Allsop Mike - High Altitude

HIGH ALTITUDE

by
MIKE ALLSOP

First published in 2013
Copyright Mike Allsop 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Allen & Unwin

Level 3, 228 Queen Street

Auckland 1010, New Zealand

Phone: (64 9) 377 3800

83 Alexander Street

Crows Nest NSW 2065, Australia

Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

Email: info@allenandunwin.com

Web: www.allenandunwin.com

A catalogue record for this book is available
from the National Library of New Zealand
ISBN 978 1 877505 27 0

eISBN 978 1 783434 12 3

Set in 12/16 pt Adobe Caslon by Midland Typesetters, Australia

This book is dedicated to beautiful Wendy.

CONTENTS

I clicked the transmit button on the control column to tell the Coast Guard pilot, This is it, were going in! The words never came out. Instead what emerged was a sound I had never heard before a scream, a spine-chilling scream of death. I remember being shocked when I realised the noise was coming from me as the aircraft I was flying nose-dived into the sea.

My seat snapped off its rails and I was pinned against the instrument panel with the control column smashing into my right ribs. My head was pinned back against the head rest and my jaw was locked open by the force of the deacceleration I had been practising for my focus point before we ditched but as I tried to find it nothing made sense. I scratched at the metal pillar of the aircraft trying to get out, all the time swallowing and swallowing sea water.

Everything was so dark and the noise of the impact didnt seem to stop. I couldnt hold my breath any longer when a thought came into my head. Take a breath of water and youll be relaxed. Then another thought followed: This is what its like to die. Just take a breath of water and you will be so relaxed! The muscles in my chest cavity relaxed and I inhaled...

It had always been my dream to be an Air New Zealand pilot and I managed to get a foot in the door in the industry when I purchased a type rating (training course) on Great Barrier Airlines Britten Norman Islander aircraft. At the time the companys owner, Jim Bergman, was losing money flying people to Great Barrier Island and was trying to generate a little more income by providing type rating training.

Jim was a very charismatic aviator. We first met at Auckland domestic airport. There I was, eager to start my training when he walked into the terminal, shirt half unbuttoned exposing his chest. He walked over to me and put one foot up on the chair beside me and began laying down the rules. Five hours flying you pay for and Ill give you another five co-pilot time for free. I was in awe, as Jim had quite a reputation as a great aviator. I couldnt quite believe I was going to be flying with him.

Together we walked out to the Islander aircraft. With 10 seats and a 2994-kilogram maximum take-off weight, it was huge compared to what I had been flying. I climbed into the captains seat with Jim next to me and off we went. It all seemed very complicated as it was the first twin-engine aircraft I had ever flown. We lined up on the runway at Auckland International Airport and were cleared for takeoff. I pushed the throttles slowly up and we took off and then started a turn to the right. As we were passing about 800 feet Jim failed an engine on me. The aircraft yawed wildly and I had no idea what to do. Id heard other pilots at the aero club talking about using the rudder to control an engine failure in a twin-engine aircraft. So I pushed on the rudder, any rudder... Jim laughed and quickly took control, saying, Ha ha! Wrong rudder. I just wanted to see what you were going to do. It was a bit of a mean trick to play on a total beginner, but I loved it. I felt so at ease with Jim, he was an amazing instructor.

I had soon flown three of the five hours required to complete my initial twin rating and had a lesson with Jim booked the following Saturday. That Friday night I went out on the town and blew off a bit of steam with some friends. I had been working two jobs for four years and I didnt get the chance to have a big night out very often. My lesson with Jim wasnt until 3pm the next day so I had a great night and ended up crashing at a mates house.

In the meantime, though, an early morning freight run to Great Barrier Island had come up. Jim was going to fly it and thought he could save me some money on lessons by letting me co-pilot the run with him. Jim rang my house at 5am waking my flatmates. He apologised for the early call and explained that he wanted to save me hundreds of dollars. When one of my flatmates came to wake me, he found my bed empty, so told Jim I must be at my girlfriends house and gave him her number.

Jim rang her house asking if I was there. She wasnt happy to hear I hadnt made it home last night. When she finally tracked me down she was irate and wanted to know exactly where I had been. When I showed up at the airfield that afternoon for my lesson, Jim came out and sheepishly said, I rang your house this morning at 5am trying to save you some money. When you werent there I rang your girlfriend. You werent there either. I know what I was doing at your age so I hope I didnt drop you in the shit!

I had completed my five hours, and another five as a co-pilot as promised, when Jim came into the office and said, I like you. Theres a job here for you this summer but you have to get an instrument rating. (An instrument rating enables you to fly on instruments in cloud.) I was stoked, but I didnt have any money as I had spent it all on the type rating. I went straight to the bank and got a $5000 Visa card and a $5000 Mastercard, which I maxed out to pay for my multi-engine instrument rating. I rang Jim six weeks later and told him I had an instrument rating. All he said was, Thats great! Nothing else no mention of the job hed promised me. I asked him if I could come and work in the Great Barrier Airlines office for free. So began my aviation career. What followed was four years of hard work and exciting flying, in fact the best flying of my life.

Great Barrier Island is 54 nautical miles north-east of Auckland. It has very rugged terrain, beautiful beaches and is a place that seems untouched by time. There is no mains power, sewerage system or town water supply. The runway is a basic grass strip with no lights. It is surrounded not only by very high terrain but also by small mound-like hills of about 100 feet. Rumour has it that the airfield was named after a man who crashed into one of these mounds and was killed. At night, the hills and terrain are impossible to see as they all blend into the darkness.

One night, Jim rang me at about 9.30pm. Hi, Mike, have you been drinking? I said, No, not yet. Jim then explained that a little girl on the island had fallen off a mezzanine floor onto a concrete slab below and was bleeding from both ears. The islands doctor didnt think she would make it through the night unless she got to the hospital on the mainland. The Westpac helicopter had already tried to make the run out to Great Barrier but had turned around because of a raging storm out in the Hauraki Gulf.

I arrived at the airport and went outside to pre-flight the Britten Norman Islander. As I was doing my pre-flight I saw the Westpac chopper land. I went over and asked the pilot about the weather out in the gulf. He said, We were on the deck most of the way before we turned around. There is no way in hell you will ever get out there in an Islander. He wasnt very friendly and his manner pissed me off a bit, and I went back to preparing the aircraft. Another pilot, Gary, arrived and he would be my co-pilot.