DUST OFF

During the last couple of weeks, helicopters with monsoon buckets have been used on the new Pegasus development just to the north of Christchurch to try and keep the dust down. This occurs mainly in the NE to Easterly winds days, of which we have had a lot.

Several different helicopters have been used but yesterday I spied BK117 ZK-HYZ and Hughes ZK-HSD going about their duty.

HUA

A fresh coat of paint for Garden of Eden's R22 ZK-HUA now looking more like big brother Hughes 369D ZK-HYY. Christchurch 28 Jan 08

ZK-MXT and ZK-RKT

Photographed departing from Ardmore today, 25Jan, was Doug Brooker's MXR Technologies MX2 ZK-MXT/2.



Colin Hunter photo



Neico Lancair ZK-RKT/2 (nee ZK-TAO) departed from Kerikeri for Norfolk Island 25Jan. The aircraft has been listed for sale with Southern Aircraft Sales for several months so is quite possibly on its delivery flight abroad.

Parked at Ardmore during 2007, Mike Condon photo

Ardmore 19Jan08

Gusty winds curtailed anything of substance at Ardmore today, however sitting outside its hanger was Zenith 601XL ZK-SWW, a recent addition to the register.

Stolp Starduster

Built in 1963 by Frank Thrush, one Stolp Starduster SA 100 c/n 14, N73R has been lurking in the hangars at Rangiora from at least May 2007.

Originally powered with a O-290 engine, however this engine was trashed during the 1994 fuel contamination in the US. It now runs an 0-320.

Andrew Philpotts has done considerable work on it for it owner Alan Ryde (ex Citabria ZK-CRT).

As you can see it is cunningly disguised as a Boeing F4B4.

It was cancelled from the FAA register on 03-01-08.
not sure yet what the new registration will be, but he is hoping to get a dispensation to keep it in this scheme and not to have ZK-??? splatterd along the fuslage.

Think this is he first SA 100 in country. There have been/are three SA 900's

Another Rebel in our midst

Pic 21-08-07.

Finally coming together at Rangiora, where it has been since at least last May, is the Murphy Rebel, ex Australia, for Nev Somerville.

It evidently was a project started in about 1995 by Alan Slade at Coolangatta. It got to the taxying stage, but I believe due to some accident he lost interest and it was sold to NZ.

Not sure who purchased it, but it was stored in the back of the Hogan hangar out the back of Amberley until Nev purchased it at a farm sale.

It has had the undercarriage strengthening mods done here at Rangiora and is now being reassembled. (again).

The engine is a PZL Franklin with a Canadian Colin Walker prop. First engine run in NZ was on 21-08-07.

It still carries the Australian registration of VH-KIW although these were never officially allocated to it.

I have yet to find a c/n for it - somebody must know- guess something will appear on its ZK-VAL allocation in the CAA web site soon.

Val is Nev's wife. Initial attempts to get ZK-NEV thwarted by a Wilga and ZK-JIM for Nev & Vals son is already reserved.

Pic 17-01-2008

No building permit.

No building permit, no resourse consent, no rates.

There must be some way that the authorities can get money out of it, surely !

Its classified as portable. It still has its wheels attached although they are sunken into the terra firma.

Surely there is a reg that states that it must be able to be packed up and moved in, say, ten minutes !

And what about a current WoF, and maximum width on the road ?

Interesting concept tho.

It is the humble abode of the LM-3U ZK-EHU at Timaru.

It comes to those who wait.

Yesterday 17-01-08 prooved too hot at 32c to remain in the office. So I popped out to Heli Maint and finally caught IFR out in the fresh NWly air.

And at Rangiora the Te Kuiti based 182P Skylane ZK-RLG/2 was tied down awaiting the southerly.

In Pat Scotter's hangar was the Yak 55 minus its US N5288N rego (although still plainly readable). No sign of ZK marks yet.

Harvard ZK-XSA was in on some sort of maintenance with people working all around it. And the unregistered Zlin Savage was still parked in the corner.

Opposite in another hangar was Nev Somerville's new machine plus a colourful biplane. (more on these later).

From The Manawatu

At last some real aircraft! Took a break from the housepainting today, and did a bit of investigating in the Manawatu. Dave Wareham sweated his guts out to push the machines into the blazing sun at Ashurst - AgHusky WAS was in the back of the hangar engineless. Nice group eh?

Over at Fielding, the Flight Training outfit was flat out training the Bangladeshies - a steady procession of Cessna's in and out again. No sign of C152 NFO this time, but OLV is finally painted and in service. That's GA200 RMU in the background, but today was the first day of work for the AirTractor RMW up at Hunterville - excellent timing!!! In the back of the maintenance hangar was PA-39 JVC (still), with corrosion control control continuing. So not yet flown here.

And finally at Palmerston North, another BK 117B-2 for Rick, JA9608 c/n 1006 to be ZK-HYX . I also noted that there seems to be less of AS 355 HYJ than last time - will it ever be completed and make its first flight?

Reims/Cessna 406 ZK-VAA

I note that ex Vincent Aviation Cessna 406 ZK-VAA has been sold to Kiwi Air of Gisborne and subsequently re-registered as ZK-XLC. I presume this aircraft will head abroad in time to come. As ZK-VAA, it arrived at Napier around 0630 on 07Jan.

Jetstream 41's exit NZ Skies

The last remaining Jetstream 41's on NZ soil, N153KM and N156KM, arrived at Auckland from Wellington 15Jan after long term storage outside at the Capital. N153KM, ex ZK-JSN, and N156KM, ex ZK-JSO, departed Auckland for Norfolk Island, Brisbane, Cairns and Darwin on the long haul delivery route via the Middle East to Northstar Aviation of Florida.

ZK-JSN had been in outside storage at Woodbourne since the demise of Origin Pacific and ferried to Wellington on 10Nov 2006.

ZK-JSM is in Tonga as A3-XRH whilst the other aircraft, ZK-JSE and ZK-JSK are in Angola.

Horridible sighting at airfield

Glider ID sorted

Back on 08-10-2007 a Schempp-Hirth Discus 2c, was "re-registered" as ZK-GRM to Sailplane Services of Drury. It was listed with a c/n of 1 and a previous identity of D6111 and also ex ZK-GSM.

Interestingly enough ZK-GSM was a Schempp-Hirth Discus a, with a c/n of 45. This was cancelled on 20-02-1992 and went to Australia to become VH-ZQI with Harry Medlicott. It was later relisted as VH-GLE/2 with Bruce Campbell of Giralang near Canberra and is still current.

So we have two different S-H models trying to be the same aircraft, both being airworthy at the same time.

D6111 is the prototype of the Discus 2c and had until just before importation been flying in Queensland.

It has been connected with that well known rugby personality Ritchie McCaw - hence the registration "RM".

CAA has caught up with this error and the ZK-GRM registration was cancelled with an effective date of 19-12-2007 as withdrawn, & with an action date of 09-01-2008.

On 10-01-2008 ZK-GRM was listed as an initial registration with the c/n of 1. and PI of D6111.

So technically :- if it was flying between 19-12-07 and 10-01-08, was it illegal ?

The attached pic was taken at Omarama on 30-12-2007 with it in an embarrasing position (is this because of a wheel up landing ?)

Yak 55

Unloaded from a container at Rangiora on 11/01/08 Yak 55 N5288N will be based at Wigram with ZK- marks once certified.

Dairy Flat/North Shore Pitstop 10Jan 2008

A visit north of the Harbour Bridge mid last week saw a fleeting visit by me to Dairy Flat/North Shore where the local aero club has erected a hanger of biblical proportions and what a blight on the landscape.

However, it is still easy enough to meander around checking out the local bits and bobs and unfortunately there was not a great deal on offer.

A yellow Piper Cub exited a hanger and promptly taxied for departure and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was ZK-BKH which I hadn't photographed since February 1989 back in Nelson - almost 20 years ago!

Secondly, just as I was about to drive away almost empty handed, Vans RV7A ZK-REX entered the circuit and landed. This aircraft has been on the register since July 2004 and it flew up from Omaka, where it was built, to Ardmore sometime in December, for certification work with a workmate of mine who runs a maintenance facility out there. I then noted the aircraft crossing Cook Strait for Omaka the day after I took this photo so its now back home in Omaka.

The penny drops.

I took some photos at Wigram back on 31-10-2007 of a couple of (what I thought were visiting) Cessnas parked near the control tower.

Now, just looking through the latest ownership changes, I see that they are both listed to the Christchurch Flying School (2005) Ltd.

Cessna A150L ZK-DNO, c/n A1500448, was recently briefly with Air Napier at Hastings and Wakelin Aviation before that. It still carried the Wakelin Aviation script. It carried the name DINO (for obvious reasoms) with them for a while.

The second "visitor" was Cessna 152 ZK-NPE, c/n 84064, down from the Bay of Island Aero Club, and off course with a registration of NPE has previous connections with the New Plymouth Aero Club.

The last Friendship

Another item found in the Timaru museum hangar during my Christmas runaround was the nose section of the last Fokker F27 built (1986).

This is VT-NED c/n 10692 as operated by NEPC Airlines.

It was broken up at Woodbourne after having sat there for some years following non payment of accounts for maintenance done by Safe Air.

I rather like the nosewheel - much less agricultural than the main undercarriage of the airframe of ZK-BXG at Ashburton.

There are a stack of photos of it in a more complete state on Google.

Gravity taking effect (2)

Des Lines of Swannanoa, and a few of his aviation friends, have held some science classes for the local school.

One of his demonstrations is to show that air has weight.

The device is pictured here.

The deflated balloon is initially ballanced horizontally by a small counter weight.

Air is then introduced into the balloon and behold - the balloon raises the counter weight.

All magic really.

This is just one of the simple devices that Des has used for these kids.

Gravity taking effect

A well timed (fluked) shot of the Glasfugel H206 Hornet ZK-GOL arriving at Omarama last week.

This really tidy, near classic machine was flying in Australia from 1975 as VH-GMT with the Edmund Schneider Pty Ltd at Gawler SA (themselves an Australian glider manufacturing Company) before arriving for the WRAC at Masterton and becoming GOL on 08-05-1987. On sold it was delivered to the North Otago Gliding Club during the Christmas/New year of 1990-1991. Omarama based it was often used by High Country Soaring.

The North Otago Gliding Club and the Wigram Aviation Sports Club combined and the glider was listed to the new Omarama Gliding Club on 27-08-2004. Since then it has been operated by Glider Rental with the current owners being listed as TRS Logistics Ltd of Dunedin.

Glider transportation

The recent FAI World GP Gliding Championships held at Omarama just prior to Christmas involved the importation of around a dozen gliders in two specially built frames for the European entrants.

The photo shows them ready for departure back to Europe in early January.

They are off course minus one glider that crashed during the contest. See earlier blog.

The English contingent appeared to prefer the older method of stuffing them into a container.

Tiger Moth ZK-TGR

Your wish - My command - Sir.

ZK-TGR in the Museum hangar at Timaru on 29-12-2007.

Airworthy.

No opologies for the clutter.

Actually - as is often the case, the background (or foreground) is more interesting than the centre piece.

Chippie behind against wall, small clone of TGR in behind the wing & do not ask which Mustang that is as I failed to even note it was there on the day.

The Museum can be opened by request on Sunday afternoons if the control tower is open. The tower is also part of the museum.

ZK-CKO

That well known aviation photographer Andy Heap provides the following pic of Cessna 185D Skywagon ZK-CKO on the strip at the Northern end of the Heaphy track on the last day of 2007.

This has been with Jim Larsen , under various trading names since 1973.

It began its working life with Wanganui Aero Work in 1965.