealand, with a population of just over 5 million, has two main islands, appropriately referred to as the North Island and South Island. Both of my flights were in Fiordland National Park in the southwest portion of the South Island, which arguably boasts the most dramatic landscapes in the country. If you’ve watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy or The Hobbit trilogy movies, you’ve seen scenes filmed in Fiordland. Seeing the dramatic vistas in person for the first time was a surreal experience and was one of the rare times reality vastly exceeded my expectations.

This Article First Appeared in FLYING Magazine

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To get there from the U.S., we flew nonstop from San Francisco to Auckland, a 13-hour, overnight flight. We landed in Auckland on the North Island around 9 a.m., cleared customs, and caught an 11:30 a.m. Air New Zealand flight to Queenstown on the South Island.

From there, we drove two hours to Te Anau, where we stayed for three days before joining our cruise. Te Anau is a town of 3,000 residents, and it’s the perfect jumping off point for exploring Fiordland. Then it’s just a two-hour drive to Milford Sound, which we visited the following day. 

Milford Sound

Milford Sound is the most visited fiord in New Zealand, as there has been a direct road to it since the nearly mile-long Homer Tunnel was completed in 1953.

Although it’s a fiord, it was labeled a sound by early European explorers, and the name stuck. It was formed when ice age glaciers carved a deep, U-shaped valley out of hard bedrock. As the glaciers retreated, sea levels rose and flooded the valley. What’s left today is a long, narrow inlet with steep cliffs and side valleys that feed waterfalls after rain.

The first third of the drive from Te Anau parallels a portion of Lake Te Anau, which is narrow and about 40 miles long. The rest is through mountains that rise to 6,000 feet in all directions. We experienced lots of low clouds and some light rain on the drive, which is typical for this region. 

• READ MORE: Exploring New Zealand’s Grand Islands by Air
• READ MORE: Part 2: Exploring New Zealand’s Grand Islands by Air

As we arrived in Milford Sound, the clouds were sufficiently high for us to view about a dozen Cessna 208 Caravans and helicopters bringing tourists in from Queenstown. There we boarded one of the boats that cruise the sound for about 90 minutes. The big attraction is dozens of waterfalls pouring off the near-vertical cliffs. We cruised out to the fiord’s mouth, where it meets the Tasman Sea and the wind and waves kick up, before heading back to the dock. 

While on our boat tour, I had a chance encounter with Billy Watson, who flies for Over the Top, a Queenstown-based helicopter company and who had just flown a group of tourists in on an H125 Squirrel. Watson’s first job was working for the government to reduce the deer population. As part of that assignment, he was sometimes flown into the forests by helicopter, piquing his interest in them. Initially he lacked the confidence that he could fly.

“[But I] met a few guys, and I thought, ‘Hey, I’m just like them, and they’re just like me,” Watson said. “If they can do it, I can do it.’”

He has been flying now for 30 years and loves his current job. Rather than simply transport tourists to locations, he joins them on their adventures. I asked him how often the weather is good enough to fly to Milford Sound,  he said “about a third of the time.” When they’re weathered out, they can sometimes offer flights around Queenstown. Although it’s only 40 miles away, its weather is often better. 

Milford Sound averages roughly 22-23 feet of rain annually and has at least some rainfall about 190 to 200 days per year. It gets such heavy rainfall because the prevailing westerly winds pick up enormous amounts of moisture while traveling uninterrupted over thousands of miles of ocean. When air hits Fiordland’s steep ranges, it’s forced upward, cooled rapidly, and condensed into rain. If it’s raining when you arrive, don’t let that dissuade you from visiting Milford Sound, as after a rain, dozens of short-lived “pop-up” waterfalls appear alongside the more permanent ones.

The following morning, we took a different boat across Lake Te Anau to a cave to view New Zealand’s famous glowworms. Glowworms aren’t really worms but rather the larval stage of a small fly that produces a blue-green glow to attract insects. The cave is famous because it has a river and a waterfall inside. Visitors ride in total darkness in another small boat inside the cave to view the glowworms.

While boarding the first boat, Russell Ladbrook, the head guide, saw my aviation-related jacket and asked where I was from. When I said California, a strange look came across his face. “I listen to you on your podcast.” he said. That chance encounter set off a chain of fun events. 

Fiordland Aero Club

After we returned from the tour, Ladbrook took us to the local airport and unlocked the Fiordland Aero Club building to show us around. The club sports a large meeting room for flight planning and social events that’s in the same building as its hangar, which can hold three or four airplanes, two of which the club owns. 

Ladbrook explained that the club, which has 85 members, keeps its costs quite low because it has a contract with the airport authority for mowing the grass, which they then sell as hay. It has an Alpi Aviation Pioneer 200 and 300, both of which are microlights built in Italy. The club operates the planes on mogas and rents them wet to club members for just 150 New Zealand dollars per hour, about $90 U.S.. The airport charges a fee of 17 NZ$ per landing, but club members pay just 60 NZ$ per year for unlimited landings. 

That evening, Ladbrook arranged a local meetup in which we met several pilots, including Kylie Krippner who, with her husband, runs Fiordland by Seaplane. He also arranged for me to fly over Fiordland the following morning with club member Keith Froude.

CTLS Adventure

When I arrived at the airport at 8 a.m., the outside temperature was 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the winds were calm, and there was a light frost on the grass. But the skies overhead were relatively clear, a rarity in Fiordland. We were set to fly a 25-year-old Flight Design CTLS that Froude purchased from a seller in South Africa a couple of years ago.

I’d flown a CTLS once before, and it’s one of my favorite light sport aircraft to fly. It’s a two seat, Rotax-powered high wing, built of carbon fiber. Its standout feature is a wide cabin with more shoulder room than most LSAs. 

Before takeoff, we reviewed the weather, weight and balance, and our route of flight. There were some low clouds along our route, and we had the under/over discussion. I have a strong preference for staying above the clouds in mountainous terrain, and we decided to go over. 

Earlier, Froude drew out a one-hour rectangular flight, following valleys and fiords, on a map hanging on the hangar wall. That map also serves a search-and-rescue function should a club member not return from a flight. 

The airport has paved and grass runways, and we took off from the grass one adjacent to the club. Although it was wet, which lengthened the takeoff roll, we easily climbed out at close to max gross weight. Froude did all the flying, as the aircraft was not an N-registered aircraft, and therefore not legal for me to fly since I hadn’t done the required checkout flight. That worked for me, as it let me focus on the scenery.

We flew at 5,500 feet, and I was surprised that instead of mountain ridges, we were surrounded by hundreds of sharp, jagged peaks of roughly the same height for as far as I could see. Many of the peaks were hundreds of feet higher than us, and some of the fiords were so narrow we wouldn’t have been able to make a 180-degree turn. 

By 9 a.m., we started picking up light turbulence anytime we drifted up a few hundred feet. Froude said there was a temperature inversion, with winds picking up at higher altitudes close to the mountain peaks. Staying low gave us a smoother ride and a closer look at the granite walls to our left and right.  

As we turned to return to the airport, the sun was so low and blinding that I realized I wouldn’t have been able to visually steer clear of the peaks surrounding us. It was at that moment that I was appreciative to be flying with a pilot with local knowledge who backed up our position with a GPS-equipped iPad. On the way back, we flew over Krippner in one of her 206 floatplanes, and I said hello over the radio. 

New Zealand is full of warm people, friendly pilots, and some of the most dramatic flying anywhere. If the weather cooperates when you’re there, get into the sky.

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Flying Legally in New Zealand 

If you fly an N-registered aircraft in New Zealand, you can fly it on your FAA certificate and FAA medical. However, you won’t find many of these planes to rent.

New Zealand has two regulatory bodies, Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA) for ZK-registered aircraft and Recreational Aircraft Association of New Zealand (RAANZ) for microlight aircraft, which don’t have ZK registrations.

To fly a New Zealand ZK-registered aircraft, you’ll need either a short-term NZ validation permit, good for up to six months, or a longer-term NZ conversion license.

To get a short-term CAA NZ validation permit, you need an FAA private, commercial, or ATP certificate. Sport pilot certificate holders are ineligible. You must also have a current FAA flight review (formerly called a BFR, or biennial flight review) and an FAA Medical. BasicMed is insufficient.

You’ll also need to do a flight with a local instructor and complete a New Zealand BFR. Evidence of terrain and weather awareness and mountain flying is also required, though you can get that during your NZ BFR flight. There’s also a fee of 216.69 New Zealand dollars. 

If you’re in New Zealand for less than a month, another alternative is to fly a microlight via RAANZ. To do that, you’ll need to join RAANZ, fly a checkout with an RAANZ senior instructor, get a logbook endorsement, and fly only under that instructor’s supervision.

To simplify the process, pilots may want to consider working with a local organization such as Flyinn NZ (flyinn.co.nz), which can provide an apartment to stay in, two Cessna 172s for rent, and manage the license conversion process. 

Aero Clubs of New Zealand

Aero clubs are typically member-run groups that offer some combination of flight training, aircraft rental, competitions, youth programs, and social activities.

Flying NZ (flyingnz.co.nz) is the umbrella body for traditional GA aircraft, such as Cessna 172s, and it has about 40 member clubs. The Recreational Aircraft Association of New Zealand (RAANZ) is the national body for microlight aircraft and has about 60 affiliated clubs.

In New Zealand, microlight land planes are defined as two-seat aircraft with a max gross weight of 1,332 pounds (600 kilograms) and a maximum stall speed of 45 knots. The actual aviation regulations that all clubs must follow come from the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA).

Fiordland by Seaplane

Seaplane flying is about as much fun as you can have in the air, and it’s one of the best ways to see Fiordland.

Husband and wife team Kylie and Ivan Krippner have operated their company, Fiordland by Seaplane, with a pair of Cessna 206s on floats from Lake Te Anau since 2015. The planes are easy to spot anchored in the lake next to the heart of the downtown area.

Given the lake’s proximity to Milford Sound, flying a seaplane is probably the quickest way to get an aerial view of the fiords.

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This feature first appeared in the May Issue 970 of the FLYING print edition.