Homebuilt and Sport Helicopters of New Zealand - Some Other Unregistered Helicopters (3,4....?)

This is my final post on homebuilt and sport helicopters of New Zealand but we will undoubtedly see more of them in the future.  We have had a surprising number and I have listed 79 of them including a couple of drones and some unregistered ones.

This last post covers a couple of helicopters, the first one of which flew quite successfully but ran foul of CAA (shades of Geoff Williams back in the 1970s).  I will not identify the builder.

I understand this is an own design helicopter which is a great achievement.  It was powered by a two stroke V4 engine adapted from an outboard motor.  The above is a screen shot from the internet and in it you can see that it flew really well.  It has since been grounded.  I guess the moral of the story is if you are flying an unregistered helicopter do not post it on social media!

Undeterred the same builder has now built another helicopter as shown in the photo above (also taken from the internet), this time with a 2.2 litre Subaru engine.  Again it looks to be well built.  We may see this one on the register in the future?

I guess with homebuilt helicopters the helicopter is the easiest form of flying machine to quietly build "under the radar" in your shed as it does not need an airfield to operate from.  So there may be others out there?  We don't know what we don't know.

Homebuilt and Sport Helicopters of New Zealand - Some Other Unregistered Helicopters (2)

 Another helicopter that has been for sale on Trade Me is the Hillberg EH1-01 Rotor Mouse:

The Hillberg EH1-01 Rotor Mouse N10TE (c/n 01) was designed and built by Don Hillberg of Fountain Valley, California and was issued with a FAA Certificate of Airworthiness in the Experimental category on 22/11/93.  It is a single seat turbine helicopter modelled after the Boeing Apache with a 145 HP Garrett turbine and it flew successfully.  Its dimensions are: length 20 feet 2 inches (6.13 metres) and the rotor diameter is 20 feet (6.1 metres).  It suffered a couple of accidents in 1994 and 1996 but proved itself to be strong as it was rebuilt successfully.  Its FAA registration was revoked on 2/10/21. 

However it apparently was shipped to New Zealand about 10 years ago and is for sale on Trade Me at Kerikeri where the above photo was taken.  It is possible that we may see it registered here in the future.

Thanks to Richard Currie for the information.

Wanaka 15 February

A visit to a busy Wanaka today offered a lot of interest with the main attraction being Bevan Dewes Harvard 2A ZK-OTU/NZ1044 which has been under restoration with Twenty24 Ltd at Wanaka. It has been finished in the scheme it carried with the No2 Fighter Operational Training Unit at Ohakea in 1943.

Something completely different was the AS350B3e T7-SDF scripted  "Sky Dreamwalker VI" as it is based on the Chinese owned 47m superyacht "Ocean Dreamwalker III".   "T7" is the registration prefix for San Marino.  The superyacht was launched back in 2018.

The latest AS350 addition to the Alpine Helicopters' fleet is AS350B3 ZK-HTW5 which was imported from the US in mid 2022.

Inside the Alpine Helicopters' hangar was the historic Hiller UH12E ZK-HBL2 wearing Luggate Game Packers titling.   This was originally imported from the US in mid 1970 as ZK-HDJ and after being withdrawn in 1983 it was rebuilt as HBL2 in 1987.   It is normally based at Minaret Station.

And in from its base in the Cadrona Valley was Rotoworx NZ's R22 Beta II ZK-HAV3.  This was imported in 2007 from El Salvador as ZK-HVA3,  and reregistered as HAV3 in 2013.

 

The Red Flyer No.891

A journey into Bainham in the nether regions of Golden Bay found the Red Flyer NO.891 tucked away in its shed.

Still good for many hours yet.

Homebuilt and Sport Helicopters of New Zealand - Some Other Unregistered Helicopters (1)

To wrap up my series on homebuilt and sport helicopters I will post a few that are in the country but for various reasons have not been registered:

The first of these has been advertised for sale on Trade Me for some time and although it carries the registration HEH it is not registered.(and ZK-HEH is currently a Bell Jet Ranger).

I understand that this helicopter is a single seat Ben Showers Sky Twister which is a re-design of the original Adams Wilson Hobbycopter  (see HERE for an unregistered example of the Hobbycopter that was built by Alf Crowe).  The Sky Twister incorporated many design improvements and a tube type tail boom.  Power was from a 64 HP Rotax 582 2 stroke engine.  Its dimensions are:  length 15 feet 9 inches (4.80 metres) and the main rotor diameter is 21 feet 6 inches (6.55 metres).

Thanks to Richard Currie for the information.

Golden Bay 11-02-2023

 On Saturday the 11th I found the Robinson R44 Raven II ZK-IAS c/n 13187, wearing 'Helicopters Nelson New Zealand' titles, in a field at Motupipi (just East of Takaka).

On the Takaka Airfield I caught up with the Golden Bay Air Britten-Norman BN2A-26 ZK-EVO c/n 785 which is just recently off a major refurbishment.

Two Cessna 172's from the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy Ltd of Whanganui dropped in.

Above is the 172S ZK-CTQ c/n 172S9846 which has been with them since July of 2022.

And below is the diesel-powered Cessna 172R ZK-NPJ c/n 17280092 which has been with NZICPA since December of 2019.

Pauanui

Pauanui airfield has seen an influx of visitors this week with the most interesting being the 1948 model Luscombe 8E Silvaire Deluxe N1529B up from Tauranga with RV8 ZK-MRM2. 

Not previously blogged here before is Advanced Flight's EC130T2 ZK-IHZ which was imported new back in mid 2021..

And not often seen is the Ngatea based Schweizer 269C ZK-HID4 which was imported from Japan back in 2002 and initially registered ZK-IAI.

Acquired by a  Te Kauwhata owner in early 2022 is the 1973 model Cessna 172M ZK-DSM which is now in a smart new paint scheme.

 

A Couple More From Healthy Bastards

A couple of sport aircraft took my eye from the competitors at the Healthy Bastards Bush Pilot Champs at Omaka last weekend:

Mark Miller competed in his Miller M1 Superchamp ZK-MMJ which now has super big tyres.  I think it was his first time competing in his aircraft at Healthy Bastards.  That's a spectacular photo Phil!

And also at its first Healthy Bastards and having grown some super sized tyres was Daniel Wright in his Zenith CH 701 STOL ZK-JRM.  See below for its intermediate sized tyres.  These tyres seem to grow down Rangiora way!

Dawn Aerospace Aurora Mk II operations out of Glentanner

 

The following extracted from the Canterbury Aero Club News   Dawn Aerospace is a New Zealand company based in Christchurch, developing reusable space transport technology. We’re developing a spaceplane, which means our operations are pretty unique! We’ve been operating out of Glentanner Aerodrome for the last year and a half. To date, we have been flying with turbines up to 9000ft AGL, and we have always had observers to provide traffic deconfliction. Our aircraft is known as the Dawn Aerospace MK-II Aurora (shown below) and it is a delta-wing, soon to be rocket-powered aircraft. With a 2.4 m wingspan, and a total length of 4.8 m, the aircraft is smaller than the crewed light aircraft typically flown out of the aerodrome. We have released a video showing what we have done with the aircraft over the last 18 months (YouTube link).

The MK-II in-flight   Soon we will be testing the aircraft under rocket power, then we intend to perform Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations, which means the aircraft can be flown outside direct sight of our observers.   With such a high-performance aircraft, the safety of fellow airspace users is our top priority. Here’s the most critical information about our MK-II operations we’d like you to have: The aircraft is remotely piloted and will be flown to very high altitude before gliding back to land at the aerodrome. Ground-based remote observers will support take-off, landing, and circuit operations. A NOTAM, which includes the area of operation, will be issued before operations.  Flights will only occur during daylight hours. Crewed aircraft have right of way over RPA aircraft. Operations will be infrequent.   The Mk-II is equipped with a mode S ADS-B transponder and FLARM unit. Aircraft with ADS-B OUT or FLARM units will be visible to the remote crew. Strobe and navigation lights for enhanced visibility are used, and the aircraft uses a forward-facing camera system. The remote crew also have a ground-based airband radio. We make regular broadcasts on the Southern Alps MBZ frequency (118.6) when within the MBZ and monitor Christchurch Information (CH INFO 123.5) when outside the MBZ. The crew will respond as appropriate to other traffic within the vicinity with RPA position and/or intentions. Ground-based observers will be used in the vicinity of Glentanner to complement the aircraft equipage in detecting aircraft. Dawn will endeavour to operate during times of little traffic in the intended flight location and integrate with existing airspace users.   For more information or details, please don’t hesitate to contact Dawn Aerospace flight operations at flightops@dawnaerospace.com or the phone number in the RPAS NOTAM when it is issued.

Australian Tecnam P2008 Imports at Nelson

Spotted last night (07.02.2023) at Nelson were these two sleek looking Tecnam P2008's from across the ditch, VH-VKU and VH-OHF.

Both aircraft began their trip in Melbourne, Australia on the 3rd of February 2023 travelling up to Tamworth Airport (YSTW) where they began their trip over the Tasman Sea. It took approximitely 15 hours from Tamworth Regional Airport, Australia to Kerikeri Airport (NZKK), New Zealand with stops at Lord Howe Island (YLHI) and Norfolk Island (YSNF) along the way.

Both aircraft landed in Kerikeri at around 1430 local time. At around 1540 both aircraft began their 4 hour journey south to Nelson Airport (NZNS) where they are pictured below.

Pictured above at Nelson Airport is VH-VKU (c/n 165) after completing a trip from Tamworth, Australia reaching nearly 20 hours flight time before arriving into Nelson, New Zealand. VH-VKU is a Tecnam P2008 and was built in Italy during 2019. VH-VKU was operated in Victoria by Soar Aviation and Amber Aviation before being sent to New Zealand.

Completing the trans-tasman flight alongside VH-VKU was VH-OHF (c/n 154) seen above, landing shortly before VH-VKU onto runway 20 at Nelson Airport, New Zealand. VH-OHF was built in Italy during 2018. Also being operated by both Soar Aviation and Amber Aviation.

VH-VKU and VH-OHF were both noted on Plane Sales Australia last year and have both  travelled onto Oamaru (NZOU) this morning (08.02.2023) where it is believed they have been purchased.