Wanaka

A visit to Wanaka Airport today after the rain had cleared revealed some local changes and visitors starting with Wanaka Helicopters' AS350B2 ZK-HCP5 showing its former Helicopter Line heritage as ZK-HSO4.   It was acquired by Wanaka Helicopters in May 2021.

Departing next door at Alpine Helicopters was Hughes 369D ZK-HOT being the eighth use of this registration.  This was formerly ZK-HUW reregistered in December 2020,  and originally imported from the US in 1985.

Visiting from Balclutha was Cessna 172N ZK-MDR,  originally imported from Australia in 2013.

And from further afield the Kerikeri owned PA28-140 Cherokee ZK-CUG which despite being imported way back in 1968 has not appeared on this blog before.

 

Christchurch lunchtime today

 Around lunchtime today the Aeronautica Militare Italian Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 MM62191  46-57 (c/n 5531) arrived and did a couple of circuits before parking on the Antarctic apron.

This long shot was taken from the pie eating department of the Canterbury Aero Club.

Over on 'said' apron the Skyline Aviation Ltd Beech 200 Kingair ZK-MFT2 c/n BB-1298 had just completed a patient transfer.

Tecnam P 2004 Bravos of New Zealand (1) - 2005 Aircraft

The high wing Tecnam P 2004 Bravo was designed in 2004 and was built alongside the high wing Tecnam P 92 Echo for some time.  The Bravo had a tapered cantilever wing of a shorter wingspan than the Echo and was more aimed as a touring aircraft as against the Echo's training focus, and it had full surround cabin windows.  However the P 2004 Bravo was not in production for very long.

The specifications for the Bravo are:  length 6.61 metres (21 feet 8 inches), wingspan 8.6 metres (28 feet 3 inches) and the wing area is 120 square feet.  The empty weight is around 336 Kg (741 pounds) while the MAUW can be 544 Kg (1,200 pounds) for a Class 2 microlight or 600 Kg (1,320 pounds) as a LSA.  It is powered by a 100 HP Rotax 912 the cruise speed is around 116 knots while the stall speed is around 35 knots with full flaps.

We have had nine P 2004 Bravos registered in New Zealand, as follows in the order of their registration dates:

Our first P 2004 Bravo to be registered here was ZK-STT (c/n 009) which was registered to Total Entertainment Systems of Devonport (Stu Clumpas, who has owned many aircraft over the years).  It was registered on 3/8/05.  The above photo is from MRC Aviation and shows it on 25/8/05 at Ardmore.

Later it was painted with some swirly stripes and the registration on the fuselage, as in this photo, also at Ardmore, on 3/3/07.  It was cancelled from the New Zealand register on 7/8/12 and exported to Australia where it became 24-8777.

The second P 2004 Bravo to be registered here was ZK-TBT (c/n 010) which was actually registered on the same day as ZK-STT, on 3/8/05, to Giovanni Nustrini of Papakura. It is photo'd above at Ardmore in late 2005.  In March 2006 it was shipped to Australia and displayed at the Narromine Airshow in New South Wales.  It was cancelled from the New Zealand register on 4/4/06 and on 10/4/06 it briefly became VH-BHK4 with Tecnam Australia Pty Ltd of Runaway Bay, Queensland and then on 16/5/06 it became 24-4636.

ZK-TSI (c/n 015) was registered to Minaret Enterprises Ltd of Wanaka on 17/8/05.  On 31/5/07 ownership changed to Colin Alexander of Tauranga with whom it is still current (but not often seen).  It is photo'd above at Wanaka on 13/4/06.

 

And the final Bravo to be registered here in 2005 was ZK-TNM (c/n 016) which was registered on 26/8/05 to Bravo 5 Ltd of Whangarei.  On 18/5/10 ownership changed to Bravo 5 2010 Ltd of Auckland, with whom it is still current (although it is another one I have never seen).  It is photo'd above at Tauranga on 17/2/08.

Lake Station gliding 16th October

 Aaron Murphy and Lionel Green dropped into Lake Station on Saturday the 16th and captured the following gliders. 
(All have been covered on this blog previously).

Rolladen-Schneider LS4-a ZK-CCX2 c/n 4482 was purchased from the USA by the Nelson Lakes Gliding Club member Jerry O'Neill in late 2011 and registered here on 10-02-2012 and then to the Club from 19-07-2012.

Rolladen-Schneider LS8a ZK-GGP3 c/n 8024 first flew in NZ out of Wigram on 18-12-1999 for Nigel Ackroyd and carried 'Carpe Diem' on the fuselage side below the canopy. It was sold to Hadleigh Bognuda of Auckland in December 2007 and gained the 'Skull and crossed swords'. 

Alonzo Kelly of Nelson took it over in February of 2020.

The Sportine Aviacija LAK-17B FES ZK-GGS2 c/n 231 was imported from the States by George Scott.

The FES in the designation refers to the Front Electric Sustainer motor in the nose. 

Note the covered propeller blade folded back along the nose.

Grob G102 Club IIIb Astir ZK-GNH c/n 5612CB originally with the Auckland Gliding Club from early 1984 was taken on by  the Nelson Gliding Club (Inc) in mid-2004 followed by a name change to the Nelson Lakes Gliding Club in October 2008.

Rotating on a winch launch was the Schempp-Hirth Discus CS ZK-GRC2 c/n 300CS as imported factory new by Bruce Drake and Jerry O'Neill in November 2002. 

Mel Blackburn acquired it in November 2006 but returned it to Jerry O'Neill in March 2012.

             Aaron and Lionel's mode of transport was the AutoGyro Cavalon ZK-RDY c/n V00216.

Zenith Zodiac CH601-XL ZK-CMI

The Zenith Zodiac CH601-XL ZK-CMI c/n 6309 has been mentioned previously at :-

https://nzcivair.blogspot.com/search?q=zk-cmi 

It was sold to Piers Throssell from 16-12-2020 and CMM came across it at Piers property in Redwood Valley, Moutere on Wednesday the 14th.

Another Take on a Trio of WACOs at Taumarunui

Sadly the Tiger Club flyin attendance at Taumarunui over the weekend was affected by the Covid lockdowns in the Waikato, Auckland and Northland.  However there was a spectacular highlight in the first public showing of our three WACO biplanes, which came from Whitianga and Tauranga.  Jordan Elvy was also in attendance and he took the following photos - thanks Jordan:

Three WACOs ready for take off with those lovely Taumarunui hills in the background.  The trio left for home on Saturday afternoon avoiding the forecast Sunday weather.

Marty Cantlon flying his immaculately rebuilt WACO Classic Aircraft Corp YMF-F5C ZK-YMF.

And Marty's other WACO, the NuWaco T 10 Taperwing ZK-WTW was flown by Phill Hooker.

Then Keith Skilling took off in his Classic Aircraft Corp YMF-F5 ZK-CFL2.

Great sights!

Anderson Kingfisher ZK-DJH

The Anderson EA-1 Kingfisher ZK-DJH c/n AACA/165 has had several previous mentions on this Blog.

See here      https://nzcivair.blogspot.com/search?q=zk-djh

Ownership passed from David Baker of Greymouth to Jacob Hynd of Blenheim on 15/05/2021.

It was seen below after refueling at Motueka yesterday by Aaron Murphy.

A trio of Waco's

The Tiger Moth Club of NZ held its annual Taumarunui fly in this weekend and while numbers were down due to Covid lockdowns north of the town there were still a number of interesting attendees.  Of particular note was the gathering of our 3 Waco's being YMF-5 ZK-CFL2 from Whitianga and from Tauranga Marty Cantlon's YMF-5C ZK-YMF and NuWaco T-10 ZK-WTW.

 

Question time.

 Information needed on this aircraft please.

A recent addition to the Ashburton Aviation Museum.

A you can see it is powered by three electric engines - one on each wing and one at the top of the fin.

Two have evidently been used with some success in the spraying role out to the east of Ashburton. 

A Lovely Level 3 Lite Day at NZKF Today - 16-10-2021

What happens to the local Kaipara Flats flyers after 8 weeks or so of no flying, and the Saturday dawns to be a perfect blue skies day?  They go flying!

The flavour of NZKF at present - earthmoving equipment and aeroplanes - Avid Flyer on finals.

Asha and David Kay taxy back in Asha's Avid Flyer Mk IV STOL ZK-PCL, to stop for a cuppa.

Grant Waugh and Erwin Weber had been out early to assemble Erwin's Windsport Edge X 582 trike ZK-SJR and after the required three landings and take offs by Grant they took off for a local tiki tour.

Steve William's arrived and fuelled up his Savannah XL ZK-CVK2 then headed out for several flights with his wife Martha.  That's David and Asha looking on with said cuppa.

Then they were off again.

Several of us had planned to fly down to the Tiger Club rally at Taumarunui but we were stymied.  However we had our own mini Tiger Moth rally with two Tigers flying.  Here Bruce Lynch gets airborne in his Tiger ZK-ASM.

Darren Price arrived back in his Sling ZK-SLG while Jim Schmidt taxies out in his Tiger Moth ZK-CCQ.  And there were several other Northern Aviators Club members flying, but my camera ran out of batteries!  Darren had flown to Springhill earlier in the morning to pick up Tim Harrison and then they flew around the Auckland boundaries.

And to add to the carnival atmosphere the local modellers were also out in force (with social distancing of course).  What a great day!