Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Skycraft Scouts (1)

 

Although I have postulated that Pete James’ McCullough powered Easy Riser was the first microlight to fly in New Zealand, in 1978, it is possible that an early version of the Skycraft Scout could lay claim to be the first microlight to fly here.  It would be great if someone out there with a very long memory could shed some light on our first Skycraft Scouts.

The Skycraft Scout (also sometimes called the Wheeler Scout) was designed in Australia by Ronald Wheeler of Sydney who put a motor on his earlier design Tweetie hang glider in 1972.  Wheeler was a yacht builder and he used yacht fittings and sailcloth in his design.  This was well before John Moody put an engine in his Easy Riser in the US in 1975.   Scouts had 2 axis controls for rudder and elevator and used a form of wing warping for control of the roll axis.

The specifications for the Scout Mk 3 are as follows:  length 17 feet 1 inch, wingspan (5.20 metres), wingspan 28 feet 9 inches ((8.77 metres) and the wing area was 109 square feet.  It was a very light machine with the empty weight being just 130 pounds (55 Kg) while the MAUW was 310 pounds ((141 Kg).  The Scout Mk 1 started off with a 14 HP Pixie Major engine but the Mk 3 had increased power with a 21 HP Robin engine as well as other improvements.  With 21 HP the cruising speed was 47 mph and the stall speed was 20 mph.   

Because of their small fuel tank they were around the patch flyers and that is probably why we don't have photos of many of them (and thus the following posts will have quite a lot of lists).  

What we do know about Scouts in New Zealand was that they were imported by a Dunedin firm L M Wright and Company and they reckoned they sold around 80 examples of which about 50 were registered.  Of course before 1982 microlights did not have to be registered in New Zealand.  So there were a whole lot of unregistered Scouts out there, some of them potentially before 1978 but we really don’t know.  The first examples were registered in March 1982.

This is a Tweetie hang glider flying in New Zealand,

and you can see that Ron Wheeler didn't have to do much to it to turn it into a Scout!

Of course the Scout is a single seater microlight which produces its own problems for people learning to fly one.  I remember a friend of mine telling me of his early experiences in flying a Scout at low level with his instructor shouting directions to him while riding a motorcycle alongside!

One unregistered Scout that I know about was flown at various locations on the Otago Peninsula in 1989.  This Scout was around when Geoff Williams was building and flying the last of his series of unregistered homebuilt aircraft. 

The Otago Peninsula Scout getting airborne from Blueskin Bay in 1989

 This picture was captioned “the Scout crashing again(!) at Hoopers Inlet”

Interestingly there has been a recent mini resurgence in Scout restoration with Ross Brodie at Rangitata Island restoring and registering ZK-FJI in February 2023 and at Wanganui Jonathan Mauchline has restored and registered 3 Scouts being ZK-RWW, ZK-JJN and  ZK-SLF (the last two were previously unregistered ones).

Eurocopter AS 350 B2 ZK-IDW/2 Today 23-6-2026

Number 2 grandson is farming in the Waikato and today got to ride in Total Heliwork Ltd's Eurocopter AS 350 B2 Squirrel ZK-IDW2 today to show the pilot where to spread the fertiliser, and he sent me this photo:

Because of the sun's reflection you can only just make out TOTAL script on the engine cowling above the cabin.  The helicopter is now in new colours from when it last appeared on the blog.

Thanks for the photo Ollie.

Te Kowhai in the 1950s?

Another couple of aircraft that Mark Pattenden photo'd at Te Kowhai last weekend.  You could be forgiven for thinking that you were back in the 1950s!

The 1948 Luscombe 8E Silvaire Deluxe N1529B from Tauranga

And the 1952 Cessna 170B ZK-JCG3 from North Shore.

I am pretty sure that Te Kowhai airfield did not exist back in the 1950s.

Cessna 182R ZK-CNR at Te Kowhai

AOPA held a Northern Rally at Raglan over the weekend but I think some aircraft were confined to Te Kowhai due to fog.

If anyone didn't know what type of aircraft ZK-CNR was, they don't have an excuse now!

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Kasperwings (2)

 We have had eleven Kasperwing I-80s registered in New Zealand as follows:

ZK-ESR (c/n MAANZ/014) was the first Kasperwing to be registered here.

Registered 28 Jan 1982 to Chris R. & P. M. Holmes, Pukeatua.  Heavy landing on Holmes farm, Pukeatua 12 Apr 1982.   Cancelled 13 Jun 2019 as withdrawn from use.

ZK-EXU (c/n MAANZ/029)

Registered 7 Apr 1982 to R. A. Hansen, Morrinsville, then 23 Apr 1982 P. M. Holmes, Pukeatua, then  18 Apr 1993 Kevin B. Paulsen, Auckland.  It is still current.

This could be ZK-FCT (c/n MAANZ/113)

Registered 24 Aug 1982 to Paul Beauchamp Legg, Feilding, then 21 Apr 1983 N. S. Williams, Raetihi then 14 Mar 1989 Bruce J. Lambess, Feilding, then 18 Mar 1993 M. A. Halcrow.  Cancelled 9 May 1995 as withdrawn from use.

Does anyone have a copy of Cross Country to Wanstead?  If so I would love to know about it.

                                                            ZK-FDU (c/n MAANZ/153) 

Registered 11 Oct 1982 to D. A. Mould, Taupo, then 11 Nov 1983 Robin A. Hansen t/a Matira Flying Club, Morrinsville.  Cancelled May 2026 as withdrawn from use.

ZK-FEH (c/n MAANZ/105)

Registered 30 Nov 1982 to Graeme J. Carson, Huntly.  A wing stay wire pulled out of its attachment clamp, the wing folded up and the microlight fell to earth near Waikaretu, 30km E of Huntly 3 May 1986 Pilot/owner injured (@ 850 hrs FT).  Rebuilt and flown a lot more by Graeme Carlson, then 11 Nov 2002 Edward G. Brown, Pokeno.  It is still current. 

This was Graeme Carlson's original Kasperwing built from a kit, and he told me that he built four more from the measurements from this machine.

ZK-FEX (c/n MAANZ/186)

Registered 25 Mar 1983 to David L. Gellert, Morrinsville, then 6 Dec 1983 Terry S. Smith, Hawera.  Cancelled 3 Aug 1995 as withdrawn from use. 

ZK-FEY (c.n MAANZ/188)

Registered 22 Mar 1983 to H. & B. J. McInally, Morrinsville, then 15 Sep 1992 Edward G. Brown, Pokeno.   Cancelled 7 Jul 1999 as registration revoked.

ZK-FFN (c/n MAANZ/207)

Registered 15 Jun 1983 to F. J. Savage, Waimana. then 12 May 1988 H. Wallace & Robert J. McNair, Hamilton, then 29 Jun 2002 William S. Baldwin, Ashburton.   Exported to Australia Shipped.  18 Jun 2012 G. I. Readman, Perth, WA.  Cancelled 20 Jul 2012. 

ZK-FMB (c/n MAANZ/334)

Registered 24 Oct 1985 to K. R. Aston, Tuakau.  Cancelled 9 Sep 1993 as withdrawn from use.

ZK-FPX2  (c/n BP001) Registered 7 Dec 2005 to the Kasperwing Syndicate, Feilding.  (was allocated ZK-JPX in error). Engine failure during overshoot and landed in paddock near Feilding 19 Feb 2006.  Cancelled 12 Jun 2018 as withdrawn from use. Re-registered  22 Sep 2020 to Rodger J. Ward, Christchurch Cancelled 4-13 Aug 2025 as withdrawn from use (again).

ZK-KDH (c/n MAANZ/028)

Registered 5 Apr 1982 to Ken D. Hoult t/a Cascade Microlights, Morrinsville, then 30 May 1993 William S. Baldwin, Ashburton Cancelled 28 Aug 2003 as withdrawn from use.  Re-registered 13 Nov 2003 to William S. Baldwin, Ashburton, then 9 Sept 2008 Blair D Hoult, Haast.  It is still registered.  I guess this is the Kasperwing that first flew here in 1980 as it was registered quite early on, in April 1982.

I think it is quite remarkable how many photos of New Zealand Kasperwings we have been able to get, but as always if anyone out there has any other Kasperwing photos please send them in to the Editor and we will post them.   

Todays Rangiora pie run. June 19th 2026.

 Friday usually = pie run day for me.

Today was particularly interesting as we recalled 'the good olde days' in the CRAC clubrooms.

It was really nice to catch the Lake LA-4-200 Buccaneer ZK-EEL c/n 1045 out to play.

Above just after take off with the pilot doing a visual on the gear retraction.

And below on finals.

See HERE for a previous mention of ZK-EEL.

The JMB  Aircraft  VL-3E-1 UL  ZK-VLE  c/n 252 is a re-registration of ZK-JMB2 from 13-06-2025

It has now just found a new owner in Ashburton.

The New Zealand Airline Academy had their Tecnam P2008JC ZK-NYQ c/n 1420 up from Oamaru for some attention from Griff at 'Clear Prop'. This was first listed to them in March this year.

Discussions between the Academy and the Oamaru City Council continue - with Whanganui possibly being the winner,

The rather unusual looking aircraft is the modified Zenair Mono-Z CH-100 ZK-RTI c/n AACA/609.

Doing an engine run to test the turbo.

This started life as ZK-FSH in early 1989.

Click Here for previous mention of this airframe.

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Kasperwings (1)

The next type of microlight aircraft to appear on the New Zealand Civil Register was the Kasperwing.

The Kasperwing ultralight aircraft was designed in the US by Witold Kasper and Steve Grossruck and was introduced in 1976, well before the FAA's Part 103 for ultralight aircraft was produced, and it won the 1980 EAA best Design Award..  It is a weight shift machine with a single surface wing braced from above by a kingpin and below from the keel.  It was produced by Cascade Ultralites Inc of Issaquah, Washington State.

The Kasperwing's aerodynamics differ from other ultralights/microlights because of the "Kasper Effect" which which relies on wingtip vortices to control roll and yaw, even below the stalling speed of the wing.  This allows the Kasperwing to make a vertical approach to landing while remaining stable in all 3 axes.  The wingtip rudders are also used in vortex generation and as airbrakes.

The length of the Kasperwing is 10 feet (3.04 metres) and its wingspan is 35 feet (10.67 metres).  Its wing area is 180 square feet.  the empty weight is 160 pounds (73 Kg) and MAUW is 380 pounds (172 kg).  With a 20 HP single cylinder Zenoah engine the maximum cruising speed is 45 mph, and the stall speed is a remarkable 18 mph.

As I have posted previously, there was at least one Kasperwing flying in New Zealand before microlights had to be registered, and that was flown by Ken Hoult of Morrinsville (see: HERE).  Ken Hoult went on to be the agent for Kasperwings in New Zealand trading as Cascade Microlights:

In the caption to this photo. Paul Legg writes:  "With the Kasperwing on a small trailer, Ken Hoult can tow his machine through farm gates to and from the flying field.  The Kasperwing does dismantle for roof (w)racking if needed, but most farmers prefer to house their machines".

Challenger VH-VSZ exposed at Nelson

 Early this morning the Bombardier CL-600-2B16 Challenger 604 VH-VSZ c/n 5411 was outside the Generation Global Ltds hangar at Nelson Airport.

It arrived in Nelson via Auckland and Brisbane on May the 11th and has been receiving some serious TLC since.

A product of 1999 from Bombardier of Canada where it was registered as C-GLXF. It then went to their US counterpart as N604JJ before heading to Brazil to become PP-OSA. Back in the US it became N604TS followed by N3PC, N66ZC and N66ZD.

It took up its Australian marks VH-VSZ from 11-07-2012 and was listed to its current operator on 13-03-2026.

Otago Aero Club Centenary Coming Up 5-7 February 2027

The Otago Aero Club was the first aero club to be formed in New Zealand in February 1927, and they are planning big celebrations to celebrate their centenary over the weekend of 5 - 7 February 2027.  In the lead up to this they are posting on Facebook and one of their recent posts has featured the venerable Cessna 152 ZK-EOJ which they operated between November 1988 and November 2013:

ZK-EOJ on line with the Otago Aero Club in January 1991.  The Falcon on the tail reflects its previous ownership with Falcon Flying Academy at Hamilton.  ZK-EOJ was part of a batch of 24 Cessnas of various models that were registered in the ZK-EO series in 1978/79.

And here is a recent photo of it at Momona just down the road from the Otago Aero Club's Taieri base.  It is now owned by Enfield Holdings Ltd and operated by Mainland Air, and they are the eleventh owners of the aircraft!

The Jabiru ZK-JBI

 On Tuesday I was lucky enough to snap the Jabiru SK80 ZK-JBI2 c/n 0081, outside its hangar.

First listed back in March of 1998 it has been Rangiora based since September of 2016 and with its current owner Brian Fitzgerald since August of 2018.

Brian also has the Facett Saphire ZK-SAP and a share in the T.E.A.M Z Maz ZK-JGM.