Malibu ZK-MPG

The Piper PA-46 Malibu is a six seat low wing pressurised cabin class aircraft with an air stair door.  The prototype first flew on 30-11-1979 powered with a Continental TSIO-520 engine.

The production PA-46-350P Malibu had the 350hp TSIO-540 engine.

ZK-MPG with the c/n of 46-8508063 was built at the Piper Aircraft Companies Vero Beach Florida facility and registered as N6908W for delivery to the UK distributor C.S.E. Aviation Ltd at Kidlington with whom it became G-BMBE from 26-07-1985.

CSE passed it on to Artix Ltd of Peterlee from 12-12-1985 who in turn moved it to Barfax Distributing Co Ltd of Preston from 18-12-1989. Whilst with then it appears to have been operated for a while under the Glasdon GP label.

It is seen below at Jersey on 03-08-1990 thanks to David Lunn.

Sunseeker Sales (UK) Ltd of Poole appear on the paper work from 20-01-2000 until it was listed with Law 2200 Ltd of London and re-registered as G-HITS on 24-10-2000.

Above we see G-HITS in a new colour scheme as photographed by Ian Haskell.

On 10-11-2006 its UK registration was cancelled and it transferred to Germany and became D-ERJN.

Below a photo from an unknow source showing D-ERJN.

By 20-03-2011 it had accrued some 3055 hours as it was placed on the US register as N957JK with Aerospace Trust LLC out of Wilmington in Delaware.

As such it ferried from Bali to Darwin on 23-05-2011, moving on to Brisbane the next day. It was at Lord Howe Island on the 26th and reached Tauranga via Auckland on 28-05-2011.

It is seen below as N957JK at Auckland on the 28th - thanks to MRC Aviation.

It was registered as ZK-MPG to Fairway Air Ltd of Tauranga on 07-06-2011 and first flew as such on 07-06-2011. Fairway also operated the Cessna U206G ZK-JCS at this time.

Below - It was noted by Henry at Taupo on 02-07-2011.

It transferred briefly to Pauanui Beach Reality Ltd on 18-10-2018 and then on to Funnell Farms Ltd of Taupo from 01-02-2019.

It is seen below at Hokitika on Wednesday. Photo from Ben Patterson.