What Might Have Been at Wanaka This Weekend

Great weather across most of the country this Easter weekend has proved bitter sweet for many aircraft enthusiasts who had planned to be at Warbirds Over Wanaka 2022.  Sadly it was cancelled back in January for the second time in a row (even though the country is now in Orange which means the crowds would not have been limited).  I thought this photo would provide a poignant reminder of what might have been:

Polikarpov I 16 Ishak ZK-JIP at Wanaka in 1998.  It is now with Kermit Weeks in Florida.

If you want a further reminder of the glory days of Warbirds Over Wanaka have a look HERE

And so we look forward to local 2023 airshows...

Saturday visitors to Pauanui

Amongst the visitors to Pauanui airfield today was the 1974 model Cessna 180J Skywagon ZK-DOD which hasnt appeared on this blog site before.   Imported new it has been with its current Pukekohe owner since 2009.

And making its first noted visit here is the brand new Tecnam P92 Echo Mk II ZK-EAD2 which is registered to Gyrate NZ of Tauranga.

 

Pauanui Waterways

The long weekend has brought a number of private aircraft and helicopters to Pauanui including the following which have taken up holiday residence in the Pauanui Waterways.

Hughes 369HS ZK-HJB3 was imported used from the US in 1995 and has been with its Rotorua owner since 1998.

And Robinson R44 Raven II ZK-IHX which was imported new in 2006 and has been with its current Auckland owner since 2018.

 

Cessna U206F ZK-DWX in Whitiki Ngati Porou Scheme

Photo'd by Simon Hills at a AOPA flyin at Otaki on Sunday 10/4/22 was the Cessna U206F ZK-DWX in a Whitiki Ngati Porou colour scheme:

I understand that the script on the side of the fuselage of the aircraft is the names of the soldiers of C Company of the Maori Battalion who came from the East Coast (Tairawhiti) area who fought in WW II.

There were six aircraft painted up in the Whitiki Ngati Porou colours to help with Covid vaccinations in the East Coast area, and we have previously posted 3 others, being the Cessna 180A ZK-CDY, the Cessna P206E ZK-FJH and the Cessna 208 Caravan ZK-EAV2.

Te Kowhai Yesterday 9-4-2022

Another trip down to Ngahinapouri yesterday, for a significant birthday celebration (not mine) saw me have a bit of time for a side trip to Te Kowhai which is only 20 km up the road.  There were a couple of aircraft out that have not been blogged very often (but the more interesting stuff was in one of the hangars):

Beech C 23 Sundowner ZK-DVH was doing circuits.

While the Cessna C172K Hawk XP ZK-TXP taxied out and took off.  The performance looked spritely with 210 HP and one up.

Tiger Moth ZK-SSA at Forest Field

 

Lionel Green's De Havilland DH82A Tiger Moth ZK-SSA "Ruby" c/n DHA111 airborne out of Forest Field yesterday (08-04-2022).

Thanks to Aaron Murphy

ZK-DWW at Christchurch

 Cessna A185F Skywagon II ZK-DWW c/n 18504372 was on the tie downs at Christchurch International Airport late this morning..

It was listed to Darlington Drilling and Piling Ltd of Blenheim on March 4 th.

It started its NZ career as ZK-MCU in October of 1986.

Became ZK-MDC in September 1999 and following an incident in September 2012 came back as ZK-DWW on 22-06-2012.

Motueka news.

Lord Nelson was at Motueka today - Friday 8th and reports the following.

The Cessna 185D Skywagon ZK-CKT c/n 185-0929 which was listed to Shannon Harnett of Opotiki in mid December 2020.

Being cleaned up before export was the De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver ZK-LAY c/n 124 of GCH Aviation Ltd.

Thought to be one of several being rounded up for export.

The Westland Scout AH/1 ZK-HQU2 c/n F9475 of Chris Marsden still in its Raspberry Ripple "Empire Test Pilots School" markings.

Earlier posts oon this one can be seen here :-

https://nzcivair.blogspot.com/search?q=xp849

More around Auckland

A return to Mercer airfield today found the Rocket Lab Sikorsky S-92A ZK-HEV3 out test flying.  Further details on this helicopter are contained in yesterday's blog.

And at AKL International the Airwork (NZ) Boeing 737-351 freighter ZK-TLE was outside, now painted all white.   This was reregistered in Austria in January 2021 as OE-IFE,  and returned to the NZ register in March 2022.

 

Meanwhile up at Kaipara Flats

I was only out at Kaipara Flats airfield for a short time this afternoon but it coincided with the Eurocopter EC130T2 ZK-IBH2 practicing autorotation landings, which made for a spectacular display:

ZK-IBH2 was registered to Advanced Flight Ltd of Auckland on 12/10/20.  The pilot made several autorotation landings....

down to low level before flying another circuit.

Then to a low hover where you could see that the helicopter is not actually painted black.

A very nice helicopter, and more expensive than most flying machines that we see at NZKF!