Vector Online - In category Adventure aviation

Read our special 'online' Vector stories here. Some are unique to the website, and some have featured in print issues of Vector.

Note: This archive dates back to 2015. So, the advice in some of the earlier articles may have changed.

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The dangers of aircraft icing

The polar jet is beginning its northward migration, bringing weather conditions perfect for producing ice on aircraft – both in the air and on the ground.

Posted in Pilot performance flying practice and professionalism, Aircraft owner and aircraft, Preflight and postflight, Rotary operations, Adventure aviation, Agricultural operations;

Posted 7 months ago

Audio story: Know your neighbour

To encourage safe flying at unattended aerodromes, Vector Online asked various users, “What do you want your airspace neighbours to know about the way you fly?” Listen here to what…

Posted in Aerodromes, Pilot performance flying practice and professionalism, Rotary operations, Agricultural operations, Adventure aviation, Audio articles;

Posted 11 months ago

Summer traffic busy spots

This page shows major flying events, known at the time of publishing, between mid-December 2023 and March 2024.

Posted in Agricultural operations, Pilot performance flying practice and professionalism, Aircraft owner and aircraft, Adventure aviation, Flight planning;

Posted 11 months ago

Taking off in a hang glider or paraglider

Hang gliding and paragliding ‘wings’ are increasingly populating New Zealand’s skies.

Posted in Adventure aviation;

Posted 5 years ago

Gliding 101

Fans of gliding say doing it well takes more skill than powered flying. Certainly, powered pilots report that a few sessions of gliding improves their flying technique.

Thrills, risk, and dying

“Fear is a super important thing, man … without fear, you will die. ” Jeb Corliss, 2016 Read the articleThrills, risk, and dying

Posted in Adventure aviation;

Posted 7 years ago

No engine, no problem

Glider pilots love powerless flight for its own sake – but they also say gliding skills make much better powered pilots. Read the articleNo engine, no problem

Posted in Pilot performance flying practice and professionalism, Adventure aviation;

Posted 7 years ago

See and avoid - paragliders and powered aircraft in the same airspace

Increasingly congested airspace above New Zealand has led to some nasty frights for both paragliding, and powered, pilots.

Posted in Adventure aviation, Airspace, Pilot performance flying practice and professionalism;

Posted 8 years ago

Safety reporting in adventure aviation

With activity burgeoning in adventure aviation, the CAA is keen to work with the sector to distribute safety information and ‘lessons learned’.

Posted in Adventure aviation, General safety, Reporting;

Posted 8 years ago

Ballooning safety post-Carterton

It was, at the time, the world’s deadliest single hot air ballooning disaster* but operators and the CAA say it has forever changed – and for the better – ballooning…

Posted in Adventure aviation;

Posted 9 years ago

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