Beaver ZK-CGS

Alongside the many Fieldair Beavers that were imported in the mid 1960s, Air Contracts of Masterton also imported several Beavers to work alongside their ZK-BFO.  The first of them (and Air Contracts second Beaver) was ZK-CGS (c/n 802).

DHC 2 Beaver c/n 802 was shipped to Sierra Leone in 1955 where it became VR-LAA, registered to the Sierra Leone Selection Trust Ltd of Lungi on 2/12/55.  The Sierra Leone Selection Trust was involved with diamond mining.  Later it became 9L-LAA in April 1961 when Sierra Leone became independent.  Then it was shipped to New Zealand arriving in December 1963.

ZK-CGS (c/n 802) was registered to Air Contracts Ltd of Masterton on 14/1/64.  I photo'd it above outside the Hawker Siddeley hangar at Wellington airport prior to delivery in March 1964.

Here is another photo of it from the Peter Lewis Collection, taken from an almost identical position in March 1964.  Peter doesn't have a record of who took the photo, and he also has another almost identical photo of it taken by Neville Drake.  It must have been a very attractive angle of the Beaver that potentially three of us took almost identical photos.

 

Here it is at its home base at Hood aerodrome at Masterton in 1965.

And here it is earning its keep.  

However it was tragically lost in an accident at Awatea Station, Tinui, East of Masterton on 6/5/65 when it lost power on take-off and hit a fence, then flew on until it hit a hillside and crashed and burned, killing the pilot.  It was cancelled from the New Zealand register on 21/9/65.