Air to air - away back when.

Allan Wooler has kindly provided me with this air to air shot that he took during the early 1980's in the Wairarapa area.
Cessna 172B ZK-BZU (c/n 48261) first appeared on the NZ register on 16-02-1961 with the agents Rural Aviation Ltd of New Plymouth  and was delivered to the Marlborough Aero Club at Omaka on 28-03-1961. Its next move was to Christchurch for International Homes Ltd and then to A V Martyn and Co Ltd at Timaru. It was then listed to a finance Company before being leased to the Auckland Flying School from 14-11-1967, followed by the Rex Flying School from 02-02-1970. It spent a few months with the HB and EC Aero Club at Hastings in 1972 until being acquired by Bram McKay at Eketahuna on 01-11-1972. It is pictured below - being driven by Bram - alongside the Dominie ZK-AKY.

Now some pics from No1 shoe box.

The first three were taken at Wellington in August 1963 on my olde Jiffy Kodak 620 B and W camera and are negative numbers 177-179. I finally got it centered in shot number 179. This was during its time with the Marlborough Aero Club. 

 Below it is parked at Paraparaumu on 09-04-1971 whilst with Rex Flying School.

 Below. At Ardmore - still with Rex on 19-03-1973

Above, it sits at Christchurch on 18-08-1986. Now with Bram McKay, but in a new scheme.

Lastly a shot taken at Ardmore on 28-03-2008 - By now in the ownership of P B McKay of Eketahuna.

Three from NZRT today + one from NZCH on the 27th.

A long lens shot from Allan Bowman of the Auster J5Adventurer ZK-AXJ (c/n 2892) Rangiora Aircraft Engineering.
This came to NZ from the Australian agents and became AXJ with the Stratford Aero Club in November of 1950. Some ten owners and 49 years later it came south to Murray Vincent.

Above : another shot from Allan Bowman shows the Cessna 185C Skywagon 300 ZK-CHL (c/n 185C-0757). This was originally a dung duster with Central Aviation before it became a skiplane with NZTAT and Mount Cook Airlines (etc). It has been with Guy Laver of Dannevirke since November of 2004.

The Boeing Stearman E75 ZK-RDK (c/n 75-5164) was also spied at Rangiora today. It came from the US and was listed to its Ashburton owner, Richard D King, using his initials, on 17-03-2009.

I caught Ken Macdonald's Cessna 185A ZK-SIA (c/n 185A-0427) at Christchurch on the 27th.

Amuri spraying

Not far from Engineers Camp at the bottom end of the Lewis Pass I caught the Aerospatiale AS 350FX ZK-HJM4 (c/n 1671) at work spraying gorse. Unfortunately I did not get to the spraying site but got a few pics at the loading spot and then back at their Hanmer base to watch the spray gear being removed so that it could take some hunters into the hills.
Above HJM is away with another load, and below it is back for more.

The bottom three shots show the spray tank being removed - a simple one man operation.
First view the spray booms and pump have already been removed and the front of the tank has been lowered onto it its ground handling wheels which are already fitted, and the rear wheel is just being plugged in.

 Lower the back end of the tank onto its wheel.

 Then trundle the tank to its storage area.

An earlier blog on this helicopter is at :-

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2008/02/amuri-helicopters-as350ba-zk-hjm.html

Aviation institute finds use for two Jetstreams

These two British Aerospace Jetstream Srs 3100 aircraft have been sitting idle at Nelson for some time.
It now appears that they are on their way to a new life.
Check out the link below.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/6659348/Aviation-institute-finds-use-for-two-Jetstreams

The two aircraft involved are ZK-JSA and ZK-JSI.

ZK-JSA is c/n 839 and after a varied life in the UK arrived at Nelson on 10-05-1997 initially for Inglis Aircraft but then listed with Origin Pacific Airways Ltd.

ZK-JSI is c/n 761. It flew into Nelson on 04-08-1997 after some time in Italy followed by the UK.

Both aircraft were registered back with Inglis Aircraft Ltd in August of 2007 and have been idle every since. They are still both currently registered.

Both the above pics were shot at Nelson on 02-03-2012 - a less than perfect day.

They have featured on earlier blogs at:-

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2010/02/question-time-88-resolved.html

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2008/05/more-nelson-notes.html

Oxford Fly-in at Easter

Rangiora weather

I popped into Grant Porter's "The Landing Spot" hangar at Rangiora the other day and and noted that he had his weather station up and running. It is available on line at   http://www.aircraft-r-us.com/

On the opening page, click on RANGIORA WEATHER LIVE.

Just beneath that there is the latest Christchurch ATIS/TAF & METAR.

Grant hopes to add a real time camera in due course.

Cardinal ZK-DIH

This Cessna 177B Cardinal ZK-DIH (c/n 177B-01900) has spent almost its entire life based on the West Coast of the South Island. It arrived at Auckland direct from the Cessna production line as N34611 aboard the MV Austral Envoy on 03-06-1973.  It was registered as ZK-DIH to Westland Air Ltd on 31-05-73 and first flew in NZ on 05-07-1973. Less than two months later (20-07-73) it was listed to Coast Air Charters Ltd of Reefton. On 09-11-1988 Vic Alborn and Tom Williams of Reefton became the holders of the documents, followed by Tom J and R C Williams of Greymouth from 05-10-1992. It was then transferred to Ian Whitmore on 03-11-2011 and is now based on the Rotomana strip.
It is pictured above, just about to taxi out, at Rangiora on 24-03-2012.
Below is a pic of her a few days earlier at Greymouth on 28-12-1979.

Pending ZK?

Noted arriving at Ardmore last week on the back of a trailer was this fuselage of a Beechcraft 77 Skipper.  Initially no markings where visible to draw its current/previous identity but today it had a cover on with N96AW stencilled onto the material therefore I think it can be safely concluded it is indeed N96AW c/n WA-139.
http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/296525L.html

Stolp Biplanes of New Zealand

There are several models of Stolp biplanes (and one parasol wing), of which we have had 2 examples in New Zealand. They were designed by Louis Stolp and George Adams, and all feature a distinctive turtle deck shape.

Of the 2 Stolp's that we have had in New Zealand, the oldest is the SA 100 Starduster. This has a wingspan of 19 feet (5.79 metres)- top wing, with the lower wing of lesser span, and a length of 16 feet 6 inches (5.03 metres). It has an empty weight of 700 pound (318 Kg) and a MAUW of 1080 pounds (490 Kg). The later SA 900 V Star is a lighter version.

The photos are from the Keith Morris collection unless otherwise noted.

Our first Stolp to be completed was the SA 900 V Star ZK-SAM (c/n AACA/437/1), which was built by Sam McNutt of Waipukurau, where I took this best-I-could-do-photo in an open front hangar. It was first registered on 23/10/81.

Unfortunately it was damaged in this accident (date and location unknown). This photo shows the colour scheme better and features a different registration location. It was sold to Neil Jepsen and Murray Smith of Palmerston North in a damaged state, and then sold on to Brett Emeny of Inglewood on 1/5/87. It was cancelled as withdrawn on 13/12/01.

It then re-appeared after obviously having been rebuilt, and was registered to Neil Jepsen of Palmerston North on 26/1/05. It is photo'd here at Wings over Wairarapa at Masterton in January 2009. It was sold to Bruce McLellan of Stratford in June 2009.

At the Black Sands flyin at Raglan in November 2009. It was sold to Michael Wilkins of Taupiri in August 2011.

There has been one other SA 900 V Star registered ZK-JAN to Jan Mortensen of Hikurangi, but this was not completed and the registration was cancelled on 12/3/93.

And to round out our Stolp population, SA 100 Starduster ZK-SDI (c/n 14) was imported by Alan Ryde of Rangiora and first registered on 22/1/08. It is ex N73R. Thanks to Blue Bus for the photo.

EAA Acrosport 2's of New Zealand

Like the Pitts Special, a two seat version of the Acrosport followed, also designed by Paul Poberezny. It was slightly larger with with a wingspan of 21 feet 8 inches (6.58 metres) and a length of 18 feet 10 inches (5.72 metres). Its empty weight was 850 pounds (386 Kg) and MAUW was 1520 pounds (690 Kg).

We have had 3 Acrosport 2's in New Zealand to date, and all 3 are still active (which is a much better record than our Acrosport 1's!).

The photos are from the Keith Morris collection.

ZK-VWT (c/n AACA/635) was built by Dave Comrie of Dunedin and was first registered on 4/2/82. It was sold to R K McLellan of New Plymouth on 15/5/85. It is photo'd above at the 1986 AACA flyin at Matamata.

It then went to Vince and Alison D'Ath of Motueka on 15/4/97 and it was repainted in this colour scheme as photo'd at the 2000 AACA flyin at Matamata. It then went to Andrew Beazley of Hokitika on 27/4/07. He still owns it but he has moved to Canterbury and it is now hangared at Rangiora.

Our second Acrosport 2 was ZK-DJK (c/n 1483) which was registered to Dariosh J Kraidy of Auckland on 17/2/00. This aircraft was started in South Africa by Dariosh and was shipped to New Zealand in May 1997. It has a Continental O-360 motor. It is photo'd here in his hangar at Ardmore in 2000. Although it is still active I have not seen it fully completed.

And our third Acrosport 2 (to date) is Neville and Les Worsley's ZK-CAW (c/n SP 1447) which was first registered on 8/2/08. This project was started by Bill Harris of Napier but was completed by Neville and Les at Rotorua, where is is currently based. It has a Continental O-320 motor with dual electronic ignition. The registration is from an agricultural DC 3 that Nev used to fly for Feildair. The above photo was taken at the 2009 SAANZ flyin at Ashburton.

EAA Acrosports of New Zealand

The EAA Acrosport (EAA stands for Experimental Aircraft Association), was designed by EAA president Tom Poberezny as an aircraft to be built by school students and the plans were very detailed to allow non aircraft types to build from them. It was designed along classical biplane lines and was bigger than the Pitts Special. The prototype first flew on 11 January 1972.

The specifications are as follows: wingspan 19 feet 7 inches (5.95 metres) - top wing, the lower wing is slightly shorter, length 17 feet 6 inches (5.32 metres), empty weight 844 pounds (384 Kg), MAUW 1,350 pounds (613 Kg). And with a 180 HP engine the top speed is 180 mph (288 km/hr) and the rate of climb is an impressive 3,500 feet per minute.

The photos are from the Keith Morris collection.

We have had 2 EAA Acrosports in New Zealand (to date). The first was ZK-MWM (c/n AACA/14/2) which was built by Merv Meredith of Waipukurau. It was registered on 21/5/80 and first flew on the same day. Merv Meredith was the president of the AACA for several years and ZK-MWM was his third aircraft (after Turbulent ZK-CBN and Minicab ZK-DAG). The above photo was taken at the 1982 AACA flyin at Taupo. Merv sold it to Gary Conroy of Hastings on 8/4/93. It overturned on landing at Hastings on 13/11/00, and it was cancelled as exported on 15/6/01. Can anyone advise where it went to?

Our second EAA Acrosport had a very chequered history. ZK-SFD (c/n AACA/486) was built by Steve Davis of Otaki and was first registered on 1/7/93. It was completed and taxied at Foxpine where it suffered damage in a taxying accident, and its registration was revoked on 24/4/02.

It was sold to Trevor Page of Napier, who registered it as ZK-TMP on 19/4/04. Unfortunately Trevor did not have much success with the aircraft, and I understand that he only flew it twice, resulting in forced landings on both occasions. The above photo shows ZK-TMP in a field just off Napier airfield with minor undercarriage damage after Trevor's first flight. I understand the second forced landing on 28/8/05 did much more damage as the aircraft overturned.

The damaged aircraft was sold to Bruce Clarke of Kerikeri on 7/12/06 and he re-registered it as ZK-XXI. I saw it well on in its rebuild at Kerikeri, nearly structurally complete and awaiting covering. However, Bruce Clarke moved to Australia and ZK-XXI was cancelled as exported on 22/4/08. It was later registered as a microlight in Australia as 19-7537.

Two from Rangiora

Two recently registered aircraft pictured at Rangiora.
Above is the Michael H Glen ICP Savannah ZK-MHG (c/n 09-02-51-809). It still awaits CAA paper work before committing aviation.

Paper work sorted on this Evektor Aertechnik Harmony ZK-CGM2 (c/n 20111415). This is Colin G Marshall's replacement for his earlier Sportstar ZK-MAC2.

For earlier blogs on this one see:-

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2012/01/evector-harmony-lsa-zk-cgm.html

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/raanz-annual-fly-in-motueka-1.html

Christchurch pics for Friday 23-03-2012

At Christchurch today I managed to catch two helicopters.

Above is the Mount Hutt Helicopters latest Aerospatiale AS 350BA ZK-IBC3 (c/n 2562) as seen outside Heli Maintenance. FOr earlier pics of this one see:-

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/mount-hutt-helicopters-new-zk-ibc.html

The Skysales Aviation (NZ) Ltd's MD 369E ZK-IRB (c/n 0604E) is their current demonstrator.

Mustang Convention at Hastings/Bridge Pa.....(updated with photos)

Noted at Hastings Bridge Pa airport are three of NZ's four Citation 510 Mustangs.  Locally based ZK-LCA has been joined by Wellington's ZK-MUS (arrived from Ardmore 20 March) and Ardmore's ZK-MOT (arrived from Ardmore 22 March).

ZK-MOT is still listed for sale with Dennis Thompson International : http://www.dtiaircraftsales.com/aircraft_details.cfm?aircraftID=106

ZK-MUS has been in the news recently over problems with hangerage at Wellington

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/6562835/Parking-fees-for-private-jet-disputed

Many thanks to Graeme C http://www.aerohub.co.nz for these great shots of the three Mustangs at Hastings:

Dynamic Rans S6

The fuselage of Allan Bowman's Rans S6 was bagged today (22-03-2012) by Allan with some help from aircraft specialist Paul Woodley. Pic above shows it in Allan's garage at Rangiora.

The Aerospool Dynamic WT9 ZK-DYZ (c/n DY146/2006) entered our civil aircraft register on 31-10-2006 as the Drake Aviation fixed gear demonstrator. It moved up to Omaka for David Laing and was placed on line with the Marlborough Aero Club from 11-04-2011.
Above photo taken today at Rangiora by Allan Bowman.
Photo below was shot at Omaka on on 01-03-2012.

And the bottom view was taken at Rangiora on 06-08-2010.