Company Location
Great Southern Scenery in New Zealand
AVIATION’S PERFECT LOCATION
Find out why people love to fly in Southland.
Southern Wings is located in Southland, the southernmost region of New Zealand. The main centre of Southland is Invercargill, an attractive, heritage-rich city with a population of around 51,000.
The Southland landscape is blessed with stunning scenery. In flying terms, this translates to a huge variety of terrain – everything from gently rolling pasture and hill country to rugged coastline, alpine lakes and snow-capped mountains. Two significant national parks are within easy range – Fiordland and Stewart Island.
Southland’s daylight hours are another blessing for aviators. In summer, daylight begins as early as 5am while the evening twilight extends as late as 10.30pm. Stewart Island’s Maori name is Rakiura, which means ‘Heavenly Glow’ – a reference to the fabulous sunsets you’ll see in Southland.
Southern New Zealand offers a variety of uncluttered airspace made up of both controlled and uncontrolled airspace and airfields, and both radar and procedural airspace. In Southern New Zealand you can experience it all.
OPERATIONS BASES
Southern Wings operates two flight training bases; the primary one located at Invercargill with a second base at the new Manapouri airfield on the edge of Fiordland National Park. Invercargill serves primarily as a theory delivery and fixed wing flight training base while Manapouri is primarily a helicopter flight training base. The most obvious advantage of the Manapouri base is in providing a point of departure for mountain flying and advanced flight training for both helicopter and fixed wing operations.
VARIABLE WEATHER CREATES ROBUST PILOTS
What’s special about Southland’s weather?
The spectacular Southland landscape is accompanied by a wide range of weather conditions – from beautiful clear sunny days in summer and winter, to cold, blustery conditions. It is this variability that strengthens the skills of our pilots and increases their confidence in demanding situations.
The deep southern latitude of Southland provides daylight hours that are unequalled anywhere else in New Zealand. In summer, it’s usual to have up to 16 hours of light.
DISCOVER THE CHARM OF THE SOUTHLAND LIFESTYLE
Southland is a great place to live.
Life on the ground in Southland is a mix of outdoor adventure and convivial, affordable good living. Southlanders are friendly and newcomers are quickly welcomed into local communities. Hunting, fishing and diving are popular pastimes, so it’s not uncommon to be invited to feasts of smoked trout, wild venison, crayfish and paua. You’ll notice that Southlanders tend to roll their rrrrs – a legacy of the Scottish settlers who established themselves here over 150 years ago.
Excellent restaurants can be found in the city of Invercargill, and in the small towns that dot the countryside. While quaint museums and hiking trails allow you to explore the fascinating history of the area.
For aviation students who need to support themselves while they train, Southland offers a multitude of employment possibilities. The region is home to a wide range of industries, including forestry, farming, manufacturing and tourism.
LOCAL ATTRACTIONS AND THINGS TO DO
When you’re not flying, there’s plenty to do in Southland.
From your base in Southland, the skifields and adventure activities of the Queenstown and Wanaka regions are within easy reach, while the breathtaking beauty of both the Fiordland and Stewart Island National Parks are just around the corner.
Southland is well known as a destination for world class fly-fishing, hunting, deep sea fishing and diving. Any one of these pursuits could put a gourmet meal on your plate – wild venison, brown trout, crayfish, paua or blue cod.
- Annual cultural highlights include the Bluff Oyster Festival (held every May) and the New Zealand Gold Guitar awards (May-June).
- Some of the more famous walking tracks in the area include the Milford, Hump Ridge, Routeburn and Hollyford.
- Stewart Island, now the Rakiura National Park, with 245 kilometres of walking trails, is also the place to view kiwis at night in their natural habitat.
- The Hokonui Moonshine Museum provides a fascinating insight to the moonshine era, when prohibition drove the whiskey makers into the hills.
- The wily brown trout of the Mataura River are famous for their size and quality. There are more than thirty other lakes, rivers and streams to choose from in the region.
- Game bird and big game hunting opportunities abound, access is easy and close at hunt, whether it is ducks in season or deer on Stewart Island or within national parks.
- You can experience the open-air exhilaration of flying in a Tiger Moth at the Mandeville airfield or just spend time looking at the vintage aircraft collection.
- Awarua wetlands, the largest area of protected wetland in southern New Zealand, provides a feeding ground for native and migratory birds.
- At Curio Bay, petrified fallen logs and stumps of a Jurassic forest can been seen at low tide.
- Nugget Point, with its lighthouse, seal colony and seabirds, provides splendid views of the coastline
