The Aviator Experience

18/01/2025

And just like that we have #41
Welcome to the club Steve Carroll from Eureka Hamilton.

18/01/2025

I really miss flying the YAK52. This is my old mate Captain Lawrence and his VLOG of yours truly taking him up for his very first warbird flight. He has always been a funny guy.

Flight was from Tauranga, NZ up the Matakana Island coastline to Waihi, around the area and back again.

YAK52
9 Cylinders of awesome sound producing 360HP.
Consumes anywhere from 60-100 litres of AVGAS an hour depending on what you are doing. It also gets through about a litre of oil too.

You do know that when a YAK has stopped leaking oil, it's out of oil, it just never stops leaking lol.

My 10th Vlog... Onwards and Upwards! Today I went to the airfield and flew in a YAK 52 with my friend Craig. It was an awesome flight and the weather was bea...

18/01/2025

Look at those two awesome aircraft. Here we have Marty from the GMC Flightcrew (Gordonton Microlight Club) who has flown in to Thames to visit the Aviator for the 2nd time in the last 6 months (is it really that good Marty)?

Amazing how aircraft have developed and changed over the last 85 years.

Thanks for visiting Marty, great deadstick in the F18 too

And thanks to Anita for the Uber services :)

18/01/2025

A lovely little girl will be missing her monkey 🐵 but he’s having a great time learning to fly and checking out the spectacular scenery in Georgia while he waits for his mum to collect him!

If he’s yours give us a call and we might be able to arrange a flight home 😉

16/01/2025

There’s always sides in warfare, whose side are you on? Cat (Gilbert) or Bird (Echo)?
Two of our three black and white Aviator mascots 🙂. Piper (Dog) is most likely sleeping somewhere (or eating )

Throughout time it has always been this way: annoying female attacks serene docile handsome kind male :)

16/01/2025

This is Phil and his son who flew into Thames today to come visit The Aviator. The boss (Anita) picked them up and dropped them off after their sim session and lunch.

It’s a hard life for some but hard work does pay off -

15/01/2025

Who would love an Aviator Halo coffee sitting outside in the early morning or afternoon sun on homemade macrocarpa bench seats?

Open from 1000 hrs normally and 0900 hrs on Saturdays.

Also, we will be giving away some free cans of Coke, L&P and Fanta with every toasted sandwich being eaten on the deck this weekend 🙂

11/01/2025

It's the boss's 50th Birthday today, which means she should be happy today (being 50 though, could go either way lol). Please help me be in her good books aviator family and send her lots of nice comments.

Anita (the real boss) is the glue that holds us all together with marketing ideas, signage, dishes and front of house. She handles the difficult staff (me) really well.

I cannot believe how lucky she is to have such a handsome (and tall) husband like me that can remind her that she is half a century old now.

Happy Birthday dear wifey x
:)

09/01/2025

When we came to Thames just 15 months ago, it was because of the Thames Business Association, Thames Community Board, TCDC, Councillor Peter Revell and a lot of other individuals “sold” Thames as a location to re-setup our business after leaving Tauranga and Karangahake. I was a broken business owner after the last 4 years, lost my Father just a year before. We originally turned it down, unsure it was the right place. We just want to say it is the right place and thank you all, for the support, business and encouragement. We always said we wanted to be an asset to Thames, not just another business. We truely love it here, Grahamstown is an amazing place, Thames is a great town with great people.
An old friend once told me “people remember how you make them feel, not what you say”, and Thames has done exactly that.
Thank you.

08/01/2025

How much did this person pay for this chicken burger at Wellington Stadium (Phoenix Home Game)?

You would be surprised (write your answers below)

06/01/2025

Saw this on another foodie site and just love the colours, the flavours are surely amazing. Who would love something like this for breakfast at The Aviator?

04/01/2025

Help required please! We’ve just had some lovely customers have their car stolen an hour ago from outside 604 Queen Street, Thames, with all their tramping gear inside. If you spot it please let the Police know.
Last place known was Dominos, Morrinsville.
Photograph of the car attached - Skoda Octavia JEM723.

01/01/2025

It is predominantly a thankless job especially today and it’s not ok to assault a member of the services no matter what. Our hearts go out to the “establishment” for their loss. RIP Lyn Fleming

26/12/2024

And just like that, Christmas has been and gone. Our chef is enjoying a well earned break, but we are back open now with limited bar snacks of Calamari, Dumplings, Fries and Crumbed Prawns (all with side salads) plus the full hot and cold drinks list.

Oh and simulators are all back from annual leave too :)

Our Cafe Holiday Hours:

* Fri 27th 10 till 3
* Sat 28th 9 till 3
* Sun 29th 10 till 3
* Fri 3rd 10 till 3
* Sat 4th 9 till 3
* Sun 5th 10 till 3

Simulators can be booked outside those hours by arrangement so please call to book your flights.

23/12/2024

Merry Christmas to you all,

Thank you for being awesome people and supporting our little business in Thames.

As a small team, we are giving our key staff some time off so we will be on limited bar snacks, coffee, sims and drinks until the 3rd January (sorry, no big breakfasts etc.)

We will also be closed on the public holidays, so that we can be fully ready for the 2025 year where we have some exciting plans and expansion underway.

Our final thoughts for this year are for all the people that will be working, providing services during the holidays, this includes (but not limited to) Police, Fire, Rescue Choppers, Ambulance, Air New Zealand and Hospital staff. Many of these people willingly sacrifice their family time every year to keep us safe.

From all of us at The Aviator, we hope you all have a safe and joyous holidays. See you in the New Year.

21/12/2024

Serious question: anyone else love fresh cream on top of ice cream? Or just me?

Early Christmas pav with strawberries, French vanilla ice cream and of course pouring cream - yummo

19/12/2024

Congratulations to kiwi Liam Lawson who has just been selected to be the number 2 driver for Red Bull F1 and Max Verstappen. I'm sure there will be plenty of kiwis switching on to F1 now. Let's hope he can do well and back up Max and the team in the constructors championship. Well done Liam.

19/12/2024

You’ve got to love Thames car parking. If you can guess the age and gender of the person who parked here for 2 hours taking up 2 car parks, you will win an iced coffee (comment below).

15/12/2024

AREYOU PAYING TOOMUCH FOR COFFEE !

We all love a good cup of coffee (most of us anyway) and there’s nothing like great coffee first thing in the morning BUT…

It would appear that “shrinkage” has started to appear in the coffee world and $8+ for a large has reared up in different places.

So if you’re asking for a large BUT you’re getting a medium, maybe it’s time to consider a new coffee house?

Let us know below what you are paying for and getting?

14/12/2024

Whether it’s a Good George craft beer or one of our own Avgas Pilsners or JetA1 Largers, why not stop in at The Aviator this summer to refuel, rearm and refresh yourselves.

Caution: alcohol can make people more handsome and beautiful 😍 beyond normal limits.

14/12/2024

We had the pleasure to meet this awesome man this morning, (and his lovely wife) who popped into The Aviator for coffee.

Meet Phil Buckle of Southern Sons and John Farnham fame. Phil wrote "Burn for You" one of Farnham's best songs (and one of my favorites).

Thank you for stopping in Phil.

09/12/2024

Whether it's the venerable UH-1H Huey, the agile little OH-58 Kiowa or the highly capable (and technical) AH-64 Apache, our VR helo simulator has just received a few upgrades that makes it feel betterer (yes that is a real word here) than ever.

* Improved visuals via software updates
* Seat Updates with more realistic "feelings and effects"
* New mission content and locations

And all sessions include a flight instructor to help you get the most out of it.

25% sale is still on for 2 more days, so be quick for the ultimate Christmas present for your special person in your life (that can be yourself too :) )

07/12/2024

For all you fling wing addicts, this is a great picture to show how big the Russian Mi-26 Halo is.

* Rotor diameter is 32m
* Can carry a massive 20,000 KG of cargo
* 2 x 11,000 HP turboshaft engines
* 12,000 litre fuel capacity
* Cruise Speed of 138 knots

INSANE!

05/12/2024

25% off all vouchers this week only, to celebrate our 200th Google Review (now back at 5 stars). In store or online. Be quick, ends Monday.

So get them something they will remember, not just more socks and un**es 🙂

As a bonus, all vouchers have no expiry 🙂

03/12/2024

👏Thank you to our amazing customers for helping us achieve this milestone, we're so grateful to YOU! To celebrate, we're grounding our prices with a FLASH SALE - one week only! 🥳

~ 25% OFF FLIGHTS ~

⏰Sale Ends Tuesday 10th December. Don't miss out!

* Excludes Gift Cards