New Savannah ZK-WIL delivered North today 21-03-2026.

 Below we have the new ICP Savannah S ZK-WIL/2 c/n 20-12-54-0749 as seen at Rangiora on         20-03-2026 by Aaron Murphy.

Today 21-03-2026 ZK-WIL headed off North for its owner Stephen Williams of Whitianga, to replace his earlier Savanah XL ZK-CVK2 which was delivered South to a new owner in Christchurch late last year.

Beechcraft A36 Bonanza ZK-ACO

  Last weekend, 14-03-2026, Rob Mackley flew his amazing Lockheed 10-A Electra ZK-AFD2 c/n 1145 down from Omaka to West Melton for the Day to give a presentation to the gathering covering the restoration of this aircraft. This has been well covered by several other sites.

This presentation by Rob attracted several other visitors.

One such was the Beechcraft A36 Bonanza ZK-ACO2 c/n E-1896. This Bonanza was built and registered to the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas and registered as N1824K in late 1981.

After two US owners it was sold in Australia and became VH-RKP2 from 28-07-1989 with Bob Kilpatrick of Windsor, NSW. (Interestingly he sold it to purchase the A36 Bonanza VH-RKP2 in December 2014 which became ZK-PVA2 in December of 2014).

The new owner from 29-01-1999 - Shoal Credit Investments Pty Ltd of Ashmore, Queensland, re-registered it as VH-WDG2 a month later. In June of 2015 it was sold to Joshua Adam of Chinchilia, Queensland.

It was ferried from Archerfield to Lord Howe Island on 25-08-2019, then to Norfolk Island, Kerekeri and Auckland the following day.

It was certified in NZ as ZK-ACO2 to Air Centre One Ground Services Ltd on 03-09-2019 until transferred to Rob Leach and Dianne Paterson of Auckland from 01-07-2021.

Current owner Andreas Michaelides of Christchurch listed it from October last year.

The earlier allocation of the ZK-ACO registration was to a De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide for the NZ Melbourne Centenary Air Race Committee - Named "Tainui" it departed Mildenhall, UK on 20-10-1934 as number 60 in the MacRobertson Air Race - It arrived in Melbourne on 02-11-1934 - finishing 5th.

A Metroliner Lives On in New Zealand!

Thanks to Mike Condon who has strong links back to his home town of Hokitika, here are some photos of the nose of the old Metroliner ZK-NSY which has been converted into a spectacular trailer.  Mike has sent in the photos taken recently at the local motor camp by Rex Boyd:

Nice!

And to remind us of the original aircraft, below is a photo of ZK-NSY at Auckland International Airport back in 2001:

Thanks for the world spanning photos Mike.

DC 3 N8336C Spirit of Douglas Flies South on 17-3-2026

The 1942 Douglas DC 3A N8336C Spirit of Douglas is currently in New Zealand as part of a world tour to commemorate the 1924 world tour of three Douglas World Cruisers and the 90th anniversary of the DC 3.  The original Douglas World Cruisers did not come to New Zealand but the Spirit of Douglas is owned by a Christchurch based New Zealand businessman so I guess that is why it is here.  I heard it fly over Warkworth on Saturday afternoon (14 March) but it was above the clouds.  And today Tuesday 17 March it is flying from Auckland to Christchurch.

Simon Hills took these photos of N8336C overflying Koputaroa earlier on today.

In this photo you can see that it has Spirit of Douglas above the windows.

Thanks for the photos Simon.

Eurocopter AS 350 B2 ZK-ILA.

 October 2007 is the first reference I can find for this Eurocopter AS 350 B2 with the c/n of 4369 when it appeared in the Wells Fargo Bank Northwest NZ Trustee books as N556AM.

It was transferred to Regions Equipment Finance Corporation out of Birmingham, Alabama from April of 2008.

From April 2013 it was finally listed to its operator Air Methods Corporation as used in the EMS role.

After being replaced in the EMS role it was imported into New Zealand and became ZK-ILA from 28-10-2022 with Shaws Wire Ropes Ltd of Cambridge.

Action Helicopters of Queenstown listed it briefly in May of 2024, passing it on to Windhawk Helicopters of Blenheim that October.

It was listed under a "Private Owner" from November of last year and is seen below today at Nelson carrying Helicopter Nelson titles.

Bell 407 VH-8Y8 at Nelson 16th March 2026.

Noted at Nelson today was this Bell 407 GPX VH-8Y8 c/n 54684.

The first I heard of it being in NZ was on 21-02-2026 when it committed aviation out of Dairy Flat.

We have two photos of it, taken today, refueling at Nelson from Lord Nelson.

First noted listed to Bell Helicopter Textron at Fort Worth, Texas as N261DJ from 02-03-2016 until February of 2018 when it moved to Nigeria and became 5N-FIZ with Caverton Helicopters.

They advertised it for sale about late 2022 with some 2160 airframe hours.

I next noted it as VH-8Y8 with MKR Choppers Pty Ltd of Bombira in NSW Australia in early July of 2024.

It underwent a major refurbishment in 2024 thanks to OzChoppers and came out better than factory new.

See Refurb photos HERE

A Couple of New NZAA Tecnams at Wanganui 15-3-2026

Jordan Elvy and Simon Hills visited Wanganui yesterday where the New Zealand Airline Academy is ramping up their operations with seven aircraft based on the airport (two 2 P Mentors and five P2008JCs).  Jordan has sent photos of two of the new ones that haven't been on the blog previously:

Tecnam P Mentor ZK-NYD (c/n 1136) was registered to NZAA on 9/9/25 and is ex VH-8LZ.

Tecnam P2008JC ZK-NYR (c/n 1407) was registered to NZAA on 15/1/26.

Thanks for the photos Jordan.

ATR F-OZIP into Christchurch 15th March 2026

 The Air Caledonie ATR 72-212A (600) F-OZIP c/n 1355 arrived into Christchurch today for maintenance with ANZ.

             This was test flown in France on 26-10-2016 as F-WWEP and delivered to Air Caledonie on 03-12-2016.

One Design ZK-WAM/3 at the NZ Aerobatic Champs

The New Zealand Aerobatic Club is currently holding the NZ Aerobatic Championship at Masterton.  One of the competitors is Chris Schadler in his recently registered Rihn DR-107 One Design ZK-WAM3:

ZK-WAM3 (c/n 94-115) was registered to Chris Schadler of Whakatane on 29/5/25.  Since it first flew it has had its colour scheme finished.

Thanks to paddyb for the photo.

Question Time - Tip Jet helicopter?

Recently I scanned this photo from Jim Barnett's photo collection.  Jim thought it was taken at Opotiki in the mid 1980s:

The unregistered helicopter has Rotorjet Mk 1 on the tail.  It looks like it is a tip-jet helicopter and appears to be well made.  Jim thinks it was started up but did not fly.  Can anyone shed any light on this interesting machine?

This might be a Question Time for which there is no answer!

Tecnam P92 Eaglet ZK-NSL at Tokoroa 7-3-2026

 Mark Pattenden was at Tokoroa last Saturday where he photo'd the Tecnam P92 Eaglet ZK-NSL:

I thought it looked different and on checking I found that it is sporting new trim.  I guess this would have been added after it was rebuilt after crashing at Thames on 28/8/22.

Thanks for the photo Mark.

The 15th Tiger Moth at Kaipara Flats on 7-3-2026

This is how you move a Tiger Moth around  - like a wheelbarrow with the weight balanced over the wheels:

Bruce Lynch's and Arjen Visser's Tiger Moth ZK-ASM was the fifteenth Tiger Moth on the airfield for the Tiger Moth Club flyin.

Thanks for the photo David.

Beta Alia CX300 N401NZ and Beech B200C ZK-RFB at Napier

Last week the New Zealand Air Ambulance Service hosted the Beta Technologies Alia CX300 electric aircraft at its Napier base (after the end of its lease to Air New Zealand) and it was marked with their name and logo:

This photo shows the Beta Alia with the latest Skyline Aviation Beech B200C ZK-RFB outside the Hawkes Bay Air Ambulance Centre hangar at Napier.  It gives an good idea of the size of the Beta Alia.

The reason for the hosting the event was because the NZ Air Ambulance Service has placed a deposit for two electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for delivery in 2028.  This is the A250 version of the Beta Alia which has four vertical lifting electric motors as well as the pusher motor, and it has flown in the US as it the photo below.

Well, that is interesting!

Vans Aircraft at Kaipara Flats for the Tiger Moth Flyin

The lovely weather over the weekend and the attraction of a lot of Tiger Moths brought several Vans aircraft to Kaipara Flats:

A surprise was RV 8 ZK-VAF from Omaka which arrived on Friday and accompanied the Tiger Moths.

On Saturday another RV 8 ZK-SST flew in from North Shore.

As did RV 7 ZK-JPH4 which now has a new Auckland owner.

RV 6 ZK-VNZ  flew up from Ardmore.

And RV 3 ZK-WHO flew down from Whangarei.

All of these RVs have been covered on the blog previously

ZK-JOY in Nelson.

 The Cessna 182Q ZK-JOY2 c/n 18265177 flew into Nelson ex Christchurch, and via Lake Station on Saturday. Today (Sunday the 8th) it departed for Masterton and home base at Tauranga.

This 182 flew into Auckland from the USA as N7386S on 12-11-1976 and became ZK-EJC from 18-01-1977 for delivery to K.V.C Holdings. 

By October of 1994 it was with Joy Leslie of Dunedin.

Joy re-registered it as ZK-JOY2 in September of 1995.

It has been listed with current owner Skytrack Aviation of Mount Maunganui since May of 2012.

Diesel powered Cherokee warrior ZK-LYD.

The latest addition to the Tie-Upp Aviation fleet at Rangiora is the Piper PA-28-162 Warrier II ZK-LYD c/n 28-8316038.

A 1983 production aircraft initially listed in the States as N4292D. 

It came to New Zealand to become ZK-MBF for the Massey University school of Aviation at Palmerston North from 29-06-1990.

In December of 2010 it passed to Eagle Flight Training until being acquired by Oceania Aviation in May of 2016.

It has been re-engined with a Continental 155hp CD-155 diesel engine ( see here ) and fitted with a three bladed prop - re-registered as ZK-LYD on 15-12-2025 - and now purrs quietly in the skies around Rangiora.

Airways Corporation Cheyenne at Nelson.

 Nelson Airport on Friday the 6th.

Bill Mannix photographed the Airways Corporation's Piper PA-42-1000 Cheyenne 400LS ZK-FIS c/n 42-5527019 as it powered up to Generation Global, having arrived in from Christchurch.

It departed for Paraparaumu and Auckland on the 7th.See here for a short previous post on this aircraft.

More Tiger Moths at Kaipara Flats Today 7-3-2026

After yesterdays influx of Tiger Moths, two more flew in this morning to make a total of 15 Tiger on the airfield - the biggest gathering of Tiger Moths for many years according to John King (and he should know)

Rob McNair flew in from Ardmore in his spectacular black and gold ZK-AUD.

Then Dave Phillips arrived in his East Coast Air Services marked ZK-BEN, flown from his farm airstrip near Clevedon.

And here is an aerial view of Kaipara Flats showing the 14 Tiger Moths and one Thruxton Jackaroo (which started its life as a Tiger Moth in 1939).  A couple of other DH aircraft on the airfield were Bevan Dewes' DHC1 Chipmunk (top right) and the NZ Warbirds DHC2 Beaver (at the bottom).

Tiger Moths (and a Jackaroo) at Kaipara Flats Today 6-3-2026

The weather was excellent across the North Island today as eleven Tiger Moths and a Jackaroo arrived at Kaipara Flats airfield from North and South.  I tried to get photos of them arriving:

Jim Schmidt's ZK-CCQ is a local Kaipara Flats resident.

ZK-BFF is based at Whitianga and was flown by Peter McVinnie.

Alan Coubray flew in in his and Martin Farrand's ZK-ATM2.

ZK-ASV is based at Drury and was flown by Wayne Thomas..

John Pheasant flew in from Tauranga in his Jackaroo ZK-PHZ.

Woodsy flew the NZ Warbirds ZK-ATN from Ardmore.

Jerry Chisum flew the Darton Field Flying Syndicate's ZK-BAL.

Amanda Rutledge flew in in Ace Edwards' ZK-BEC which is based in the Pukekohe area.

Wayne Tantrum flew his newly restored ZK-AJH from Omaka via North Cape.

ZK-BEF is based at Wanganui and was flown by Darren Luff.

Carl Jackson flew the Omaka Real Flying Club's ZK-BER from Omaka.

And John Bayne flew his recently acquired ZK-BMY from Gore via North Cape.

With Bruce Lynch's ZK-ASM hangared on the airfield that made 12 Tiger Moths and the Jackaroo, and more Tigers are expected tomorrow

Tiger Moths at Whananaki on 4-3-2026

The Tiger Moth Club is currently running a Northern Safari with 9 Tigers landing at Whananaki airstrip on Wednesday.  Tomorrow they start arriving at Kaipara Flats for their competitions and open day on Saturday, and AGM on Sunday.  David Signal flew up for the BBQ at Martin Farrand's place and he photo'd the 9 Tigers on the airstrip from his Foxbat:

Thanks for the photo David.

"New" PA-18-150 Super Cub ZK-KYU

Kynan Yu of Cromwell has owned a series of aircraft including the Savage Cub ZK-LAP which he sold some time ago.  Now he has gone one better by imported a Super Cub which he has registered ZK-KYU (it works well with a 2 letter Chinese surname!).  Now he has introduced it to social media by posting one of his nice Facebook videos, from which I took this screenshot:

ZK-KYU (c/n 18-8275) is a 1965 model Super Cub which was first registered in Australia on 24/9/65 where it had 12 owners over the years.  It was registered here on 3/2/26.

Corporate arrivals into Christchurch today 03-03-2026

 Once again Tony McFarlin was on site to capture these two corporate jets that arrived at Christchurch Airport today.

The Dassault Falcon 7X N997X c/n 144 began its career in France with the factory test registration of F-WWVY before moving to F-GYBJ with Dassault Aviation from march of 2012. 

Then it went to China in November that year as B-8206 followed by a move to the USA as N656FN in February 2018 for Fosun Investments, then to Dassault Aviation SA in April of 2022. 

It was re-registered as N997X to Toorak Investments Ltd from 08-08-2023 but is now hidden within the TVPX empire.

Then we have the Gulfstream GVI (G650ER) VH-SGA3 c/n 6446 which joined the Australian register on 20-05-2021 with SG Aviation Pty Ltd and is operated by Business Aviation Solutions Pty Ltd.

This is not its first visit to NZ.

It was originally flown as N646GA at Gulfstream Aerospace.

Isaacs Fury 19-2246 in Australia

Last week a nice Isaacs Fury popped up in my Facebook feed.  It looked familiar so a quick check revealed that it was an ex New Zealand aircraft:

The Isaacs Fury is now registered as 19-2246 in Australia.

But prior to that it had been registered VH-UCO from 31/3/99.

However, prior to that it had been registered as ZK-RFC (AACA/310/2) for Russell Woods.  It was first registered in New Zealand on 8/11/79 and it first flew at Christchurch on 24/11/79.  It is photo'd above at the 1981 AACA flyin at Mt Hutt.  On 21/4/86 it was sold to DG and LC Simpson of Auckland and it was flown as part of a 3 aircraft Isaacs Fury team at various airshows around the country (the others were ZK-DMN and ZK-JHR).  On 16/11/98 it was cancelled and sold to Australia as VH-UCO.