Newly Refurbished Robertson B1-RD ZK-RSN

I was interested to see that Robert McNair recently registered his refurbished Robertson B1-RD microlight ZK-RSN recently, and now David Wilkinson has supplied a photo of it.  David has recently been flying the B1-RD and loving it - no doubt quite a change from his One Design and Pitts!

ZK-RSN (c/n 1S036) was registered to Rob McNair on 23/11/23 and Rob told me that restoring the microlight was a big job as all of the 6061 aluminium had to be replaced due to corrosion and Rob sourced all original tubing from the US.  It is powered by a Rotax 503 engine.  

The original B1-RD was a 2 seater that was registered ZK-STU (MAANZ/283) to Alan Stewart from Taupiri in October 1984 and was registered until May 2001.  Rob has restored it as a single seater.

Thanks to Rob McNair for the information and to David Wilkinson for the photo.

Curtis P40E ZK-RMH gone - Update

Back on 11 March Dave Paull posted that the very historically significant Curtis P40E Kittyyhawk ZK-RMH had been cancelled from the register on 1 March 2024.  You can refer to that post HERE

The Kittyhawk is now owned by Kennedy Air Service Pty Ltd of Gunnedah in NSW as VH-AK4:

This photo of it flying in Australia recently is taken from the Pacific P-40s Facebook page.

Rans Outback ZK-YAW at Rangiora update

At last ! I got a reasonable photograph (albeit still inside) of the Rans S-21 Outbound ZK-YAW c/n 0520018 as captured at Rangiora today 11-05-2024.

This was registered to Paul Brydon of Hamilton on 19-07-2023 and I believe based at Te Kowhai.

Paul is now based out near Oxford and I first noted YAW at Rangiora late last year.

It will receive some vinyls shortly.

Paul has previously operated the Micro Aviation B22J ZK-XAM2, the Best off Skyranger Swift        ZK-JAY, the Zenith CH601 XL ZK-JRL and the Aeroprakt A-22LS ZK-SAJ2.

However John Wagtendonk was on the spot at Rangiora on 06-01-2024 and captured ZK-YAW.

Todays photo (14-05-2024) from Aaron Murphy shows ZK-YAW in action at Rangiora.

Newly Minted Vans RV 7 ZK-MNT at Waipukurau 12-5-2024

The Central Hawkes Bay Aero Club hosted their annual Dawn Raid at Waipukurau on Sunday 12 May and there was a great turnout of around 60 aircraft.  Most have already been covered here but one was wearing a new registration:

ZK-MNT (c/n 70334) was up from Masterton where it is based.  It was damaged in a take off incident in Northland a couple of years ago and was repaired by Northland Aviation at Whangarei.  During its time there it was re-registered as ZK-MNT on 11/9/23.  Thanks for the photo Jordan.

But if it looks familiar it is.  It it the "old" ZK-DES3 which was imported into New Zealand by Des Barry back in November 2010.  It is photo'd above taking off from North Shore on 24/2/13.
 

Hughes 369D ZK-IMT at North Shore Today 13-5-2024

I had reason to be down at North Shore airfield this afternoon when the racy sound of an approaching Hughes 500 got louder until he alighted at the fuel pumps.

It was the Hughes 369D ZK-IMT which has been registered to ZK Leasing Ltd of Auckland since 31/3/23.  While we were both at different fuel pumps, I was getting Avgas and he was in for Jet A1.

A brace of Caravans at Paraparaumu.

 Lord Nelson noted two Cessna 208 Caravans at Paraparaumu today.

The Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster ZK-MLO2 c/n 208B1125 was delivered to Air Pak Express SA, Spain on 11-05-2005 as EC-JHI. From there it went onto the German Register as D-FAAF from April 2009 and spent time with Skydive Flyzone. Its German registration was cancelled in April 2022 for it to become N208FF with Tarco Aircraft Funding LLC of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and then to Merlin Labs of Boston, Massachusetts from 30-11-2022.
Mentioned previously Here.
As such it ferried via Honolulu and Apia on 26-05-2023 and into Auckland on the 28th. 

It became ZK-MLO2 on 07-06-2023 with Merlin Labs NZ Ltd on 07-06-2023.

The Cessna C208 Caravan 1 ZK-EAV2 c/n 20800659 was registered new to Evander Aviation as N874ET on 17-09-2019 and was passed over to Gateway Air Center of Merced, California from 15-10-2019 for ferrying to New Zealand.

This ferry flight departed Eisenhower Field at Wichita, Kansas for Independence on 02-11-2019. Then on to Colorado Springs and Merced on the 13th. The run to Honolulu was on the 21st and then to Faleolo, Samoa on the 23rd and into Auckland on the 24th.

The US ferry registration was cancelled on 27-11-2019 and it became ZK-EAV2 on 03-12-2019 with Evander Aviation Ltd at Wellington.

Helicopters at Mechanics Bay Yesterday 11-5-2024

Yesterday I was instructed to be on taxi duty down to Auckland (and return) for the NZ Ballet matinee so I had a couple of hours to kill.  What to do?  Drive down to Mechanics Bay to see what I could see:

HeliMe's Airbus EC 130 T2 ZK-HIJ5 was parked out.  It is branded as an ACH 130 which is the Aston Martin bespoke model with the leather interior and jazzy colour scheme.

Then the same company's Agusta Bell 206B ZK-IEL2 arrived with passengers and was later pushed into the hangar.   Both helicopters have appeared on the blog previously, but Mechanics Bay is quite photogenic so I thought they were worth another post. 

Beech Super King Air ZK-RSQ

 The Beechcraft 200C Super King Air ZK-RSQ2 /n BL-148 was recorded at Wellington today by 
Allister Jenks.

This aircraft was first noted in August of 2004 listed as N36948 with Raytheon Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas with a change to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest NZ at Salt Lake City, Utah from 28-12-2004.

This was cancelled on 25-04-2005 for it to become F-OIQL with Air Archipels, a subsidiary of Air Tahiti.

Above -  F-OIQL - an Aircraft Com photo.

It ferried into Napier from Nuku'Alofa, Tonga, on 18-03-2023 and became ZK-RSQ2 on 04-05-2023 with Skyline Aviation Ltd.

Above and below. At the Execujet Aero Service facility at Wellington Airport early this afternoon.

Its close cousin ZK-PLK in the left of the shot below and the Falcon 50 N115MF c/n 330 lurks in the hangar.

                                                          On climb out from Wellington.

On the bottom left of the photo is the roof of the 'leaning tower'.

A Deep South Visitation to the North

A group of very slick high performance microlights have recently been touring around the North Island and on Thursday night 9 May they overnighted at Kaipara Flats airfield.  I caught up with them on the Friday morning, two BRM Aero Bristells and three Aerospool Dynamic WT 9s.  They were:

Nigel Forrester's latest aircraft, the lovely red taildragger Bristell ZK-TDN (c/n 174/2016) has not appeared on the blog previously.  Nigel imported it from Australia where it was VH-ZYT and before that 24-8698.  It is based at Alexandra.

Lyall Hopcroft's new Bristell ZK-WLH3 is fitted with a Rotax 915 engine and is based in Cromwell.

Russell Brunel's Dynamic ZK-DYR comes from Winton and is ex ZK-DYK and ZK-FUZ.

Murray Hagen's fixed gear Dynamic ZK-MLC comes along with Murray from Te Anau.

And Michael Blomfield's Dynamic ZK-ZOW is based at Nightcaps.  It ix ex ZK-DYN.

After checking the winds aloft on Friday morning they made the wise decision not to fly that day so they stayed in Warkworth another night.  Then today, Saturday they all headed off to Dargaville for the Aero Clubs famous every Saturday lunch.

A Short Flight up the Waitemata Harbour

Another reason for my flight down the North Shore Transit Lane yesterday was to turn right at North Head and fly up Auckland Harbour.  It seems remarkable that you can do this but you can - just call Harbour Traffic on the Hauraki Gulf frequency 120.4.  Again I flew at 800 feet which gave spectacular views:  (You can click the photos once or twice to enlarge them)

I flew up the Southern shore of the harbour in the spectacular conditions,

Past the container wharves, 

and the CBD with Queens Wharf and the Cloud down there.

Then I turned within the confines of the harbour - that is the Bayswater Marina in the shimmering sea.

and I flew back out on the Northern Shore, again with great views of downtown Auckland.

I tracked just outside the Devonport Naval Base and the Devonport Wharf and on to North Head for my flight back up the transit lane.  I bet you couldn't fly this close to a main Naval Base in many other countries!

Then my camera battery ran out!

Takapuna Then and Now

Yesterday I flew down the North Shore Transit Lane in lovely weather at 800 feet and and I got great views of all of the East Coast Bays. When I reached Takapuna I flew in the wake of Whites Aviation from 65 years ago:

Takapuna in 1959 by Whites Aviation...

And Takapuna yesterday in 2024.  I tried to get the same angle but I didn't quite get it right, I should have been a tad higher.  The same pohutukawa trees are still there but my tide is out.  For those who are familiar with the area, The Promenade runs down to the seaside carpark and Hurstmere Road runs parallel to the beach one block back.  Killarney Street runs parallel with Lake Pupuke at the top and Anzac Street is on the left.  The iconic Mon Desir Hotel has been replaced by lots of apartments and further up The Promenade is the Bruce Mason Theatre.

I hope that is not too much information!

CMM has gone West

 CMM reporting from the West Coast.

Bagged at Karamea in the early morning light on the 5th of May was the Helicopter Charter Karamea (2006) Ltd's Bell 206L-3 LongRanger ZK-HWL3 c/n 51054 which has been on line since March of 2017.         See a previous mention  Here

Down at Buller Health in Westport the GCH Aviation Ltd's and Greymouth based "West Coast ROA Mining Rescue Helicopter" Kawasaki BK117 B2 ZK-HJC3 c/n 1061 waits.

Airscapade DC 3 ZK-JGB Getting Ready to Fly from Wanaka

Airscapade Affairs Ltd's DC 3C (S1C3G in case you are interested) ZK-JGB2 recently received some tender loving care at Wanaka from a team from JEM Aviation, in preparation for a return to the air I presume.  Here are a couple of photos posted by JEM Aviation on their Facebook page back on 23 and 26 April:

An Update on Lancair IV ZK-CTL/2

I recently had a chance to catch up with Chris Toms at Kaipara Flats airfield.  Chris of course was the builder and owner of our only Lancair IV ZK-CTL2 which was the fastest homebuilt aircraft in New Zealand at the time with a 300 knot maximum speed! (Chris told me he used to flight plan for 235 knots).  This is what I wrote about it back in January 2014:

ZK-CTL (c/n LIV192) was a Lancair IV built by Chris Toms of Auckland, and was first registered on 30/1/95.  It was powered by a Lycoming TIO-540 engine of 350 HP.  It had an early fright when it force landed on the beach at Ruakaka with engine problems, but the landing was successful.  The above photo was taken at Tauranga in 1997.  It was cancelled on 18/8/00 and sold to an owner in the USA as N831F.  It was delivered by air across the Pacific in September 2000, and is still current in the US.

Chris told me that when he sold his Lancair IV to the US as N83JF (for its new owner John Forker)  it was required to have a higher visibility colour scheme so he repainted it as in the above photo which taken at North Shore before its delivery flight. 

Boeing 787 ZK-NZK parked up at Christchurch

Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner ZK-NZK2 c/n 43217 has been parked up indefinitely at Christchurch International Airport. Some of the cabin windows are already covered as are the mainwheels.

It had been stored at Auckland International from 02-03-2024 until 25-04-2024 when it was ferried down to Christchurch.

De Havilland DH100 FB.5 NZ5767 at Classic Flyers.

 De Havilland DH 100 Vampire FB5 NZ5767 was a pre loved example obtained from the Royal Air Force in 1956.

Originally delivered to the RAF with the serial WA374 on 11-05-1951 for the No 102 Flying Refresher School and later serving with 118 and 14 Squadron. 

It was struck off charge on 26-03-1956 and shipped to New Zealand aboard the Cumberland to become NZ5767 from 21-05-1956 and stored at Ohakea until January 1958. It then served with various RNZAF units until being withdrawn and placed back in storage, this time at RNZAF Station Woodbourne from March 1960. 

Photo above shows NZ5767 at Tauranga - probably during a Red Owl Exercise. Date and photographer unknow.

Photograph below comes from the RNZAF Museum and shows NZ5767 on the move at Ohakea with under wing tanks.

Reactivated in October 1960, it joined 75 Squadron at Ohakea and transferred to 14 Squadron, also at Ohakea, in May 1970. 

It was relegated to Instructional Air Frame status on 21 August 1970 as INST202 at No 4 TTS Woodbourne and did not fly again.

When retired from that role it was sent to the Air Force Museum and in time (2005), the fuselage pod was loaned to Classic Flyers and is seen below on display. 

It is seen parked beside the DH112 MkIV Venom which flew in NZ as ZK-VNM2.

Recently the Air Force Museum realised they needed the space occupied by the wings and tail section of Vampire NZ5767 and formally gifted the entire aircraft to Classic Flyers. 

All the stored parts arrived at Tauranga very soon after. Photos below.

As Classic Flyers already had a complete Vampire FB5, NZ5751, on a long-term loan basis, thought was being given to NZ5767 becoming Classic Flyers plinth mounted Gate Guardian - in place of the Swordfish replica, which had previously been built by volunteers at MoTaT, Auckland to form part of their Fleet Air Arm Display.

It was decided that because NZ5751 already had an authentic RNZAF livery, it was not essential this be repeated on NZ5767. So NZ5767 was painted bronze.

Photo from Mark Pattenden taken on 20-01-2024 showing the re-assembled airframe receiving its bronze scheme.

Below a photo from Peter Layne taken on 25-02-2024 showing painting complete.

As a very interesting aside - Jim Barclay flew Vampires with 75 Squadron - including NZ5767. 

For his great story see HERE

A special thanks must go to Peter Layne for his input on this blog post.

I know that I will be severely chastised for including this aircraft in this civil aircraft blog.

However it is certainly no longer a military aircraft.

DHC-1 Chipmunk Mk 22 ZK-CHP/3 at Kaipara Flats Today 4-5-2024

Vaughn Davis bought his lovely newly restored Chipmunk ZK-CHP3 up to Kaipara Flats airfield today:

You can remind yourself of its history HERE

Cessna 180J ZK-DXW and an Omaka visitation by CMM (3).

Cessna 180J Skywagon ZK-DXW is c/n 18052685 and came to New Zealand factory new to be listed with the agents Dalhoff & King Aviation Ltd at Ardmore from 14-06-1976. 

Photo below taken at Ardmore in early November of 1976.

It was then transferred to their Dunedin, Momona branch from 16-11-1976 and ultimately was listed to A S Drinkrow of Makaetai from September 1977 - the ownership partially overlapping his use of the Cessna 180C ZK-BVV.

As seen on 04-09-1979 at Ardmore.

Phillip Evers-Swindell of Pahiatua then picked it up from December 1981.Two views of it at New Plymouth on 05-08-1985 with a cargo pannier fitted.Richmond Harding of Wanganui then took it over from 19-08-1988. 

Then we see Tony Mackle of Richmond listed from 17-07-1991. Tony also had the 180 ZK-BJB (and retains it to this day). Tony then picked up the Cessna 180B ZK-BMW and ZK-DXW went to Giotto Holdings (P Higgins and W Denholm) at Rotorua from 11-06-1994.Above. Spotted at Wanaka on 16-02-1996 with the upward hinging door.

And then on 17-03-2000 at Rotorua in a new paint scheme.

White Island Airways also of Rotorua were next to operate it from 17-02-2002.18-08-2003 Christchurch

Its next move was to Gisborne for Farmers Air 2002 Ltd from 05-11-2004. They had a name change to Aerospread Ltd from 24-08-2011 followed by an address change to Napier from 17-02-2012.

Current owner Viking Partnership of Russell came aboard from 30-08-2023.Above ZK-DXW as seen on the 27th of April as part of the Cessna 180/185 flyin at Manuka Point which is at the junction of the Mathias and the Rakaia Rivers. A Matt Hayes photo.

Below ZK-DXW was captured at Omaka by CMM the following day.

It returned to the far North on the 29th.