Robinson R 44 Raven II ZK-HTY/3

To brighten up your day across what is a pretty grey day across the whole of the country, here is a photo of High Country Helicopters Ltd's R 44 Raven II ZK-HTY3:

ZK-HTY3 (c/n 11523) was first registered in New Zealand on 17/1/07 and has had nine owners since then.  It has been owned by High Country Helicopters since 15/4/16 and it has recently been repainted in pink.

Jordanian Air Force UH-1H Iroquois "808"

This Bell UH-1H-BF c/n 9903 recently arrived in Rangiora for the New Zealand Helicopter Heritage Museum thanks to Alan Beck of Beck Helicopters of Eltham.

One of three I believe Alan obtained from the Jordanian Air Force.

Ordered in the US fiscal year 1967, allocated the serial number of 67-17705 and taken up by the US Army in August 1968.
It has a well proven war record having served in the "American War" in Vietnam and later in Germany.
It was one of several obtained by Royal Jordanian Air Force and was allocated the serial number "808"

The serial number and national flag look like they were applied in a hurry !

It is a very welcome addition to the NZ Helicopter Heritage Museum.

Warbirds Over Wanaka Catchup - 2

 With the withdrawal of the F-22s and the other fast noisy aircraft, the jet display entertainment was much more linited than in other years.

However, the four-ship 'American Eagles Jet Display Team' rose to the occasion and put on a really good and polished display with their L-39s despite being limited by the cloud cover.

Warbirds Over Wanaka Catchup - 1

 After attending this show I then extended my South Island trip with an in-depth exploration of the West Coast.
Having found some interesting articfacts around there, I have only recently arrived back home and got time to look at photos.
For me, the show was a bit limited by the weather, a bit of a stuggle with a new camera, and the layout of the Wanaka airfield itself. The sun is in quite the wrong orientation for good airborne photos. Maybe they should rotate the whole runway 90 degrees?

Anyway here are some of the 'hot stuff' on takeoff:

And the one that didn't actually get to fly due (I understand) to brake problems, Yak-7B ZK-YKB

ZK-Pending at GCH open day 18-04-2026

 Airbus BK117 D-3 (H145) c/n 21103 D-HBKX3 is seen with its German test registration at Donauworth - Its pending Swiss registration covered over.

It is the first five bladed H145.

Below HB-ZQO was listed to Schweiz-Luft-Ambulanz AG (REGA) on 11-05-2022.     

It was canceled from the Swiss register on 27-01-2026.

It arrived in NZ earlier in the year and was registered here as ZK-IGD4 during February to GCH Aviation Ltd at Christchurch.

JetRanger ZK-HKR on the powerline patrol.

 Bell B206B JetRanger III ZK-HKR3 /n 3855 was parked at Way To Go Helicopters at Rangiora on Friday 17th all primed up and ready to start another session of power line inspections in the North Canterbury area.

Check out FlightRadar24.

See also HERE for more details of the job.

Beck Helicopters used the JetRanger ZK-HOC on this job last August SEE HERE

Three foreign visitors at GCH Christchurch. 18-04-2026

 Parked out at the GCH facility today were these three off shore visitors.

The Lear 45, c/n 45-262, was originally listed to Lear as N50126 for delivery to VH-VVI on 09-03-2005. This was cancelled on 22-08-2007 for it to become N45AU until it returned to the Australian register as VH-VVI again from 16-12-2009.

N998R is a Bombardier Global 7500 with c/n 70019. Built as C-FKZU and transferred to N769F in January 2020. Leased by Diker/Rodin Motorsports about mid 2024. Then re-registered as N998R for Diker/Rodin Motorsports from 13-02-2025.

Then we have N815GY.  A Gulfstream GV-SP (G550) c/n 5202 of Dry Fly Aviation of San Francisco. 

Built as N992GA about Auguust of 2008 it went quickly to N1SF then to N973SB in 2020. It became N815GY in Mid 2024.

A quick Rangiora pie run yesterday - Friday the 17th

 A fleeting visit to Rangiora airfield on Friday the 17th revealed the following.

Parked outside 'the black hangar' was the Hughes 369D ZK-HSD c/n 1090595D of                     Southern Heli Lift Ltd.

Over at Way To Go Heliservices Ltd was their Robinson R22 Beta ZK-IWK c/n 1789.

It has been with Way To Go since September of 2008 - prior to that it was ZK-HEH3.

Briefly passing through was the Canterbury Aero Clubs Piper PA-28-161 Warrior 111 ZK-LJD c/n 2842308 which has been with the Club since October of 2008.

Warbirds Over Wanaka 2026 (9) - A "New" Tiger Moth

There were several Tiger Moths present and flying at Wanaka and they flew in de Havilland flypasts along with Bevan Dewes' Fox Moth and Vaughn Davis' Chipmunk.  But there was another Tiger Moth on the airfield, being Wanaka Helicopters newly acquired ZK-APS:

As with all Tiger Moths ZK-APS  has a long and interesting history and is probably a bit like "grandfather's axe".  Its fuselage was built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company at Hatfield in 1940 and shipped to New Zealand where the de Havilland Aircraft Company of New Zealand built the wings and gave it the c/n of DHNZ 45.  It became NZ795 with the RNZAF on 30/1/41 and served with 1 and 3 Elementary Flying Training Schools and then was put into storage at Shelley Bay in Wellington.  In 1947 it was sold to the Southland Aero Club who registered it as ZK-APS on 15/8/47.

It then went to the South Canterbury Aero Club and it crashed at Timaru on 22/12/56 and was cancelled on 8/3/57.  It was then rebuilt at Timaru by Aerotech Ltd with an enclosed cabin and was registered ZK-BUO on 11/11/57.  It then passed through owners at Oturehua (near Naseby), Waipiata (near Ranfurly) and New Plymouth before being sold to the New Plymouth Aero Club on 16/11/67and they converted it back to open cockpits. It crashed at New Plymouth on 11/9/68 and was sold to a Hamilton owner, and it crashed again, this time at Puketaha Point on 18/2/72.  

It is photo'd here at Timaru on 23/3/74 where it had Honey Puffs sponsorship.  Simon Spencer-Bower bought it on 22/3/74 (one day before the above photo)and he repainted it in its wartime yellow RNZAF training scheme and operated it for many years.  And finally it was registered to Wanaka Helicopters Ltd who re-registered it back to ZK-APS in early December 2025.

Thanks for the photo of ZK-APS Mark

Warbirds Over Wanaka 2026 (8) - Another One That Didn't Make It

There was another aircraft heading for Wanaka that didn't make it (along with the USAF F 22s Raptors and the RNZAF).  This one was somewhat smaller and they made it as far as Lord Howe Island:

This was the Sling 4TSi VH-JEJ4 which was registered to Julie Johnston of Perth in March 2025.  It was flown all the way from Perth to Lord Howe Island when the weather report provoked a "yeah-na" reaction, and the owner then flew across the Tasman to Queenstown commercially before making the airshow.