"New" PA-18-150 Super Cub ZK-KYU

Kynan Yu of Cromwell has owned a series of aircraft including the Savage Cub ZK-LAP which he sold some time ago.  Now he has gone one better by imported a Super Cub which he has registered ZK-KYU (it works well with a 2 letter Chinese surname!).  Now he has introduced it to social media by posting one of his nice Facebook videos, from which I took this screenshot:

ZK-KYU (c/n 18-8275) is a 1965 model Super Cub which was first registered in Australia on 24/9/65 where it had 12 owners over the years.  It was registered here on 3/2/26.

Corporate arrivals into Christchurch today 03-03-2026

 Once again Tony McFarlin was on site to capture these two corporate jets that arrived at Christchurch Airport today.

The Dassault Falcon 7X N997X c/n 144 began its career in France with the factory test registration of F-WWVY before moving to F-GYBJ with Dassault Aviation from march of 2012. 

Then it went to China in November that year as B-8206 followed by a move to the USA as N656FN in February 2018 for Fosun Investments, then to Dassault Aviation SA in April of 2022. 

It was re-registered as N997X to Toorak Investments Ltd from 08-08-2023 but is now hidden within the TVPX empire.

Then we have the Gulfstream GVI (G650ER) VH-SGA3 c/n 6446 which joined the Australian register on 20-05-2021 with SG Aviation Pty Ltd and is operated by Business Aviation Solutions Pty Ltd.

This is not its first visit to NZ.

It was originally flown as N646GA at Gulfstream Aerospace.

Isaacs Fury 19-2246 in Australia

Last week a nice Isaacs Fury popped up in my Facebook feed.  It looked familiar so a quick check revealed that it was an ex New Zealand aircraft:

The Isaacs Fury is now registered as 19-2246 in Australia.

But prior to that it had been registered VH-UCO from 31/3/99.

However, prior to that it had been registered as ZK-RFC (AACA/310/2) for Russell Woods.  It was first registered in New Zealand on 8/11/79 and it first flew at Christchurch on 24/11/79.  It is photo'd above at the 1981 AACA flyin at Mt Hutt.  On 21/4/86 it was sold to DG and LC Simpson of Auckland and it was flown as part of a 3 aircraft Isaacs Fury team at various airshows around the country (the others were ZK-DMN and ZK-JHR).  On 16/11/98 it was cancelled and sold to Australia as VH-UCO.  

Two at Wellington on Sunday the 1st.

 Allister Jenks snapped these two at Wellington on Sunday the 1st.

Gulfstream Aerospace GVI (G650) N838MF c/n 6042 trundles in on the Western side of Wellington Airport. This one was initially registered as N604GD to the manufacturer in Savannah, Georgia on 24-05-2012 and became N838MF from 19-12-2013. It is currently listed with Wells Fargo/CSC Delaware Trust etc, and I believe operated on behalf of R Perelman an American banker, businessman, investor, and philanthropist. Perhaps best known to us for Revlon products.

The Nanchang CJ-6 ZK-WOK c/n 2132042 was doing some local flying. 

This was taken up by the Wellington Aero Club - arriving from Omaka on 18-12-2025 where it had been based since joining our register back in 1996.

The Club also lists the Nanchang ZK-MAO - but this appears to have been flown back to Omaka after the delivery of ZK-WOK in December.

Dreamliner N24988 arrives from San Francisco

 Captured by Tony McFarlin at Christchurch International Airport this morning 01-03-2026 was the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner N24988 direct from San Francisco.

With the c/n 37449 it first flew on 20-10-2024 and was delivered to United Airlines on 11-11-2024 in the special colour scheme and with 'The Future is SAF' on its engine cowling.
I believe its departure flight back to San Francisco was cancelled this afternoon.

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But wait there is more.

Back in 2009 another N24988 arrived in NZ.

This was a Cessna 152 c/n 80497 which was cranked out in about September of 1977.

It is seen below at Long Beach on 10-10-2005.Its last US owner was Hayden Halsted.

He shipped it to Peru - cancelling the US registration from 15-04-2009. 

It was not assembled there but shipped to Rangiora and assembled and certified at Rangiora Aircraft Engineering facility. 

Above it is coming together at Rangiora

It first flew here on 04-12-2009 having been registered to Hayden as ZK-KDP on 24-06-2009.

Above as seen at Rangiora on 01-12-2009.

And Below on finals at Rangiora on 05-12-2009.

It did not stay here very long. Being cancelled on 16-04-2010 as exported back to Peru.

There it became OB-2006

The only ownership details I have is of it being listed to P A Cabrera of Lima, Peru from 15-05-2012.

The photo below shows it as OB2006 on 24-09-2022.

Recent Christchurch visitors. From Tony McFarlin.

 Tony McFarlin has again been busy capturing the recent foreign comings and goings at Christchurch International Airport earlier this week.

On the 23rd of February.

The Cessna 750 Citation X+ c/n 750-0508 was built as N747RX in 2014. It was delivered to Lewis Aeronautical Ventures LLS (Lewis Energy Group) of San Antonio, Texas on 09-09-2014. 

In late March of 2021 it moved over to Flt Investments LLC of Huston and by November of 2020 had disappeared into the TVPX Aircraft Solutions system. 

It was re-registered to N750XC on 01-10-2025.

Interesting video clip HERE

On the 24th.

Bombardier Global 7500 N369WW (BD-700-2A12) c/n 70103 was originally registered as C-GVFO on 31-08-2021 to the manufacturer - until its shift down to Bombardier Aerospace USA on 06-05-2022 to become N369WW.

It was delivered to Gentle hunter World Ltd of Hong Kong on 03-06-2022 and then went to the TVPX listings a few days later.

Also on the 24th.

Another Bombardier arrival was this model 6000 (BD-700-1A10) Global Express B-8105 c/n 9510 of Asia United Business Aviation.

Built as C-GPIW and listed on 24-07-2012 it was delivered to China on 09-12-2013.

And also on the 24th.

The Gulfstream G550 (GV-SP) B-5999 arrived. This was listed with the Beijing Red Cross Medical Center and delivered on 11-07-2018.

Originally built in Canada as N560GD around May of 2017.

Skywork Squirrel ZK-HQQ

While I was out at Kaipara Flats airfield last Saturday a Skywork Squirrel flew into the circuit and practiced some autorotations so I fired off a quick photo.  It was ZK-HQQ and a check back on the blog showed that it had been posted before, back in 2016.  But all was not what it seemed!  

In fact the earlier photos were of the first iteration of ZK-HQQ which was also a Skywork Squirrel! (an AS350BA model c/n 2240 that went on to become ZK-HNX4), and the ZK-HQQ I photo'd was ZK-HQQ the second which is an AS350B3 model c/n 9232).

ZK-HQQ2 was registered on 24/5/22 to Skywork Helicopters Ltd of Warkworth and hasn't been posted on the blog before.

A Fiordland Pterodactyl Ascender - ZK-NLC

I guess one of the Pterodactyl pilots to have a serious amount of fun would be Bruce Reay who flew his Ascender ZK-NLC extensively around Fiordland and South Westland in the 1980s.  He also took quite a lot of photos of his adventures which he has posted on Facebook, and here are some of them:

Murray Hagen flying ZK-NLC on floats very early on in its life.

Lake Te Anau 1983.

Maybe the most photogenic backdrop for a microlight photo? (above and below)

Bruce's Ascender could also be operated as an amphibian I assume as in this photo.

A couple of spectacular aerial photos taken by Bruce in Fiordland and South Westland.

In its second element on Okarito Lagoon.

 

After an accident at Franz Joseph on 14/2/89 where it lost power on take off and mushed into some trees, it was rebuilt and had new covers with new registration letters as in this 1989 photo on the beach at Okarito Lagoon.  It flew on and was withdrawn in February 1992.

Pterodactyl Fun

In researching this series of Pterodactyl microlights of New Zealand and talking to some of their early pilots, one thing that came across was how much FUN they had flying back in those days.  So here are some photos:

On Blue Cliff Beach in Southland for toheroas (when you were allowed to gather them)

Jim Barnett flying to Opotiki for a flyin with another microlight off to starboard.  This is well before GoPros were even thought of and Jim told me he mounted his ordinary camera on the wing and took the photo by squeezing a hand held bulb which set off the shutter.

Pete James had an Ascender fitted with a special cage to keep a towrope clear of the propeller and he towed hang gliders aloft, here from Waitohi (photo from Murray Hagen).

Early microlighters were never short of an audience!

You could just go flying and drop into a local paddock.

Evan Gardiner and Ann Thompson flying down Ninety Mile Beach during shooting of a North Cape to Bluff film with Peter Hillary that never saw the light of day, only lasting until around Kerikeri.

A bit of early morning fun at a Waitohi flyin with a Hovey Delta Bird (more on these later).

There are many more stories and I am not quite sure how to do them justice.

Aerosport Dynamic WT9 ZK-DYZ

Visiting Pauanui airfield today was the Rangiora based Aerosport Dynamic WT9 ZK-DYZ.  Now in a new paint scheme this was originally imported new back in 2006.