Thanks to
John M for sharing this absolute gem!
Kiwi Fox Moth makes debut in UK
Photo-report
from Adrian M. Balch at Woburn
On 15-16th August, the de
Havilland Moth Club held its 30th annual rally at Woburn in Bedfordshire, which also
commemorated the 40th Anniversary of the Club’s founding by Stuart McKay.
Star of the show for many was the
public debut of newly-restored DH83 Fox Moth, ZK-AGM (c/n TS2810), which
only made its first flight on 3rd August from Rendcomb,
Gloucestershire after rebuild by Jan Cooper and team at the Newbury Aeroplane
Company, nr. Hungerford. Owned by New Zealander and Emirates Boeing 777
Captain, Bruce Broady, the Fox Moth was put through its paces at Woburn by pilot
Charlie Huke. In order to fly in the UK,
the Fox Moth has been allocated the UK
civil registration G-CIPJ and will be temporarily based at Rendcomb before
being shipped back to New
Zealand.
The aircraft has an unusual
construction number ‘T/S 52810’ as it was originally c/n 4085, being delivered
to the Canterbury Aero Club at Christchurch
in 1934 as ZK-ADH and leased to Air
Travel (NZ) Ltd. However it crashed near Wigram on 7th June 1936
when attempting to land in fog and was damaged beyond repair. The wings,
undercarriage and tail were used with a new-build fuselage and it was rebuilt
by the de Havilland Technical School, but having a new fuselage was given a new c/n, the ‘T/S’ standing for Technical
School. It was also re-registered ZK-AGM and delivered to Air Travel (NZ) at
Hotitika on 10th June 1938, then to New Zealand National Airways
named “Matuhi” on 1st December 1947. It had several subsequent
owners, but crashed again on 27th April 1963 in West
Wanaka and was cancelled from the register on 5th
August 1963.
In 1997, the remains were shipped to
the UK
for restoration by the Newbury Aeroplane Company, and it finally emerged in
early August in pristine condition.
This is an important restoration, as
there are thought to be only another six airworthy Fox Moths flying in the
world today, in Australia, Canada, New
Zealand and the UK. When ZK-AGM finally returns to New Zealand, it will be based at Motueka, near
Nelson on the South Island.
Photos & text @ Adrian M. Balch/
Photair Press, 17/8/15
Actually, I did not realise that the New Zealand registration is a UK CAA Registration Mark Exemption scheme and the aircraft is actually registered as G-CIPJ (although this has been mentioned on the blog previously).
The aircraft is a long term rebuild of the original ZK-AGM which crashed near Wanaka in April 1963 and was itself a rebuild using parts of Fox Moth ZK-ADH with a new fuselage.
