Boeing 737-83N VH-AN2 of Air Nauru at Christchurch.

 Boeing 737-83N VH-AN2 c/n 30660 and line number 1330 was captured at Christchurch on the 20th by Tony McFarlin.

First flown by Boeing as N331TZ on 17-05-2003 before heading out on lease to ATA Airlines from 09-2003. A lease to SpiceJet from 04-2006 saw it registered as VT-SPH, followed by another lease from 05-2012 as HL8268 with T'Way Airlines. From 06-2023 it was registered as LY-FBI until becoming VH-AN2 from 18-12-2023 registered to Nauru Leasing Corporation for operations by Nauru Air Corporation.

From Christchurch it headed away to Brisbane, Nauru, Tarawa and Majuro.

Westpac Rescue Helicopter at Auckland Hospital Heliport

I had cause yesterday to be down nearby Auckland hospital in the early evening (again!).  I took my camera just in case and I was rewarded with a rescue helicopter parked at the heliport outside the Starship hospital:

Kawasaki B117 B-2 ZK-HKZ3 was resplendent in the very late sun.  It is registered to Northern Rescue Helicopter Ltd of Whangarei.  After a lot of waiting around, unfortunately I had to leave before it took off.

Ex Fieldair Beaver in Sydney October 1999

Murray Kirkus has sent in a photo he took in a hangar at Bankstown Airport in October 1999, and which he has wondered about ever since:

It is the rear fuselage of a Fieldair Beaver on which has been written VH-BRF.  It never made it to VH-BRF and Murray has asked a long shot question - which Beaver is it?  Can any Beaver experts out there help?

Cessna TU206 ZK-SUY

 The Cessna TU206G VH-KPG2 c/n U20605696 arrived into Nelson from Auckland and points west on 13-11-2024.

As N5380X it arrived in Australia to become VH-AWR3 from 01-08-1980 and was re-registered to VH-KPG2 on 07-12-1998. It has spent much of its later life in the aerial survey role with FUGRO. 

It was registered privately to Gerald Lappin of Morwell, Victoria on 17-05-2024.

It was photographed above at long range at Nelson by Lord Nelson on the 15th - the same date as it was registered in NZ as ZK-SUY to Landpro Ltd of Cromwell - I believe certified by Aero Solutions NZ Ltd of Nelson.

Belated Ardmore report from Auckland.

 Back on the 3rd of November Allister Jenks kindly sent me some picks taken at Auckland International and Ardmore Airports.

Due to serious technical problems with this traveling laptop (a poor workman always blames his tools) I have not been able to post photos.Above 
 Does size have right ?
Air NZ's Boeing 777-319ER ZK-OKR c/n 44546 trundles along with the Beech A36 ZK-ACO2 c/n E1896 of R Leach and D Paterson.

Over at Ardmore we have the one engined Douglas DC-3 ZK-DAK c/n 26480 of Flight 2000 Ltd.

And the Buckley Air Ltd's Piper Aerostar 600 ZK-MVY c/n 60-0649-7961216 was parked outside its hangar.

Carbon Cub ZK-SCH/2

The Cub Crafters CC11-160 Carbon Cub ZK-SCH2 c/n CC11-00443 for Steve Lyttle of Timaru was coming together nicely at AVTEK, Timaru when I visited on November 4th.

It was registered on 13-11-2024.

Steve has been aviating for some years and has operated several gliders including LS4's ZK-GMT and ZK-GMU. the DG400's ZK-GOM, ZK-GQP and ZK-GWW - the ASW20 ZK-GRA plus the Zlin Savage ZK-LAP.

He also currently lists the Alpi Pioneer 300 ZK-SJL. 

Whilst Holly lists the Carbon Cub ZK-CSS and the Grob 103 glider ZK-GNE.

Yak 52 ZK-RUS/2 at Kaipara Flats

Yesterday at Kaipara Flats airfield it was a bit too windy for the microlights but not for Brett Hempell's "new" Yak 52 ZK-RUS2 which flew up from North Shore to do a modern version of a compass swing on the grass.

This Yak was originally built in 1989 in Romania with the Russian registration RA-02956, moved onto the UK briefly in March 2005 as G-CBPX before settling in South Africa in October 2005 as ZU-RUS.  It was imported into NZ in early 2024.

After a coffee Brett and Christoph climbed aboard for the start procedure.

The Yak is called "Russian Thunder".

Then it was back to North Shore.  A very colourful aircraft!

What Goes Up Must Come Down

A couple of days ago I posted about the Airscapade DC 3 ZK-JGB flying past Warkworth up to Kerikeri.

Well today it flew back down South past Warkworth again.  This time I heard it coming and it was again quite low, so I had time to get my camera and take a photo of it.  very nice to have a DC 3 fly over.

Look out for it at points further South.

Tecnam P2002 Sierra RG ZK-TZS in New Colours.

Tecnam Sierra RG ZK-TZS is the ex John Crone machine that was sold to Gilson Silviero of Queenstown on 18/2/24.  He has given it a major birthday with a refurbished cockpit and the latest factory Tecnam P2002 colour scheme (although it is not a Mk II):

Gilson Silviero posted this photo of ZK-TZS on Facebook and it looks very smart.

And a reminder of how it used to look, parked under the late lamented Raglan trees on a lunch stop in February 2020.

Silverer Shadow ZK-STK

Noted at Taieri on Tuesday the 12th was the Zenair CH701 STOL ZK-STK2 c/n 7-9507 which has been listed with Thomas Hoefner of Green Island., Dunedin since importation from Germany in 2012.

It has a small cargo pod beneath and is also fitted with a ballistic parachute.

An earlier post on this aircraft can be seen here HERE.