Another good catch at Rangiora on 07-08-2025 was the Beck Helicopters Ltd Bell 206B JetRanger ZK-HOC3 c/n 1227.
NZ Civil Aircraft
A blog on New Zealand Civil Aircraft.
Friday, 8 August 2025
Power Line Survey with JetRanger ZK-HOC
Aerospool WT9 600NG Dynamic ZK-ALL/2
A pleasant surprise yesterday at Rangiora was the fixed gear Aerospool WT9 600NG Dynamic ZK-ALL2 c/n DY-860D which was registered to Aero Leasing Ltd of Prebbleton back on 04-11-2024.
Thursday, 7 August 2025
MD Helicopters 369FF ZK-HPX 5
Wednesday, 6 August 2025
Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Early Unregistered Microlights - Murray Hagen
I have posted previously about the microlight aircraft situation in New Zealand between the years 1978 and 1981, after which the Microlight Aircraft Association of New Zealand (MAANZ) was formed and microlights had to be registered (well in theory). I asked for any information on these early years of microlighting here but I was not inundated with information....
To recap what I posted previously - "We can infer that there must have been some microlights (flying in New Zealand) because the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport introduced a rule that if a flying machine was less than 150 Kg empty a would-be microlight pilot needed only to apply for a Students Pilot License (a paper form only with no practical testing) and then go flying with no rules about instruction and also not even having to register his flying machine!"
Many of the pilots of those days have passed on (some sadly in microlight crashes) so our opportunity to gather stories from those early days is diminishing. But all hope is not lost! There are stories still out there and I have managed to track a few of them down which I will post on the blog.
The first of these involves long time microlight pilot Murray Hagen, now of Te Anau but who has farmed in Southland over many years. I have spoken to Murray many times and he is a mine of information about the early microlighting days with lots of interesting stories. Like most of the original microlight flyers Murray came from a hang gliding background and he told me he started hang gliding in 1972. He visited America in 1978 looking at ultralight aircraft over there and got enthused. He was interested in the weight shift Fledgeling ultralight which was developed from the Manta Fledge hang glider by Jack McCornack and which was later developed into the Pterodactyl Ascender of which we have had many in New Zealand
Murray imported his Pterodactyl Fledgeling kit in 1979 and it arrived fitted with a 38 HP Cuyuna engine (the original in the US had a 16 HP Xenoah engine), and with a How to Fly handbook! When he first tried to fly it in September 1979 he struggled with the yaw and roll which were poor, and the aircraft was tail heavy with the heavier engine and he ended up bending several axles. Later he added a factory canard which turned the aircraft into an Ascender model which only needed a small amount of weight shift as the canard controlled the pitch. Eventually Murray found that if he put his feet down he could fly the Fledgeling reasonably confidently but he still had a problem with the carburettor. This was solved by a mechanic in Invercargill and then he gradually built up experience.
Soon after this, in January 1980, the organiser of an airshow to be held at Te Anau saw Murray flying his Pterodactyl and convinced him to fly in the airshow. To publicise the event Murray flew his aircraft down the main street of Te Anau on the Friday at a few hundred feet, waving to the crowds that came out to watch and causing a traffic jam. Then disaster! The engine stopped! Murray had to make a very quick decision and he stall turned to the left where there was a small park which he managed to dead-stick into and before the crowds arrived he hid in some bushes! Later he emerged and found that in his enthusiastic waving he had knocked the master switch off! So with the engine going again he took off from the park, only just making it over some tall trees, and took part in the airshow the next day.
Tuesday, 5 August 2025
JMB Aircraft VL-3TE-916 LSA ZK-JMB /3
Monday, 4 August 2025
King Air VH-DXE upgraded at Napier to ZK-RFB.
Vans RV 4 ZK-RVH at Hastings on 3-8-2025
The Hawkes Bay and East Coast Aero Club held a Dawn Raid at Hastings yesterday and Jordan Elvy and Simon Hills made the effort to be there. Jordan reported that not many aircraft attended (I know the Wairarapa was clouded in so no planes could come from there). However one sport aircraft of interest was pushed out to the flight line:
Vans RV 4 ZK-RVH has been repainted in a new colour scheme. It has been owned by the GMH Syndicate of Napier since 13-5-22.Sunday, 3 August 2025
Hamilton Airport West Side
The Western side of Hamilton Airport seemed a bit down at heel when I visited there on Friday 1 August. There were 737s from Airwork Flight Operations Ltd (in receivership) and some aircraft from Farmers Air Ltd (in liquidation) and an Air Tractor 601 without a propeller.
Saturday, 2 August 2025
750XL ZK-UTE/4 at Hamilton Yesterday 1-8-2025
A trip down to Hamilton yesterday to visit No 2 grandson and fiance. They live conveniently close to Hamilton Airport so I popped down for a quick visit in the afternoon. Not much was going on but a 750XL parked out proved to be newly registered:
PAC 750XL ZK-UTE4 (c/n 118), ex Kiwi Air, was re-registered from ZK-XLK in June 2025 and is registered to Andy Stevenson Aviation Ltd of Gisborne and I understand will be used as the company "ute".Wednesday, 30 July 2025
Random Rotorcraft - McCulloch J-2 ZK-RCK
I have never seen this gyrocopter but it has been registered here since December 1999. I was talking to my mate about early microlights and he sent me some photos, with this one also. It was taken at Tauranga in the early 2000s.