OE to the land of the rising sun.

Having just been issued with its export C of A is the Schempp-Hirth Discus-2T ZK-GOE2 , c/n 23/159 . It is off to Japan for the pilot who has been coming to Omarama to fly it for the last couple of years. This is possibly Shojiro Hotta whom I have as a previous short term owner.
The Discus 2T is in the 15m class and has a two cylinder Solo sustainer engine (ie, not sufficient grunt for self launching).
It was initially registered in Australia as VH-SHD (hence the SHD letters on the tail) and was with the Waikerie Soaring Centre P/L in South Australia from 17-12-2002.
In NZ it became ZK-GOE2 for Glide Omarama from 19-12-2005.

NZ registration cancelled 31-08-2009. Ready to GOE.

ZK-VVV has come to grief!

Hot off the wire, Heydecke V16 (I16 replica) ZK-VVV has crashed near Ponga Road, South Auckland, around 1730 today while attempting a spin. Thankfully the aircraft was fitted with a style of ballistic parachute and this has cushioned the ensuing crash with the pilot/owner thankfully ok to tell the tale.....

A beautiful piece of kit. Caravan ZK-PMT

Cessna 208 Caravan ZK-PMT , c/n 20800183 , joined the NZ civil register on 28-07-2009 for Skydive Tandem Ltd who operate out of the Pudding Hill strip at the base of Mount Hutt.
A 1990 model which now has all of about 1900 flying hours. It achieved its US airworthiness certificate on 22-03-1990 and was with Carols Planes Inc at Naples, Florida from 05-07-2006 as N165TC. It was fitted out as a seven passenger aircraft. It ferried from Florida across the US to Hollister Municipal then via Hilo, Christmas Island and Apia, reaching Auckland on 01-07-2009. It then hopped over to Ardmore for its NZ certification and moved south in about the first week of August.

These three photos were taken at Avtek at Timaru on Monday the 24th.

The office seems to be well equiped [& still retains its US registration plaque].
All the rear seats have been removed and replaced by squabs along the fuselage side.

The cargo pod has been removed and is seen here alongside a Cessna 185 to give some idea of its size.

A lovely piece of machinery and I imagine a great improvement on the Walter Fletcher.

Fighter set to fetch over $4m

From the NZPA.
A former WW11 fighter in which ANZ technicians, trainees and volunteers invested thousands of hours of work is expected to be sold for up to A$4 million (NZ$4.94m) at auction in Australia.
The 1940 Hawker Hurricane Mk11A fighter - Battle of Britain veteran and one of only 11 (?) still in flying condition - will be offered at a military and aviation collectables auction in Melbourne on September 27. --------- Chief executive of the Wallis family's Alpine Deer Group - which owns the Alpine Fighter Collection - Graeme Ramshaw, said the Hurricane was going to auction as part of a sell up of the fighter collection.

Pic of ZK-TPK taken at Wanaka on 14-04-2006.

EP.9 ZK-PWZ

I have been asked off blog if this Edgar Percival Prospector EP.9 or Lancashire Prospector [call it what you will] has its ZK-PWZ registration marks on the upper wing surfaces.
Photographic evidence would be very nice.

I must admit that I have never looked.

As you all know, this is c/n 42, powered by a GO-480-G1A6 Lycoming of 295hp to a three bladed prop.
Its was registered as G-APWZ to Lancashire Aircraft Co on 05-11-1959, first flew on 23-02-1960 and gained its UK C of A on 22-04-1960.
It was on display at the 1960 Hanover Air Show.
After a varied career it arrived by container, in a damaged state, at Napier in June of 2002.
It became ZK-PWZ on 17-10-2003 with Kairanga Aviation.

Question again : does this aircraft carry its ZK-PWZ markings on top of its wings ?

Question time # 66. With additional photo.

Addition pic (above) added Monday 31th August. (Same aircraft).

NOW then !
What aircraft TYPE are we looking at ?

De Havilland DH83C Fox Moth ZK-APT.

Some eleven ZK registrations have been allocated to the De Havilland DH82 Fox Moth.
Four of these were Canadian built - their c/n's being in the FM** range.
The most obvious external differences between the UK built and the Canadian built aircraft being the sliding canopy and a tail wheel on the Canadian produced DH83C versions.
ZK-APT , c/n FM48 , first flew here on 12-11-1947 and was officially registered to the Marlborough Aero Club on the 19th and gained its C of A on the 24th. The Club used it for freight and charter work. It was not long before it was damaged at Bluff Station on 07-03-1948 when it was blown over a cliff. The damaged aircraft was rafted down the Clarence River and freighted to Wellington. It was Jannuary 1949 before it was again airworthy. It was damaged again on 29-03-1951 at Waiau, rebuilt at Christchurch to fly again on 26-07-1951.
In November 1956 ownership passed to Henry Buchanan who traded as West Coast Flying Service and then to Coast Aviation Ltd and a Phoenix Airways followed by Tom Furse of Sounds Scenic Flights Ltd.
It had a mishap at Arawhata on 10-11-1958 when it struck a stump. It was ultimately grounded by CAA in 1962 with the remains going to Stan Smith some time later.
In the mid 1970's a group in the Auckland area built five new fuselages; one of these went to Stan Smith for the ZK-APT rebuild with the original fuselage ending up at MoTaT where it remains today on display.
Now after many years of storage and more recent years of restoration it flew again fron North Shore on 23-06-2009.
The upper shot shows it minus cowls, exposing its Gipsy Major engine (I assume its a 1C model) and its metal prop.
Lower shot shows a portion of the three seat interior. A single seat directly behind the engine facing rearward and a side by side seat ahead of the cockpit facing forward.
These two photo's have been kindly provided by Sir Minty and where captured today at North Shore airfield.

750XL's at Oshkosh

Thanks to Gordon Reid, here is a picture of 750XL ZK-JZL at Oshkosh this year. This aircraft departure NZ in late June and was joined by N141DZ, ex ZK-KAJ.

Question time #65 resolved.

Wayne has answered all the question correctly [typo excused]. It is as Wayne says.

If Wayne would care to send me his snail mail addres to bluebus@windowslive.com I will go fishing tomorrow.

Question time # 65 revisited.

Not even a wild guess so far !!!

Come Sunday night it looks like 'I' will be scoffulating the cyber chockie fish then.

And the question again :-

This ex military flying machine has had two NZ civil aircraft registrations. What were/are they ?

& while you are at it - you may as well tell me which military serial/s it carried or could have carried.

Which way the Wind?

The Seawind is a Canadian-sourced kitset amphibian.
Two of these have appeared on the civil register.
ZK-SWK, a Seawind 3000 c/n 148 operated by Seaworks Ltd. of Wellington has been active since December 2000.

At Tauranga 27Feb2008


ZK-SWT was registered as a Seawind 2500 c/n AACA/1093 to John H Borman, Tauriko, Tauranga, 14Aug1999. It was fairly active for the next few years, but suffered a fatal crash on an attempted take-off from Lake Taupo 16Jan05. Reportedly, the remains have been taken to Australia for a rebuild.
Now the query - although registered as a Seawind 2500, the signeage actually painted on the aircraft clearly says Seawind 3000. Anyone know why?

At Matamata 2000

Another Teenie Two in New Zealand? - Not This One!

While I was researching for my previous post, I posted that the identity of this aircraft ZU-ADY that I photographed at the 2002 SAANZ flyin at Matamata as a Teenie Two. I have since found out that this is not a Teenie Two (thanks to ZK-CKE for this info - see comments attached to this post), but is an original design in wood that was also imported into New Zealand from South Africa and is now stored in Hamilton.

In my previous post I mistakenly thought that this ZU aircraft was the ZU registered Teenie Two that is now owned by Mike Wilkins and stored at Matamata. In fact they are 2 different aircraft, both imported from South Africa.

Mike's Teenie Two was built by Johan Brink in South Africa where I understand it completed one test flight. Johan brought the aircraft to New Zealand. Mike also owns RV 3 ZK-PMH and Corby Starlet ZK-ONE, and says he has a registration reserved for the Teenie Two.

Can anyone supply any further details about either of these aircraft?

Teenie Little Metal Aeroplanes

XX
Following my previous posts on BD 5's, I started doing some research on other very small metal aircraft in New Zealand. Most have been only rarely seen so I thought it might be of interest to readers to post some of them. The ones I will post all derive from the Cal Parker Teenie Two of the 1970's. The Teenie Two was further developed by Gary Watson who called his version a Wind Wagon, and then Morry Hummel further developed the design into the Hummelbird.

I think that the first Teenie Two in New Zealand was ZK-TTO which was built by D McGill at Blenhiem in the mid 1980's. However it was never officially registered and I think it never flew because it was too heavy. However it was completed as shown in the above photo that I took at Blenhiem in 1987. D McGill later owned Quicksilver ZK-JMD which he re-registered as ZK-TTO.

The next Teenie Two in New Zealand is the most recent of this bunch, ZK-DUO built by Julian Thornton of Hamilton which was first registered on 25/1/07 and flies very well. It was sold to R G Muir of Christchurch on 11/6/09. Julian Thornton has built 2 other aircraft - his first being Zenith CH 701 ZK-JRT, his second being ZK-DUO, and his most recent being the Just Aircraft Escapade ZK-SKP. Julian has a homepage https://sites.google.com/site/escapadenz/Home which has links to really neat YouTube videos of all of his aircraft flying (with good soundtracks too!). Thanks to Julian Thornton for this photo.

Next is the Johnston Sky Bird ZK-JFT, built by Cliff Johnston of Hastings, which was first registered on 10/95. I think this is Cliff's version of a Hummelbird. Note the half VW engine. I understand that this aircraft also never flew as it was destroyed in a testing accident. It was cancelled on 10/98. Cliff also has been a prolific aircraft builder, having built Piel Emeraude ZK-CBH, TEAM Minimax ZK-JRC, and having rebuilt a Piper Commanche. He is currently building an Alpi Pioneer 300 in Hastings. Thanks to Cliff Johnston for this photo.

Next followed this Hummelbid ZK-WEE which was built by Perry Husband of Bulls and which was first registered on 6/4/00. It was sold to John Cranstoun of Kirwee on 4/5/04 but was cancelled as WFU on 28/5/05. It also had a half VW engine. Does anyone know why it was cancelled? Thanks to Russel Millar for this photo, which was taken at Stratford.

And finally in this group is this Hummel Windwagon ZK-JHN which was built by Errol McNeil of Coromandel and was first registered on 11/01. This is currently hangared at Matamata but has not flown to date although high speed taxi runs have been carried out. This aircraft also has a half VW engine. You can really appreciate how small these aircraft are in comparason with Errol. Thanks to Errol McNeil for this photo.

And finally for now Michael Wilkins'Teenie Two ZK-MSW is resident in his hangar at Matamata.  It is not yet registered.  Mike's Teenie Two was built by Johan Brink in South Africa where I understand it completed one test flight. Johan brought the aircraft to New Zealand.

Does any reader out there have any other information on any of these small metal aircraft in New Zealand?

Cancelled. Libelle ZK-GIC.

Glasflugel H201B Standard Libelle ZK-GIC , c/n 464 , was cancelled as destroyed on 03-08-2009 following an incident at Five Rivers on 08-11-2008 when it landed short and cartwheeled.
This would have been one of Bruce Drakes early aircraft, being listed to him on 07-12-1973. Its first flight was on 10-01-1974 with a change of ownership to D F Westenra of Dunsandel on 12-06-74.
It movd north to Frank Gatland and C M Adam of Manurewa on 15-12-75; to R A Gatland on 07-11-80 and finally to the Southland Gliding Club at Five Rivers on 12-01-1984.

Question time # 65

This ex military flying machine has used two NZ civil aircraft registrations.
What were/are they ?
While you are at it, you may as well tell me what military serial/s it carried or could have carried !

Exported. Piper PA-31 Navajo C. ZK-FIL

Navajo C , c/n 31-7712012 F-OCHS was based in Papeete from about February of 1977 until cancelled and listed on the US register as N8051Q with Krueger Aviation of Santa Monica in February of 1995.
This aircraft arrived in Auckland via Pago Pago on 02-05-95 and it went to Aeromotive Corporation at Hamilton, with whom it became ZK-JFF on 29-05-1995.
It went to Sunair Aviation Ltd at Tauranga and was listed with them on 28-03-96. On the same day it was re-registered as ZK-FIL2.
It had a woopsie at Hawera on 09-02-2008 with a wheels up landing.
Following repairs it went to Air2there Com (2008) Ltd of Paraparaumu on 29-05-08.
Almost a year later - on 12-05-2009 - it ferried out of Auckland through Kerikeri to Norfolk Island. The following day it moved on to Lord Howe Island and into Toowoomba.
Its NZ registration was cancelled on 12-08-2009.
It should appear on the VH register any day now.

Recent cancellation GA-7 Cougar ZK-PAP

Another recent cancellation , on 14-08-2009, was that of the Gulfstream American GA-7 Cougar ZK-PAP , c/n GA7-0084 .

This aircraft arrived in NZ on 04-04-1979 as N9526Z and became ZK-SSS on 08-06-1979 with NZ Aerospace Industries Ltd of Hamilton.

Pic below at Hamilton on03-09-1979.

It was delivered to the Waikato Aero Club and listed with them from 08-06-1979. Air Hamilton Flying Properties feature from 19-08-81 and then C R & B E Bowden from 23-11-83.

As seen at New Plymouth on 12-02-1985.

By 10-07-89 it was with the Napier Aero Club, remaining there until 15-06-94 when Airline Flying Club appear in the paperwork. By April 1995 it was at the N.Z Aviation College (Ardmore) Ltd and then to the Auckland Aero Club on 18-09-95.

It returned to C R Bowden in September 1996 before moving to the Tauranga Aero Club on 23-12-96. On this same day it was re-registered as ZK-TAD.
It remained as ZK-TAD at Tauranga until sold to Paul & Philippa Hally of Christchurch on 01-06-2006.

Paul & Philippa re-registered it using their initial to make it ZK-PAP on 13-07-06. At the end of August 2006 it officially joined the Christchurch Flying School (2005) Ltd at Wigram. A name change to New Zealand Flying School Ltd took place on 21-07-2008.In December of 2008 it was flown to Timaru, where the NZFS were having their maintenance carried out at Avtek, and during the course of an inspection corrosion was discovered.

I believe it never flew again. [There was talk of a ferry flight up north but ?].

Recent cancellation. Islander ZK-WNZ.

Above pic at Wellington in the old CAA hangar shows VH-ISE on 31-01-1973.

A few days later (05-02-73) it was at the Wellington aero Club as ZK-DKN.

[The registration is clearly visible on the original print].

As seen under rebuild at Invercargill on 15-04-1993 as N8021M.

Britten-Norman BN2A-27 Islander ZK-WNZ , c/n 278 , was cancelled on 13-08-2009.

This Islander has an extensive list of previous owners. It began with Britten-Norman in May of 1971 with the G51-278 factory registration before becoming G-AYYA and first flew on 06-05-1971. It ferried out to Australia and became VH-ISE on 01-06-1972 with Islander Aircraft Sales before being listed to Newhouse & Cochrane at Bankstown. It then jumped the ditch and became ZK-DKN with Capital Air Service at Wellington in early 1973. It did not stay very long as it was cancelled on 16-08-1973 and returned to Islander Aircraft again as VH-ISE on the 24-08-1983. It then moved up to Lae in PNG until moving back down to Queensland and then out to Tonga for a very short period in mid 1979. It was then listed on the US register as N8021M serving in Tonga and American Samoa. It was damaged in a cyclone at Samoa in 1993 and it was moved to Invercargill for rebuild by Southern Air. It first flew with its 260hp engines on 13-10-95 and was registered as ZK-WNZ with Southern Air on the 24th and a few days later (27th) it was listed to New Zealand Air Services of Whangaparoa. It officially joined Great Barrier Airlines on 31-10-1997. A move back south had it with Wings Over Whales of Kaikoura from 08-11-2000. It then migrated to Omaka for a while before going to Tauranga with Paul Ensor. It made headlines on 28-12-2006 following a visit to the mudflats near Tauranga. It was relisted to Great Barrier Airlines Flight Operations Ltd on 20-11-2007.

It was withdrawn in January 2008 (I believe) and I noted it resting in a paddock next to the North Shore airfield 09-03-08 (photo above).

Aotearoa

'Aotearoa' was the name of TEAL's first ever aircraft, Short S.30 Empire ZK-AMA, and has appeared on at least another four of their subsequent fleet.

The name was writ large on the Empire:


and rather smaller on the Solent 4 ZK-AML, which became 'Aotearoa II'


When the landplanes arrived, DC-6 ZK-BGA became 'Aotearoa III' in 1954


By the time 'Aotearoa' appeared on L-188C Electra ZK-TEA in 1959, the numbering sequence seems to have been dropped and just the name appeared.


Boeing 767 ZK-NBA apparently carried the 'Aotearoa' name at some time during the 1985 - 1997 era, before the aircraft was leased overseas


To round out the list, does anyone have any knowledge of any other aircraft that carried the 'Aotearoa' name?

Thorp T-18 ZK-EDF & Maurice Paton Special ZK-MPS

The previous posting mentions the Thorp T-18 Tiger ZK-EDF. Greg McNicol broke the North Cape to Bluff record in this aircraft before selling it in January 1989 to J M Jones of Manaia, who in turn sold it to Maurice Paton of Fernside (near Rangiora) on 06-07-1996.
Maurice had his own airstrip and a workshop above his garage in which he designed and built the Maurice Paton (Special) Monoswift. The Thorp was used as a basis for this design. It is a single seat with the forward fuselage and air intake designed to be like the early NA 51 Mustang. As you can see it has retractable undercarriage. The engine is a 4 litre Rover V8 extracted from a Discovery. It was registered as ZK-MPS on 24-09-2003. Maurice sold the Thorp to Garrick Andrews of Wellington on 14-04-2004; It then went to Mark Gawith at Taupo on 26-01-2006 and it is now with Kevin Foster of Whenuapai from 09-03-2007.
ZK-MPS is now hangared at Rangiora.

Greg McNicol 9/12/41 - 22/3/09

I noted with sadness in the Winter 2009 edition of Sport Flying magazine that Greg McNicol had died, and I thought I would post the aircraft that Greg built in memory of him.

I didn't know Greg very well personally, but he was a stalwart of the early Amatuer Aircraft Constructors Association (AACA) that was the forerunner of today's Sport Aircraft Association of New Zealand (SAANZ). Greg was one of the earliest members of the AACA with a membership number of 43 and he was the secretary of the Association for many years, when Merv Meredith was the president, and the Hawkes Bay Chapter of the AACA was very active.

Greg built 3 aeroplanes and had also nearly completed a fourth, being an improved Protech, which I understand will be registered ZK-WMW. All of his aeroplanes were AACA Grand Champion award winners, which is a great achievement.

Greg's first aeroplane was the Taylor Monoplane ZK-CWG (c/n AACA 43/1), that first flew in February 1971. It is photographed here at an AACA flyin with Greg and Merv Meredith standing behind it, and with Merv's Minicab in the background. It was painted a very snazzy scheme of orange, black and white. In this photo it has an extended nose cowling after Greg fitted a Revmaster engine.

Greg's next aeroplane was the Thorp T 18 ZK-EDF (c/n AACA 43/2), which was the first of its kind in New Zealand, and first flew in November 1976. I remember that it was the fastest homebuilt aircraft in New Zealand at the time. Thanks to Blue Bus for this photo.

And finally, Greg built this Protech PT2 ZK-PTT (c/n AACA 43/3), which first flew in July 1991. I remember that the Protech PT2 was reckoned to be a great Cessna 180 replacement type by the guys in Hawkes Bay, and 3 of them were built and flown there (ZK-PTS, ZK-PTT and ZK-PTU).

I guess there will soon be another one and ZK-WMW will always have Greg McNicol as the central part of its registration.

Question Time # 64 resolved

Oh !
Did I forget to mention that in the QT # 64 pic we had the aircraft in a vertical climb ?

Anonymous had scored (again) with his/her response.

It is indeed the horizontal stabiliser of a Piper PA-28 Cherokee. [ZK-CUH in fact]. [The larger pic is ZK-EBX].

A different view of Rangiora