Air New Zealand Flight 513.

A regular scheduled service of just 50minutes duration.

(An ideal flight for Flight simmers who are pressed for time.)

This FOTM was inspired by the video "Boeing 737, 25 Years of Kiwi Service". As the video commentary states: ' This is the kind of flight that the 737 was designed for'.

Flight 513 departs Christchurch (NZCH) at 9.40am and arrives at the scenic resort town of Queenstown (NZQN) at 10.30am.

You can use the default Microsoft 737-400 if you want, but for added realism I recommend anz737.zip, a 737-200 in air New Zealand colors available at flightsim.com.

The route is fairly straightforward and looking down from FL260 the scenery is quite beautiful, but the approach into the mountainous terrain around Queenstown is a tricky one. However, I have practiced it according to the video and I can assure you that the only preparation you'll need is to print out these three pages and familiarize yourself with the information contained therein.

Departure.

From Christchurch's Runway 02 or 20, depending on the prevailing wind conditions on the day that you fly this one.

The Route.
You will have first of all filed an IFR flight plan, which will have you heading outbound of Christchurch on the 216 radial, (VOR 115.30). You will climb quickly to a cruise altitude of 26,000ft, by which time you will already be able to pick up the VOR for your destination (Slope Hill VOR 113.60).

The Approach
On the day that you fly this route, if the winds at Queenstown are from the south, (just as they were on the video), you can expect the following ATC instructions:

At  43nm from the "Kaldi" waypoint (78NM from Slope Hill), Air Traffic Control will instruct you to descend to 18,000ft. Then, at a position 56NM from SH you will be directed to descend to 10,000ft.

A little later, at 46DME from SH, you may be directed to adjust your heading slightly to 220degrees.
At 29DME you will be instructed to descend to 7000ft and at 19DME you will be handed over to Queenstown Approach. They will direct you to turn to a heading of 200 degrees. (Fig 1) You'll be flying low over mountainous terrain now.

I strongly suggest that you no longer rely on ATC from this point on. (They will want to hold you at around 6000ft until you're almost over the airport.)

So take a look around.

If visibility is good and there are no huge cloudbanks below you, cancel your IFR Flight plan (exactly as per the video) and contact Queenstown Tower to request landing clearance. Then SLOW SLOW SLOW to 160Kts and descend gradually (800 ft/min) to an altitude of not less than 4500ft.

You will be flying south-southwest down a valley with a road and a river below you. Keep a lookout ahead and to the right, and in a few minutes the airport will come into view. When you have the runway in sight, turn right, back towards the Slope Hill VOR.

Then as soon as you are clear of the high ground below you, SLOW DOWN and increase your rate of descent to 1000-1500ft/min. If you attempt to make a straight in approach from here, (Fig 2) you'll end up too high over the runway threshold. You'll need to commence a zigzag descent onto the runway.

(Study Fig 3) So make a descending right hand turn, and then turn left over Lake Hayes. Then make a right turn from your base leg onto runway 23. Your speed over the threshold should be about 120KTS if you are using the 737-200 series.

If you are too high over the runway threshold, I recommend you divert to Invercargill (90NM to the south) because it will be too risky to try and re-configure yourself for another approach without ATC

assistance. (Remember that you've cancelled your IFR clearance!)

If visibility is poor or if there is low cloud, I recommend you divert to Invercargill.

(See airport details below.)

There is a possibility that the wind at Queenstown will blowing in from the north. In this case, instead of directing you to turn to 200 degrees at 19DME, ATC will direct you to continue in a southwesterly direction until your are over Lake Wakatipu. If visibilty is good, I recommend that you cancel your IFR flight plan and make a wide descending left turn between the steep sides of the lake. (Minimum height 2500ft). Follow the curve of the lake around to the southeast until your Nav 1 is aligned with the 050 radial of the Slope Hill VOR, at which point you should be visual with runway 05. Again, if visibility is poor, climb out of there and divert to Invercargill.

Read these tips:

1. Copy and paste the airport information below into the "notes" section of your kneeboard.

2. If you're using Real Weather, then be warned that June in New Zealand is wintertime, so be ready to divert if the weather is particularly crappy.

(I'd be really interested to know how many of you manage to successfully land at Queenstown.)

3. Your fuel consumption will be higher than normal at 26,000ft. (8500lbs/hour if you're using the 400 series). And your slow, high drag descent with flaps extended will use lots of fuel too! Make sure you plan to have enough fuel to divert to Invercargill.
4. Look at the three screenshots that I have included. These will give you an idea of what to expect.

If you think that this sounds difficult, then note that the runway at Queenstown has been lengthened considerably since the video was made. They used to land 737s on a 4,400ft long strip!

AIRPORT INFORMATION:

Copy and paste the airport information into the "notes" section of your kneeboard.

Your scheduled destination is:

Queenstown (NZQN)

VOR 113.60

ATIS Frequency:    126.400 MHz

Clearance Delivery:     ***

CTAF Frequency:    122.200 MHz

CTAF Frequency:    128.000 MHz

Ground Frequency:  121.900 MHz

Tower Frequency:   118.100 MHz

Tower Frequency:   128.000 MHz

Departure Frequency:     ***

Approach Frequency:       118.100 MHz

Center Frequency:  ***

FSS Frequency:     122.200 MHz

FSS Frequency:     128.000 MHz

MULTICOMM Frequency:     ***

UNICOM Frequency:  ***

AWOS Frequency:    ***

Latitude:         S45* 1.27'

Longitude:       E168* 44.35'

Elevation:       +1171

Runway     Length  Surface ILS ID  ILS Freq.       ILS Hdg.

5              6204        Asphalt  ***         ***         ***

23            6204        Asphalt  ***         ***         ***

5L            2625        Dirt         ***         ***         ***

23R         2625        Dirt         ***         ***         ***

14            3097        Dirt         ***         ***         ***

32            3097        Dirt         ***         ***         ***

H0           112          Concrete                ***         ***         ***

If you need to divert, your alternative destination will be:
Invercargill (NZNV)

VOR 116.80 ( follow the 168 degree radial from Queenstown)

ATIS Frequency:    ***

Clearance Delivery:     ***

CTAF Frequency:    ***

Ground Frequency:  ***

Tower Frequency:   118.500 MHz

Tower Frequency:   122.400 MHz

Departure Frequency:     ***

Approach Frequency:       118.500 MHz

Approach Frequency:       122.400 MHz

Center Frequency:  ***

FSS Frequency:     ***

MULTICOMM Frequency:     ***

UNICOM Frequency:  ***

AWOS Frequency:    ***

Latitude:         S46* 24.90'

Longitude:       E168* 19.20'

Elevation:       +5

Runway     Length  Surface ILS ID  ILS Freq.       ILS Hdg.

4              5610        Asphalt  ***         ***         ***

22            5610        Asphalt  ***         ***         ***

12            2995        Dirt         ***         ***         ***

30            2995        Dirt         ***         ***         ***

4R           2280        Dirt         ***         ***         ***

22L          2280        Dirt         ***         ***         ***

7              1398        Dirt         ***         ***         ***

25            1398        Dirt         ***         ***         ***

If you are successful, then you can depart Queenstown at 12.20 PM and fly back to Christchurch as Flight 524. Have fun!

Bill Smith.

leesmith@ca.com.au