Saturday 25 August 2012

Three Tongan's

 Three Tongan aircraft as captured by Andy Heap on the 22nd.

Below is the Douglas DC-3 A3-AWP (c/n 33135/16387) in its Chathams Pacific scheme. Perhaps better known to most of us as the good old ZK-AWP. It departed NZ on 01-06-2004 for Tonga initially for Airwaves Vava'u and from March 2006 with Peau Vava'u Air Tonga, and now with Chathams Pacific.
Another Chathams Pacific aircraft noted was the General Dynamics Allison Convair 440/580 ZK-CIF (c/n 381). It was first listed with Air Chathams on 05-10-2005 and headed up to Tonga for its first assignment on 20-02-2006. It is rotated reasonably frequently back to NZ for servicing.

Below is the Beech D18-S N500MK (c/n A-216) still currently listed as "status expired" on the US civil register to Aerial Surveys Inc of Concord, Massachusetts.
I believe it has been used by the Tongan Royal family. It has been sighted at Ardmore for maintenance back as far as 2005.

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