These shots are of our airstrip at Katikati N.Z., which is approx 100 miles east of Auckland. It is well orientated for the prevailing winds, the vectors being 03/21. This piece of land is quite interesting to me for a number of reasons. It formed part of the Lockington farm which my ancestors have farmed for over a hundred years, and also gave me my first taste of flying in the early 1950's when DH82 Tiger Moths began to use it for aerial topdressing. I can only recall one "incident", that  being when the pilot dismounted to have a cup of tea and left the old girl idling.  Anxious no doubt to get the the job done she tried to complete the mission without him, vibrating and jiggling the throttle open quite successfully, getting slightly airborne but unfortunately tangled herself up in a hedge.   A whole 150 pounds (our currency of the day) down the gurgler for a new one! The NZ built FU24 Fletchers eventually put paid to DH82s and the strip, their vastly increased payload also meant a longer runway and they went elsewhere.
The land was then used to base rock crushing equipment, carrying on from it's previous life, except  the rocks were hauled out of the river by machines, whereas my Grandfather used to do it years earlier by horse and cart. I used to work at operating the plant in the early 60's, driving the trucks, bulldozers and even occasionally operating the face shovel with it's array of clutches, brakes winches and miles of wire cables. I was never an expert and only drove it under supervision. I once managed to jump it out of it's tracks in about 4 feet of water, bringing the whole production to a grinding halt. (A 737 was so easy by comparison).  The crushing plant moved further upstream in later years and all of the remaining piles of rubble was eventually spread out by bulldozer. The whole 9 acres was left looking rather like a lunar landscape with the addition of abandoned junk and debris. Immediately adjacent to the river huge flooded trenches and scars remained. Gradually gorse, wattle, blackberry and montbretia took over this unusable wasteland. Environment Bay of Plenty (local Government agency) met with us and assisted us financially to do minor river realignment and flood control as well as advice on planting for an esplanade strip. The airstrip was easily reinstated, we only had to remove bits of half buried steel, broken concrete and fill a few holes to be back in business. There is so much rubble and shingle that it seems to average about 6 feet deep. Top soil and dust have gradually developed to allow a poor quality grass and weed cover although a few bits are still bare. The river's transformation back has been amazing. When the quarry moved over 30 years ago the rocks were gone and it was down to mud. Over the years rocks have washed down from the ranges and taken their place. Now the river has been defined and trees overhang the edges. The rawness has gone, it's just about back to how it was a century ago, (although not quite in the same place!)  We have planted lots of trees and once they grow it should soften some more.

Runway realignment, tree growth and fences mean that the strip is quite bit shorter than when the DH82's operated but at 220m is ideally suited to the CH701 operation. Take offs are no problem on 21 although strong winds tend to turn a little northerly giving a crosswind from the right which hits just on lift off. Also acceleration is a bit slower going uphill. Caution must be exercised after lift off  for 3 reasons.
1. the crosswind hits and there are trees close to the left.
2. the strip slope increases markedly at this point and it is easy to “over rotate” due to the optical illusion of the rising ground.
3. As the wind crests the hill ahead the airflow is heading downwards. The net result is rapid loss of airspeed, left drift and controls no where as crisp as you last remembered them. I can now anticipate this point quite well and lower the nose early before the speed decay, building speed aiming a little clear of the hill top which then drops away to lower ground.

The approach onto 03 is quite straight forward. Full flap, flat approach and as slow as comfortable, usually 35 to 40 kts. Cresting the hill gives an up draught, power is reduced a little and nose lowered. No flare is carried out, the rate of descent equates nicely with the down slope. Gentle braking will bring us to a stop easily before the bank and the river at the far end but there is a run off available to the left in case of brake failure.

Take off on 03 is a breeze although I get a better clearance from the trees using flap 0 and 40 kts than I do with the recommended flap 15 and 35kts.