Pauanui Labour Weekend arrivals

Pilots with holiday homes at Pauanui have started to fly in on Friday afternoon and evening and amongst them so far was the Glasair Sportsman 2+2 ZK-EBG 4.   This was originally registered as ZK-SPO back in September 2006 but upon sale to its new Marton owner in July 2026 it was reregistered with his initials as EBG.

Another holiday home arrival was the Bell  429 ZK-HXW 6 which carries Advanced Flight titling.  This was originally imported from the US back in Augsut 2014.

Mosquito ZK-WEL/TE881 Out for Engine Runs at Ardmore

The fifth DH 98 Mosquito to be completed by Avspecs, ZK-WEL2 (c/n TE881), was wheeled outside on 9 October for engine runs and AgairNZ was there to photograph it:

ZK-WEL2 is a FB Mk VI model and it was registered to Avspecs on 29/4/25.  This Mosquito is destined for Fly a Spitfire at Biggin Hill in England and its history is detailed on their website HERE.  I understand that it will be used for warbird experience flights by Fly a Spitfire alongside their fleet of two 2 seat Spitfires and a Mustang.  I had expected Fly a Spitfire to have announced the good news so I will just post these two photos for now.

Both engines were successfully run during the test on 9 October.  It has since undergone more finishing work and will soon be out for more engine runs.

Thanks for the photos Wayne.

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Re Fledge One ZK-FEE

I have already posted on this microlight as a cousin of the Pterodactyl Fledgelings registered in New Zealand, but I will include it here for completeness as it was the next type of microlight to be registered, on 16 Nov 1982.  It was another use of the ubiquitous Fledge wing that the previous type of microlight (the also one off Liechtflugzeugbau GmbH Firebird M1 ZK-FEB) also used:

The Re Fledge One was a Fledge wing that M S Reid of Matamata mated with a tri-gear cage and it was powered with a 250 cc Robin engine.  It was registered ZK-FEE (c/n MAANZ/131) to M S Reid on 16 Nov 1982.  As a result of the above For Sale advertisement it was sold to a new owner at Opotiki in 1986.  But he didn't have much success with the microlight as he inadvertently took off on his first flight on 18 May 1986 near Opotiki, and then followed a series of climbs, stalls and dives until the engine cut out and it crashed nose first into the ground.  It was cancelled on 21 May 1998.     

Christchurch arrivals on the 20th.

 Two Christchurch arrivals on Tuesday from Tony McFarlin.

The ASL Airlines Boeing 737-86N VH-AZ4 c/n 32686 arriving in from Auckland.
A 2007 product first registered as N1781B followed by B-5317, N3268, 2-OTHV, OE-HRB and recently to VH-AZ4 on 14-09-2026.

Also out of the blue came the Dassault Falcon 8X N227KG c/n 511 of Salairus Aviation.

This was initially registered as F-WWZR in April of 2024.

Two from Wellington

 Allister Jenks captured the MBB-BK117 B-2 ZK-HMR5 c/n 7173 at Queens Wharf, Wellington yesterday the 21st. 

This is a 1988 model which was first registered in NZ on 03-08-2015. It joined GCH Aviation in December of 2019.

Over at Wellington International we see the Capital Aviation's Robin R2160 ZK-TZF c/n 360 on final for runway 16 on Sunday the 18th.

First registered in mid 2001 it has had at least fourteen operators to date - with it Joining Capital Aviation in March this year.

Rangiora Tuesday the 21st.

 An unusual visitor to Rangiora today was the Stemme S10-VT motor glider ZK-GDM2 c/n 11-079.
This was first noted with the German motor glider registration of D-KTSA before heading to Mexico to become XB-IEE in about May of 2003. 

It next popped up in the USA as N520EN in May of 2015 with a re-registration to N414WL in August of 2017.
This was cancelled mid-November 2023 for it to become ZK-GDM2 for David Crail of Blenheim on 30-11-2023.

   David has previously operated the Rolladen-Schneider LS4  ZK-GNJ from 1991, the  Stemme S10 ZK-GDC2 from 1998 and the Stemme S10V ZK-GSI from 2015.

Finally, a reasonable photo of the privately owned ICP Savannah S ZK-RKI c/n 18-08-54-0633.

It got a brief mention earlier HERE

An aircraft not seen very oft is the Aeroandina MXP-150 Kimbaya ZK-RTZ c/n AA-02-14-15-056 as listed to a reasonably local private owner.

It has had several brief mentions previously HERE

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Firebird Liechtflugzeugbau Firebird M1

We have only had one Firebird M1 microlight registered in New Zealand.  It was made by Firebird Liechtflugzeugbau GmbH of Seeg/Algau in Southern Germany.  A single seater, it first flew in 1979 and was derived from the Fledgeling hang glider wing that was designed by Klaus Hill.  This wing was used on the Pterodactyl Fledgeling which was later developed into the Ascender.  The Firebird M1 also used a canard out front like the Ascender but it was strut braced (instead of the Ascender's kingpost and flying wires). 

Specifications for the Firebird M1 are:  wingspan 10.00 metres (32 feet 10 inches), wing area 175 square feet.  Empty weight 98 Kg (216 pounds) and the MAUW was 190 Kg (420 pounds).  It was powered by a 3 cylinder 24 HP Konig SC430 engine which was well muffled to conform with West Germany's more stringent noise regulations and the 3 bladed propeller was driven by a 2.1 to 1 reduction belt.  With this engine the maximum cruising speed was 50 mph and the economical cruise speed was 37 mph.  The stall speed was around 24 mph.

ZK-FEB (c/n MAANZ/020).  This photo is believed to be of ZK-FEB in flight.  Note the struts.

ZK-FEB was registered on 25 Nov 1982 to Paul D. Leach trading as Engineers for Industry Ltd, Auckland. First Flight in NZ 15 Dec 1982.  Then 29 May 1984 to A. P. North, Auckland, then 18 Dec 1992 to  Hassan. Khayami, Onehunga, Auckland.  Cancelled 18 Sep 1995 as withdrawn from use.

"New" Diamond DA 42NG Twin Star ZK-CGX/2 at North Shore Today 19-10-2026

Seeing the registration ZK-CGX at North Shore today bought back some old memories!  I cast my mind back to when I saw the first ZK-CGX rolled out of the Hawker Siddeley Aviation hangar at Rongotai in May 1964.  It was the eighth Feildair Beaver and you can see details of it HERE.

The second ZK-CGX could hardly be much different to the first, but I guess that reflects 54 years of modern aircraft development (the Beaver was designed around 1946 and the DA 42 around 2000) - aluminium vs carbon fibre, tailwheel fixed gear vs retractable tri-gear, a big old radial engine vs twin turbo-charged diesels, a cruise speed of 124 knots vs around 175 knots...  But the Beaver could take 6 passengers as well as the pilot while the DA 42 can take 3 passengers.

ZK-CGX2 (c/n 42.N415) was delivered new to Australia as VH-VNX3 in late 2020 before being flown across the Tasman in January 2026, and being registered to North Shore Aero Club on 22/1/26.

Although it is registered to the North Shore Aero Club it is marked as AIPA that stands for Auckland International Pilots Academy which is the commercial arm of the club. 

I hung around until it taxied out...

and took off.

ICP Savannah S ZK-RKT 3

Visiting Pauanui airfield from Tauranga today was the ICP Savannah S ZK-RKT3. Displaying its rocket emblem this was originally ZK-LBQ, first flying at Forest Field as such in November 2023.  A sale to its current Tauranga owner in October 2025 saw it reregistered as RKT in April 2026.

 

PZL 101A Gawron ZK-CRO at Matamata Today 17-10-2026

Bruce Cooke was at Matamata today for the resumption of their BBQ lunches, and there was a good contingent that flew over from Tauranga.  Among the Tauranga visitors was the exotic WSK Warszawa-Okecie PZL 101A Gawron ZK-CRO:

ZK-CRO was registered to the BOP Marine Life Trust of Tauranga on 6 May 2021, having previously been HA-SBN in Hungary from 10 August 1969.

It has been previously covered on the blog, but not with its Gawron nose art.  According to AI, Gawron is the Polish word for a Rook (which is a member of the crow family - hence the registration).