At Frankton January 1968.
ZK-ARJ is still current today.
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One of the main players in the history of ZK-ARJ is Cliff F L Jenks who began his connection to this Tiger Moth at Wigram in October of 1966.
Cliff has a son named Allister who also has a significant connection to this Tiger Moth.
Below I have taken a large extract from this site.
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Why is Allister's site branded as “ZKARJ”?
Well, because ZK-ARJ is the registration of
a particular New Zealand-based De Havilland Tiger Moth which has a special
significance for me.
You can read all about the history of Tiger Moths in New
Zealand in the book New Zealand Tiger Moths, 1938 to 2000 by Cliff
Jenks and David Phillips and published by The Aviation
Historical Society of New Zealand.
Below is a story adapted from the book with the kind
permission of the AHSNZ. It is a little long, even in this abridged form,
but ZK-ARJ’s story is a long and interesting one and a taste of
most aspects of Tiger Moth history in New Zealand.
TIGER MOTH NO. 3357 – A PROFILE
Tiger Moth serial number 3357 was produced at the new De
Havilland factory at Hatfield in mid-1935, the 183rd production DH.82A. On 29
July 1935, it was registered as G-ADLU to the London Aeroplane Club.
In late 1939 or early 1940, together with seven other London
Aeroplane Club machines, ADLU was shipped to New Zealand for the RNZAF. On 12
July 1940, No 3357 was brought on RNZAF charge at Rongotai, being assigned the
serial number NZ735.
The other seven ex London Aeroplane Club were :-
c/n 3749 which was G-AFJL, then NZ730 and ZK-ALT.
c/n 3223 which was G-ACSK, then NZ731 and ZK-ASS.
c/n 3426 which was G-ADUK, then NZ732.
c/n 3737 which was G-AFJI, the NZ733.
c/n 3722 which was G-AFJF, then NZ734 and ZK-ALL.
c/n 82185 which was G-AFNL, then NZ736.
c/n 3226 which was G-ACWB, then NZ737 and ZK-APM.
It is likely that NZ735 served at Harewood from the outset of
its military career, being in use there up to at least October 1944. On 22
January 1948, the Tiger Moth was issued, free of charge, to the South
Canterbury Aero Club.
The South Canterbury Aero Club, based at Timaru, registered
the aircraft on 20 February 1948 as ZK-ARJ. No 3357 had settled down to a
civilian career again, and pleasure flying and the inevitable pilot training
were the order of the day.
ZK-ARJ was also used as a glider tug, pioneered rabbit
poisoning, and carried out aerial photography of local farms. It was also
contracted under the ATC cadet scheme to give subsidised flying instruction to
cadets.
On 30 June 1950, when ZK-ARJ’s Certificate of Airworthiness was
to expire, the Club decided to reduce its fleet – at a time when Tiger Moths
were being sought after for the embryonic topdressing industry. ZK-ARJ was the
aircraft chosen to be sold.
From 24 July 1950, the aircraft was registered to Southland
Aerial Fertilisers Ltd. Meanwhile, a hopper was fitted to ZK-ARJ at Rongotai and
the Certificate of Airworthiness was amended to reflect the new role; No 3357
was about to embark on the most testing period of her eventful life.
Southland Aerial Fertilisers owner C.W. (Bill) Hewett, a
well-known pilot in Otago and Southland, began operations with ARJ at Lorna
Gorge, between Winton and Gore, on 19 July 1950. That first day he sowed 20
tons of fertiliser – the first commercial aerial topdressing in Otago. The
topdressing industry was perhaps even harder on Tiger Moths than ab initio
pilot training, and during this period ARJ suffered six accidents including
engine failures and collisions with ground obstructions, often one the result
of the other. Nevertheless, ZK-ARJ soldiered on.
By 1956, many firms had begun to replace Tiger Moths with
more modern types. So the decision to retire ZK-ARJ was taken, and it was back to
aero club pastures again.
The new owners were the Hokitika Aero Club, with ZK-ARJ being their
first – and only – aircraft. The transaction taking place about
August or September 1957.
Life on the West Coast was a far cry from lugging loads of
super around the deep south, and ZK-ARJ once more settled into the round of
training and pleasure flights.
On 13 June 1961 ZK-ARJ was sold to the ”Mathewson Brothers” of
”Taieriside”, Kokonga, Central Otago. Here, ZK-ARJ was used simply for private
flying around the farm, but such gentle pursuits were not to last long, and new
fields were waiting to be conquered.
In 1962 the recently formed Wigram Gliding Club were looking
for an aircraft to tow their gliders aloft, and ZK-ARJ’s ’for sale’ status came to
their attention. On 30 January 1962, No 3357 embarked on a new phase of her
career. The Wigram Club made good use of ZK-ARJ, but eventually purchased a Piper
Super Cub ZK-BTF and ZK-ARJ’s gliding club days were about to close.
Languishing in the corner of the Club’s hangar, ZK-ARJ caught
the eye of a couple of visiting RNZAF flying instructors and the seeds were
sown for the formation of the Tiger Syndicate; ownership was transferred on 14
October 1966.
The Tiger Syndicate comprised eight instructors from the
RNZAF’s Pilot Training Squadron at Wigram who, during the week, trained RNZAF
student pilots. ZK-ARJ was thus largely a weekend-only machine. Still based at
Wigram, ZK-ARJ was now frequently involved in giving rides to friends and families
of the Syndicate members, not to mention standing in for Santa Claus’s sleigh
on his annual visit to Wigram.
On 5 November 1967, a pageant was held at Wigram to
commemorate 50 years of flying from the airfield. One of the items was the
Rothmans Vintage Air Race, and the Syndicate entered ZK-ARJ; it came in a
creditable third to Gipsy Moth ZK-AEJ and Tiger Moth ZK-BRM. The same day,
negotiations for the sale of ZK-ARJ began, the Syndicate finding it more and more
difficult to operate as routine postings of its RNZAF members occurred. The
sale took place three weeks later.
The new owners were another syndicate, comprising Messrs
D.G. Waters and A.J.L. MacDonald. Based at Taieri, ZK-ARJ now became a maid of all
work. Glider towing again became a major task. The owners were also keen
outdoor men, and ZK-ARJ flew into many of the small strips and paddocks throughout
Otago, Southland, Westland and Fiordland. Mr MacDonald ran a construction
business, and he often used ZK-ARJ, ”loaded to the brim”, to fly into remote
building sites.
While based at Taieri, ZK-ARJ suffered one of its most serious
accidents since its topdressing days. While taxiing for takeoff, ZK-ARJ collided
with a tractor that was pulling the grass mowers on the airfield. The tractor
driver was slightly injured and – according to the records of the Office
of Air Accident Investigation – ZK-ARJ was written off. In fact, the damage
was not so major as to cut short the career of such an old campaigner as No
3357.
The damaged aircraft was sold to Mr I.A.T. Strathern of
Hamilton on 4 November 1971. Mr Strathern apparently purchased ZK-ARJ under
insurance arrangements, and for some years the Tiger Moth lay derelict, first
out in the open, later in a dismantled condition in the back of a hangar at
Ardmore.
In 1979, two owners appeared who were to breathe life back
into one of New Zealand’s most interesting Tiger Moths and to set it on
possibly its final (and, to be hoped, longest) New Zealand chapter.
Mr C.N. and Mrs C.J.Bellingham of Waiuku became the
registered owners on 20 March 1979, and the restoration of ZK-ARJ to airworthy
status got underway at the Bellingham’s farm. When the farm was sold, the
rebuild was held up for a year while a hangar was constructed at the new
property at Patumahoe. The fuselage was moved into a bedroom in the new
farmhouse, where work on it could continue pending completion of the hangar.
At the beginning of 1981, the Bellingham’s learned of the
fly-in at Hastings, planned for Queen’s Birthday weekend that year, to mark the
Tiger Moth’s 50th anniversary year. With this incentive, the rebuild was
speeded up, and Cliff Bellingham test flew ZK-ARJ on 16 May. With a couple of
weeks for the bugs to be sorted out, ZK-ARJ made it to Hastings, where it was the
oldest Tiger Moth present and the only one of prewar vintage.
ZK-ARJ led a sedate life with the Bellinghams, flying only
about 200 hours over the next five and a half years, but in that same period
twice picking up the Tiger Club’s annual ”Most Magnificent Moth” award.
Then began a succession of private owners; On 1 August 1986, ZK-ARJ was sold to two Auckland businessmen, Messrs A.G.R. Leuschke and G.P. Lock.
Nearly two years later, on 21 July 1988, ownership passed to P.E. Carpenter,
also of Auckland. He and Captain Norm Bartle set up a joy-riding operation,
using ARJ based out of Ardmore. The venture with ZK-ARJ did not last long, for
just over a year later, on 24 July 1989, it was registered in the name of the
”Tiger A R J Syndicate”, of whom John Greville was a member. ZK-ARJ was still
based in Auckland.
This flitting around like a moth ceased when, on 13 August
1992, ZK-ARJ was registered to the Rimmington Family Trust, and ARJ moved to
Hamilton. Earlier in 1992, Russ Rimmington – who was not a pilot
– met a flying instructor who extolled the virtues of Tiger Moths. The
disease took hold, and Russ soon afterwards purchased ZK-ARJ and learned to fly in
it. Since then he has used it to travel extensively around New Zealand. Russ
was a member of the New Zealand National Fielday Society and ZK-ARJ has appeared
at opening ceremonies. Russ Rimmington was elected Mayor of Hamilton in October
1998. He has a dairy farm at Tamahere, just south of Hamilton, and the farm now
includes an aircraft hangar and an airstrip for ARJ.
This profile of just one New Zealand Tiger Moth – which
has experienced so much that is typical of the New Zealand Tiger Moth story
– now comes to a close. But while this story closes, ZK-ARJ’s story does
not, and we can but wish Tiger Moth No 3357 many more years of vintage aviating
into the 21st Century.
Cliff Jenks, co-author of the book, is also my father — and
a former RNZAF flying instructor and leading member of the Tiger Syndicate.
ZK-ARJ was sold by the Tiger Syndicate a little more than a year prior to my
birth. The ’J’ was a given, and so my first names were duly matched to the ’A’
and ’R’. Thus was I named Allister Ross Jenks; A.R.J.
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