"Jeremy Thomson" wrote ...
12:38 NZST (GMT+12) an A4 Skyhawk just crossed Auckland International
Airport.
snip
Anyone know what the RNZAF is doing flying an A4 today?
Demonstration flight for a possible purchaser?


While vaguely on the topic, I parked by the fence at Whenuapai this arvo to
see what I could see (I happened to be driving past), and got two landing
circuits and a 360 in hover from a SH-3G, and a short display by a B757. I
don't know if the B757 crew was trying to impress someone, proving that they
knew the aircraft's envelope, or practicing the airshow routine, but the
dozen of us there saw:
Short TO and steep climb-out (no big deal)
45deg bank left, straightening out and tidying up at 90deg to runway
Gentle, wide 270deg turn at higher speed to fly above the runway
Another steep left bank.
270deg right turn while going dirty
non-touch-and-go (what is this called anyway? deliberate missed approach?) -
gentle crosswind clearly not an issue
cleaned up, and reversed direction out of sight.
high-speed pass down the runway
Went off to wherever it was going

I know it (NZ7571) went for a test flight to Wgtn last week, after various
problems it was delivered with were fixed.
--
Errol Cavit | to email, my middle initial is G | "The setting of detailed
performance targets [for executive remuneration] is no easier in a private
company than it used to be in the Soviet Union. The expertise required to
fine-tune such targets, in the face of complex markets and organisations, is
unattainable." from 'Beyond Shareholder Value', The Economist 28/6/03