DC 3 N8336C Spirit of Douglas Flies South on 17-3-2026

The 1942 Douglas DC 3A N8336C Spirit of Douglas is currently in New Zealand as part of a world tour to commemorate the 1924 world tour of three Douglas World Cruisers and the 90th anniversary of the DC 3.  The original Douglas World Cruisers did not come to New Zealand but the Spirit of Douglas is owned by a Christchurch based New Zealand businessman so I guess that is why it is here.  I heard it fly over Warkworth on Saturday afternoon (14 March) but it was above the clouds.  And today Tuesday 17 March it is flying from Auckland to Christchurch.

Simon Hills took these photos of N8336C overflying Koputaroa earlier on today.

In this photo you can see that it has Spirit of Douglas above the windows.

Thanks for the photos Simon.

Eurocopter AS 350 B2 ZK-ILA.

 October 2007 is the first reference I can find for this Eurocopter AS 350 B2 with the c/n of 4369 when it appeared in the Wells Fargo Bank Northwest NZ Trustee books as N556AM.

It was transferred to Regions Equipment Finance Corporation out of Birmingham, Alabama from April of 2008.

From April 2013 it was finally listed to its operator Air Methods Corporation as used in the EMS role.

After being replaced in the EMS role it was imported into New Zealand and became ZK-ILA from 28-10-2022 with Shaws Wire Ropes Ltd of Cambridge.

Action Helicopters of Queenstown listed it briefly in May of 2024, passing it on to Windhawk Helicopters of Blenheim that October.

It was listed under a "Private Owner" from November of last year and is seen below today at Nelson carrying Helicopter Nelson titles.

Bell 407 VH-8Y8 at Nelson 16th March 2026.

Noted at Nelson today was this Bell 407 GPX VH-8Y8 c/n 54684.

The first I heard of it being in NZ was on 21-02-2026 when it committed aviation out of Dairy Flat.

We have two photos of it, taken today, refueling at Nelson from Lord Nelson.

First noted listed to Bell Helicopter Textron at Fort Worth, Texas as N261DJ from 02-03-2016 until February of 2018 when it moved to Nigeria and became 5N-FIZ with Caverton Helicopters.

They advertised it for sale about late 2022 with some 2160 airframe hours.

I next noted it as VH-8Y8 with MKR Choppers Pty Ltd of Bombira in NSW Australia in early July of 2024.

It underwent a major refurbishment in 2024 thanks to OzChoppers and came out better than factory new.

See Refurb photos HERE

A Couple of New NZAA Tecnams at Wanganui 15-3-2026

Jordan Elvy and Simon Hills visited Wanganui yesterday where the New Zealand Airline Academy is ramping up their operations with seven aircraft based on the airport (two 2 P Mentors and five P2008JCs).  Jordan has sent photos of two of the new ones that haven't been on the blog previously:

Tecnam P Mentor ZK-NYD (c/n 1136) was registered to NZAA on 9/9/25 and is ex VH-8LZ.

Tecnam P2008JC ZK-NYR (c/n 1407) was registered to NZAA on 15/1/26.

Thanks for the photos Jordan.

ATR F-OZIP into Christchurch 15th March 2026

 The Air Caledonie ATR 72-212A (600) F-OZIP c/n 1355 arrived into Christchurch today for maintenance with ANZ.

             This was test flown in France on 26-10-2016 as F-WWEP and delivered to Air Caledonie on 03-12-2016.

One Design ZK-WAM/3 at the NZ Aerobatic Champs

The New Zealand Aerobatic Club is currently holding the NZ Aerobatic Championship at Masterton.  One of the competitors is Chris Schadler in his recently registered Rihn DR-107 One Design ZK-WAM3:

ZK-WAM3 (c/n 94-115) was registered to Chris Schadler of Whakatane on 29/5/25.  Since it first flew it has had its colour scheme finished.

Thanks to paddyb for the photo.

Question Time - Tip Jet helicopter?

Recently I scanned this photo from Jim Barnett's photo collection.  Jim thought it was taken at Opotiki in the mid 1980s:

The unregistered helicopter has Rotorjet Mk 1 on the tail.  It looks like it is a tip-jet helicopter and appears to be well made.  Jim thinks it was started up but did not fly.  Can anyone shed any light on this interesting machine?

This might be a Question Time for which there is no answer!

Tecnam P92 Eaglet ZK-NSL at Tokoroa 7-3-2026

 Mark Pattenden was at Tokoroa last Saturday where he photo'd the Tecnam P92 Eaglet ZK-NSL:

I thought it looked different and on checking I found that it is sporting new trim.  I guess this would have been added after it was rebuilt after crashing at Thames on 28/8/22.

Thanks for the photo Mark.

The 15th Tiger Moth at Kaipara Flats on 7-3-2026

This is how you move a Tiger Moth around  - like a wheelbarrow with the weight balanced over the wheels:

Bruce Lynch's and Arjen Visser's Tiger Moth ZK-ASM was the fifteenth Tiger Moth on the airfield for the Tiger Moth Club flyin.

Thanks for the photo David.

Beta Alia CX300 N401NZ and Beech B200C ZK-RFB at Napier

Last week the New Zealand Air Ambulance Service hosted the Beta Technologies Alia CX300 electric aircraft at its Napier base (after the end of its lease to Air New Zealand) and it was marked with their name and logo:

This photo shows the Beta Alia with the latest Skyline Aviation Beech B200C ZK-RFB outside the Hawkes Bay Air Ambulance Centre hangar at Napier.  It gives an good idea of the size of the Beta Alia.

The reason for the hosting the event was because the NZ Air Ambulance Service has placed a deposit for two electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for delivery in 2028.  This is the A250 version of the Beta Alia which has four vertical lifting electric motors as well as the pusher motor, and it has flown in the US as it the photo below.

Well, that is interesting!