Monday 5 March 2018

Tomark Viper SD 4 ZK-SWV

Photo'd by the Hairy Mole Rat at Tauranga today was Solo Wings' Tomark Aero Viper SD 4 ZK-SWV, fresh off a major overhaul and heading out for its first post overhaul flight. 

The Tomark Viper SD 4 is built by Tomark s.r.o. of Presov in Slovakia.  It is of mostly metal construction with composite curvy bits including the turtledeck, cowlings wheel fairings and wingtips.  It is a side by side 2 seat trainer and is powered by a Rotax 912 engine which gives a cruise speed of around 108 knots.  The stall speed is around 35 knots with the slotted flaps down.  Length is 6.40 metres (21 feet) and the wingspan is 8.40 metres (27 feet 7 inches).  The empty weight is around 292 Kg (644 pounds) and MAUW in New Zealand is 449 Kg (990 pounds).

ZK-SWV (c/n 035) at Tauranga today.  No doubt it will receive the Solo Wings colour scheme in due course.

We have had only the one Tomark Viper in New Zealand to date, and it was first registered as ZK-EAW2 on 31/1/13 to Wilson Aviation Ltd of Hamilton.  On 14/3/14 ownership transferred to the Wanagnui Aero Club, who sold it to Colin Alexander of Solo Wings on 13/6/17.  It was re-registered as ZK-SWV on 6/11/17.  The above photo was taken at the 2014 RAANZ flyin at Feilding.

5 comments:

  1. Not much payload available. Would have to be a very light passenger or operated as a single seater?

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    1. Yes I did notice that. I got the empty weight from Wikipedia and the MAUW from the CAA website (which could be inaccurate in my experience).

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  2. Looked great in the previous paint job, unfortunately that salty Wanganui air didn't do it any favours. I understand the club swapped it for a Cessna 150?

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  3. Yep - they picked up the Cessna 150 ZK-CTF from Solo Wings.
    They have also more recently taken on the Piper Cub ZK-BTU.

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  4. The viper is sorely missed, it was very popular at the club

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