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From the hangar.

Stories, insights and updates from the Flyinn team.

Stories

From past tours

Mountain Flying at its Best — The Southern Alps of New ZealandGuest Stories

Mountain Flying at its Best — The Southern Alps of New Zealand

Bonanza owner Howard Johnson finally takes the self-fly New Zealand trip he'd read about for years — and finds the reality goes far beyond the photos.

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Matt and Jo on Flyinn Vacation — North BoundFlycation

Matt and Jo on Flyinn Vacation — North Bound

Crossing Cook Strait, learning Te Reo radio calls and making an Air New Zealand jet wait: Jo's flycation continues north to Kerikeri.

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Matt & Jo on Flyinn Vacation — D'Urville IslandFlycation

Matt & Jo on Flyinn Vacation — D'Urville Island

A perfect-weather landing on one of New Zealand's trickiest island airstrips — the kind of place you only get to with a guide beside you.

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Matt and Jo on Flyinn Vacation — Gone WestFlycation

Matt and Jo on Flyinn Vacation — Gone West

Snow-cloaked mountains give way to the green West Coast, and Jo learns why guests come back from this leg wide-eyed and shaking their heads.

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Matt and Jo on Flyinn Vacation — Mountains and SnowFlycation

Matt and Jo on Flyinn Vacation — Mountains and Snow

Surrounded by a world of white at 6,500 feet, Jo hands over the controls — and learns exactly why every Flyinn guest flies with a mountain guide.

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Matt and Jo on Flyinn Vacation — We're Off!Flycation

Matt and Jo on Flyinn Vacation — We're Off!

Fresh BFR signed off, a stationary high over the whole country, and ZK-WAX pointed north: the flycation begins.

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Matt & Jo Take a Flyinn Vacation!Flycation

Matt & Jo Take a Flyinn Vacation!

After twenty years of hosting pilots from around the world, Matt and Jo realise they've never taken their own Flyinn vacation. Time to fix that.

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Covid 19! 20.21 Flyinn — Holding PatternNews

Covid 19! 20.21 Flyinn — Holding Pattern

With borders closed and no guests to welcome, a letter from a pre-Covid guest reminds us why we can't wait to reopen.

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The Pilot Guide CoincidenceGuest Stories

The Pilot Guide Coincidence

Will and Patrice fly with Flyinn on his parents' recommendation — and by pure coincidence get the same guide pilot his dad flew with in 2004.

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All the Experience in the World!Guest Stories

All the Experience in the World!

Hosting a couple with over 54,000 flying hours between them — and the farm tracks up Geordie Hill still offered more challenge than the landings.

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Engaged!Guest Stories

Engaged!

A Flyinn first: one young couple gets engaged on tour, celebrated with beers, games of Kub and a barbeque on the cottage lawn.

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19 Days, Single PilotGuest Stories

19 Days, Single Pilot

The ultimate Kiwi Flyinn experience — and this year one lady flew the whole 19-day tour on her own, with a Flyinn guide to share it with.

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ZK-WAX — The Farm Hack!News

ZK-WAX — The Farm Hack!

Strip flying is a highlight of every tour. One group got more than they bargained for, landing in a field just after the cows had been shifted.

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18.19 — The WrapNews

18.19 — The Wrap

“Flyinn isn't just a flying experience — it's a life experience.” Twenty new couples, four returning, one Lexus stuck in the mud, and a 60th birthday cake.

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One Family's 20 Year DreamGuest Stories

One Family's 20 Year Dream

A black-and-white postcard mailed to US pilots in 2000 sparks a dream that takes one family twenty years to realise.

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Flyinn Guests in WanakaNews

Flyinn Guests in Wanaka

Guests report back on the new Wanaka base: a beautiful location, excellent restaurants, golf, and great access to the airport.

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Fun with FriendsNews

Fun with Friends

Was there something in the water? This year we had more friend groups than ever before, and the fun was infectious.

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Flyinn Girls Team — Boys TeamNews

Flyinn Girls Team — Boys Team

Meet the whole crew: guide pilots Matt, Nick and Pete in the air, and the girls team keeping every home comfort covered on the ground.

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Returning Guests Enjoy Ultimate Jet Boat ExcursionGuest Stories

Returning Guests Enjoy Ultimate Jet Boat Excursion

Weather, a farmer's field and special logistics all line up for Tom and Laurel to experience a very special corner of New Zealand.

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FLYING Magazine: Flying in New Zealand Challenges an Airline PilotGuest Stories

FLYING Magazine: Flying in New Zealand Challenges an Airline Pilot

FLYING magazine's Les Abend writes a two-part feature on his Flyinn experience — what happens when an airline pilot meets NZ mountain flying.

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Guest Experience VideoNews

Guest Experience Video

Pre-flight's all done, weather is favourable — grab the controls and enjoy your flight aboard ZK-TRS.

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T'was the Summer of 16/17News

T'was the Summer of 16/17

A 19-day season opener, FlightFlix cameras, an earthquake relief mission, a 747 captain joins the team, and the perfect Kiwiburger.

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Making MagicNews

Making Magic

From the Merino New Zealand brand launch to 17 years behind the Flyinn brand — the story of a long partnership with Imagic of Christchurch.

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Floats, Boats and ConnectionsNews

Floats, Boats and Connections

Warbirds over Wanaka, a float plane on the lake, and an extraordinary collision of shared interests ending with a barbeque on Ruby Island.

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Tim TamsNews

Tim Tams

The one non-New Zealand thing at Flyinn — and the guest cottage snack bars prove they need frequent replacement.

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You Can Fly!Guest Stories

You Can Fly!

Tom and Laurel Lippert return for a Fly-Back-Inn tour — and their book “You Can Fly!” keeps inspiring Flyinn guests to chase their PPL.

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Flyinn — Girls Day OutFlycation

Flyinn — Girls Day Out

Jo, Lynne and Sue take trusty TRS on a back-country odyssey: a snow-farm landing at 5,000 feet, the Olivine Glacier and ice creams at Makarora.

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NZ AOPA Winter Fly-inNews

NZ AOPA Winter Fly-in

75 aircraft, -10°C frosts and two days of perfect still flying at Omarama — a glimpse of how it feels to be a Flyinn guest pilot.

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Lynne's a Flyinn PassengerGuest Stories

Lynne's a Flyinn Passenger

WIIFM — what's in it for the non-flying partner? Lynne counts ten Letterman-style reasons a Flyinn vacation is the best you'll ever take.

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We Love FlyinnGuest Stories

We Love Flyinn

A past guest learns the virtues of wearing merino — and thanks Matt for the t-shirt with a photo worth a thousand words.

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Flyinn's 15th SeasonNews

Flyinn's 15th Season

From an idea sketched at the kitchen table to a worldwide community of returning guests — fifteen years of Flyinn.

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June 2013: Airshows and SnowNews

June 2013: Airshows and Snow

Mid-winter at Geordie Hill: AeroExpo UK, the biggest snowfall in living memory, a heroic CAT D4 bulldozer, and Oshkosh forum dates.

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Majestic New ZealandGuest Stories

Majestic New Zealand

UK Pilot magazine's Mike Cronk: if there was ever a country that has to be seen from a light aircraft, it is New Zealand.

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Latest

Recent stories

Why the beach landing at Big Bay is every pilot's favourite logbook entryFlying

Why the beach landing at Big Bay is every pilot's favourite logbook entry

Tide tables, soft-field technique, and a beach that runs to the horizon. What actually happens on the day.

Full story coming soon

Reading New Zealand mountain weather: a guide's perspectiveMountain flying

Reading New Zealand mountain weather: a guide's perspective

Our maritime climate changes fast. Here's how Flyinn guides read the day and why itineraries flex around it.

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A day at Geordie Hill StationStation life

A day at Geordie Hill Station

Hot scones, working dogs and the high-country welcome that starts every Flyinn tour.

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