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 of  JMB  NZ  Ltd and is a re-registration of ZK-JMB2 from 13-06-2025.

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.

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - American Aerolights Eagle

Another early type of microlight to be registered here was the American Aerolights Eagle, but tragically it was probably our shortest lived microlight.

American Aerolights Inc of Albaquerque, New Mexico was born in 1979 out of the Electra Flyer Corporation who manufactured hang gliders in the 1970s.  The President of American Aerolights was Larry Newman with Bryan Allen as Vice President.  Both of them had alternative claims to fame with Larry Newman being part of the crew that made the first trans Atlantic balloon flight in August 1978 and he was also part of the crew that made the first trans Pacific balloon flight in November 1981.  Bryan Allen was the pilot (and power source) of the Gossamer Condor which won the Kremer prize in 1977 for the first human powered flight around a figure eight course around two markers half a mile apart, and he was also the pilot and power source for the Gossamer Albatross which in 1979 was the first human powered aircraft to fly across the English Channel.

The American Aerolights Eagle was a hybrid control microlight with pitch controlled by the canard with a tiller for yaw/roll and weight shift for pitch.  It was cable braced from a kingpost and had a mainly single surface wing.  Its length was 15 feet 4 inches (4.69 metres), its wingspan was 35 feet (10.67 metres) and the wing area was 193 square feet.  It weighed 170 pounds empty (77 Kg) and MAUW was 435 pounds (197 kg).  It was typically powered by a 20 HP engine such as the single cylinder Cuyuna or Zenoah which gave it a cruising speed of around 45 mph.

We have only had one American Aerolights Eagle registered in New Zealand:

ZK-RLG (c/n 4229-2/MAANZ/012) was registered to R L Gregory of Queenstown on 22/1/82 and made its first flight on 17/2/82.  Two days later, on 19/2/82 it hit the top of a row of tall poplar trees near Dunsandel and spiralled to the ground killing Roy Gregory.  It had only flown 3 hours.  It was cancelled on 1/9/89.

This was the first recorded fatality in a microlight aircraft in New Zealand.

Tecnam P2006T NG ZK-XPT at North Shore 15-6-2026

It is not often these days that you can photograph a brand new fixed wing aircraft, but I was pleased to be able to do just that yesterday:

Tecnam P2006T NG ZK-XPT (c/n 1014) was registered to XP Aviation Ltd of Waiheke Island on 22/4/26.  It has been assembled at North Shore and is powered by 2 of the latest version of the Rotax 912iS engine .  It has been signed off by CAA and a test flight is imminent.  I understand that it will be based at Ardmore.

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Aerial Sprayers

It did not take long after the first microlights were introduced into New Zealand that farmers saw that they could be of use on the farm.  And if you were doing aerial work such as spraying only on your own farm it seemed like there was nothing to stop you.

 The Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport at the time did not allow their commercial use and declared microlights to be only “fun/pleasure  machines”.  However this did not stop some early microlighters from carrying out spraying on their own farms: 

Ken Hoult of Scotsman’s Valley near Morrinsville spraying his farm from his Kasperwing micolight.  The spray equipment was four micron X15 spray heads fed from a spray tank either side of the pilot.  I am not sure what he was spraying for.  The Kasperwing could spray 100 acres for two and a half gallons of two stroke fuel and cost around $6,000 at the time.  (Paul Legg photo)

 Aerial spraying by microlight was also happening in the South Island with four Pterodactyls being fitted for spraying in Southland in 1983 (on the owner’s farm of course).  They also applied the trace elements cobalt and selenium in prill form from a small hopper to promote lamb growth and stock health.  It was quite thoroughly researched with field trials. 

The Pterodactyls sprayed very successfully for yellow stripe rust on wheat and barley crops using five CDA (Controlled Drop Application) spray heads at 6 foot spacing that were each driven by an electric motor and that spun the spray out using very little water to give a spray width of 50 feet.  It took about 5 minutes to spray 10 acres.  The big advantage of spraying from a microlight was that it could cover 10 acres using only 18 litres of chemical mixed with water and achieve the same results as a helicopter which used more than ten times the volume of chemicals.  Bantams were also used for re-seeding and prill sowing work in the South. 

Murray Hagen demonstrating the spray from the CDA nozzles on his Pterodactyl.  He also used a Pterodactyl Ptiger for cobalt prill application. (Photo via Murray Hagen)

And there were also microlights spraying in other areas: 

A couple of photos of Joe Collins (I think) spraying from a Quicksilver probably in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.  These photos are from Jim Barnett.  Graeme Carlson also told me that he did a lot of spraying, sometimes with Joe Collins and Terry Casserly, over 14 years in the Huntly and Ohinewai areas.

And there was also spraying done from Bantams. - below is an unidentified Bantam B22 set up as a sprayer at Te Kowhai:.

I also know of one more recent microlight that was equipped with spray gear, being the Quicksilver GT 500 ZK-MIC3 that was registered to I M Coleman of Mahoenui which is South West of Te Kuiti.  Here is a photo of it with spray booms from Trade Me when he was trying to sell it.  It has since been sold overseas. 

Quicksilver GT 500 ZK-MIC the third with spray booms.

 And I also know of one homebuilt Jodel D 11 that was fitted with spray gear for spraying the owner’s farm.

Can anyone out there add any more information on microlights spraying in New Zealand?

Foggy Sunday morning at Nelson

 Bombardier DHC-8-311 ZK-NEE2 c/n 618 was at holding point 5 for runway 20 at Nelson this morning awaiting the clearance of the fog.

A common occurrence at several airfields around NZ this morning.

This airframe dates back to December of 2005 and entered service with Air Nelson Ltd on 09-02-2006.

Photo from Bill Mannix.

Topdressing DC 3s (3) - ZK-APK

 The next registered topdressing DC 3 (in alphabetical order) was ZK-APK:

ZK-APK in Airland ownership at Takapau 12/4/71 (photo via Graeme Mills)

and below as Fieldair at one of its fixed loading points (not sure of the location)

Douglas C47B-45-DK  (c/n 16967/34227)

Built by The Douglas Aircraft Co, Oklahoma City, OK with 2x 1200HP 14-cyl R-1830-92 Twin Wasp radial 45-964 engines. 

24 Jul 1945 USAAF but diverted under “lend-lease” Exported to New Zealand flown to New Zealand NZ3532 21 Aug 1945 RNZAF 1 ASU, Hamilton 

RNZAF 40 Sqn, Whenuapai 

Jan 1946 RNZAF 41 Sqn, Whenuapai 

Jun 1946 RNZAF 40 Sqn, Whenuapai 

ZK-AOK 19 Feb 1947 Air Secretary, Air Department, Wellington (@ 695 hours FT) 

11 Apr 1947 RNZAF Struck Off Charge Harewood 31 May 1947.  ZK-AOK cancelled May 1947.

ZK-APK 6 May 1947 New Zealand National Airways Corp, Wellington named “Poaka” Flown to Australia for conversion by Australian National Airways 29 May 1947 

19 Mar 1948 converted to passenger configuration.

Withdrawn from Use Christchurch Jun 1962 @ 28,711 hours FT 

28 Aug 1964 converted to Skyliner configuration as “Skyliner Kaikohe” 

Exported to Fiji Cancelled 17 May 1967 

VQ-FAH 22 May 1967 Fiji Airways Ltd, Suva 

Exported back to New Zealand and re-registered ZK-APK 2 Oct 1967 New Zealand National Airways Corp, Wellington 

18 Nov 1968 Airland (NZ) Ltd, Palmerston North converted to topdressing configuration Test flown as a topdresser 13 Oct 1970  

20 Feb 1978 Fieldair Ltd, Palmerston North named “Poaka” then to Fieldair Holdings (Central) Ltd, Palmerston North named “Poaka” Last flight 3 Jul 1981 @ 42,764 hours FT (6193 hours topdressing) Cancelled 30 Mar 1984 . 

1986 to tea rooms at Mangaweka in various colour schemes.

May 2024 to Kevin Gardener , West Auckland and re-assembled in one of his paddocks.