Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Quicksilvers (4) - Quicksilver MXs ZK-FCD to ZK-FDX

 Carrying on with our single seat Quicksilver MXs:

ZK-FCD (c/n 3918 and MAANZ/101)

Registered 9 Aug 1982 to J. S. Hellyar, Auckland then 11 Jul 1984 Barry W. Ford, Tuakau then 4 Jul 1988 Graeme. J. Carlson, Huntly Cancelled Dec 2002 as withdrawn from use. 

ZK-FCL (c/n MAANZ/118)

Registered 17 Aug 1982 to C. A. Berg, Taupo then 26 Oct 1983 Taupo Aero Club, Taupo.  Climbed too steeply after take-off, stalled and crashed at Taupo, 7 Jul 1984 Engine seized after take-off and force landed near Taupo 3 May 1987, On 24 Jul 1991 to Bruce H. Walker, Henry Russell Estate, Waipukurau Cancelled 21 Dec 1998.

ZK-FCW (c/n MAANZ/125)  Registered 31 Aug 1982 to I. C. Maddever, Masterton Attempted deadstick landing but landed short and hit a fence (in a storm?) near Masterton aerodrome 24 Jun 1984 cancelled 29 Aug 1989 One source quotes destroyed by gale near Masterton.

ZK-FCX (c/n MAANZ/119)  Registered 1 Sep 1982 to Steve R. Edridge & J. R. Turnbull, Hamilton Cancelled 21 Jul 1992 as withdrawn from use.

 

ZK-FDB (c/n 4126 and MAANZ/130)

Unregistered to Alan R. Duncan, Auckland Engine failure after take-off and crashed into the mudflats off Pike’s Point airstrip near Otahuhu 16 Jul 1982 Thereafter referred to as “Mudlark 2” 

 Registered 9 Sep 1982 to Alan R. Duncan, Auckland, then 28 Feb 1990 J. A. Phillips, Te Kauwhata, then 1 Aug 1994 Dennis J. Smith, Whangarei, then 24 Feb 1996 D. A. Wright, Naike, near Huntly, then 4 Apr 1997 Dennis J. Smith, Whangarei.  Cancelled 24 Mar 2003 registration revoked.

 

ZK-FDO and see below

ZK-FDO/ZK-MXZ/ZK-DJX2 (c/n 4430 and MAANZ/143)

Registered ZK-FDO on 29 Sep 1982 to Harvey Helicopters Ltd c/- Bruce Harvey, Galatea, then 3 Aug 1988 Urewera Aero Club, Murupara, then 20 Sep 1989 C. J. Gilchrist, Timaru.   Cancelled 6 Apr 1994 as withdrawn from use 

Re-registered ZK-MXZ on 20 Apr 1998 to Neville G. Crossman, Timaru, then 30 May 2011 Tony J. Devries, Timaru cancelled 20 Sep 2011 as withdrawn from use  

Re-registered ZK-DJX2 on 30 Aug 2012 to D. A. & J. A. MacLeod, Timaru Cancelled Nov 2022 as withdrawn from use.

ZK-FDQ Registered 22 Oct 1982 to F. E. Day, Rotorua, then 21 Jul 1988 H. Bennett, Taupo, then 15 Jun 1993 Raoul. E. Lealand, Taupo, then 25 Jul 1994 William H. Bartle, Taupo, then 14 Aug 1995 I. W. Kane, Taupo.  Cancelled 17 Jul 1997 as destroyed

  

ZK-FDT (c/n MAANZ/152)

Registered 11 Oct 1982 to C. Nordstrom, Cambridge. then 31 Jan 1985 M. W. Richmond, Tokomaru Bay, then 4 Jul 1988 T. R. Birdsall & D. W. Robinson, Taupo, then 12 Nov 1992 Alvan S. Cooper.   Cancelled 11 Apr 2006 registration revoked.

ZK-FDW (c/n MAANZ/154)  Registered 13 Oct 1982 to H. Zeitler, Wellington.  Crashed at Makara, Wellington 30 Dec 1982 Cancelled 29 May 1995 as withdrawn from use.

 

ZK-FDX (c/n MAANZ/160)  

Registered 13 Oct 1982 to K. C. Miller, Havelock North.  then 21 Nov 1989 Wright Products & Services, Mount Maunganui, then 27 Mar 1990 Alan P. McDonald, Parekura Bay, Russell, then 19 Feb 1992 G. R. Gilbert, Te Puke, then 15 May 1995 Gary. C. Newton, Tokoroa, then 12 Nov 2000 Raoul E. Lealand, Taupo.  Cancelled 2 Jun 2004 registration revoked.

Topdressing DC 3 ZK-AOI

To break up the avalanche of microlights I will try to alternate with posts on other aircraft from the new Zealand register, starting with this:

Douglas C-47B-45-DK (c/n 16966/34226)

Built by Douglas Aircraft Co, Oklahoma City, OK with 2x 1200HP 14-cyl R-1830-92 Twin Wasp radial 45-963 engines 

23 Jul 1945 USAAF but diverted under “lend-lease” Exported to New Zealand flown to New Zealand.

NZ3532 17 Aug 1945 RNZAF 1 ASU, Hamilton

40 Sqn, RNZAF Whenuapai 

 Aug 1946 41 Sqn, RNZAF Whenuapai 

 19 Feb 1947 Air Secretary, Air Department, Wellington 

ZK-AOI 5 Apr 1947 New Zealand National Airways Corp, Wellington, named “Papua” converted to freighter by Airwork (NZ) Ltd  Converted to passenger configuration.  Apr 1964 Converted to Skyliner upgrade Jul 1966 wfu @ 22,758 hrs FT 

20 Dec 1966 to James Aviation Ltd, Hamilton converted to topdresser Used as topdresser from Mar 1967 to Feb 1969 then stored Flown by Don Thorp from Feb 1970 11 May 1971 Southern Air Super Ltd, Palmerston North (based at Blenheim mostly) Starboard wing broke off in flight between engine and wingtip and crashed into head of Ure River, Marlborough (1 killed) 23 Feb 1973 Cancelled 10 May 1973 (@ 1102 hrs Topdressing).

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Quicksilvers (3) - Quicksilver MXs ZK-ESZ to ZK-EZZ

I have posted previously about the first Quicksilver (a MX model) to be registered in New Zealand as ZK-MRW.  We have had 37 single seat Quicksilver MXs registered in New Zealand with the first group of them below:

ZK-ESZ (c/n MAANZ/058)  Note the tubes going back to the tail.

Registered on 8 Apr 1982 to Pacific Kites (1981) Ltd, Auckland (Tommy D. Namais), then 11 May 1983 Tommy D. Namais, Muriwai.   Cancelled 28 Oct 1992 as withdrawn from use.

ZK-EXT (c.n MAANZ/140)

Registered 29 Oct 1982 to J. R. Dennis, Invercargill, then 11 Mar 1985 D. Y. Roberts, Upper Kokatahi, Hokitika.   Cancelled 19 May 2011 as withdrawn from use.

ZK-EYP (c.n MAANZ/064)  Registered 9 Jun 1982 to R. A. Rountree, Upper Moutere, then 20 Sep 1989 D. C. Inwood, Christchurch.   Cancelled 28 Mar 1996 as withdrawn from use. 

ZK-EYS (c/n MAANZ/067)

Registered 9 Jun 1982 to H. & B. J. McInally, Morrinsville, then 11 May 1983 Opotiki Aero Club, Opotiki,  5 May 1986 L. T. Steel, Auckland “as is” 1 May 1990 D. Anderson, Kumeu,  17 Mar 1993 M. Clarke, 10 May 1997 F. K. Imlig, Tauranga, 1 Jul 1998 F. L. Carter, Opotiki.  Cancelled 10 December 1999 as withdrawn from use. 

ZK-EZW (c/n MAANZ/096)  Registered 4 Aug 1982 Peter B. & K. R. McKay, Ekatahuna Veered off airstrip and hit fence on take-off near Edgecumbe 28 Aug 1983,  5 Sep 1983 B. D. Kincaid, Whakatane (del Aug 1983),  6 Mar 1992 M. A. Reid, Auckland.   Cancelled 3 Aug 1995 as withdrawn from use.

ZK-EZZ (c/n MAANZ/103)

Registered 4 Aug 1982 to S. A. Barton, Featherston, then 24 Jan 1984 B. W. Tocher & E. G. Jaine, Masterton,  11 Mar 1987 B. F. Shears & G. Peters, Upper Hutt,  18 Mar 1988 B. F. Shears, Upper Hutt,  5 Feb 1996 D. G. Bloomfield, Masterton,   20 Oct 1997 Bernoulli, Newton & Murphy Syndicate, Wellington,   4 Jul 2002 Murray G. Sykes,   1 Aug 2006 J. L. Shakes, Masterton.    Cancelled 14 Sep 2007 as withdrawn from use.

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Quicksilvers (2) - Weight Shift Quicksilvers

In my previous post on Quicksilvers I gave their brief history as coming from the Quicksilver hang glider.  This then had an engine bolted on and became the Quicksilver C and this was developed into the Quicksilver E which was a weight shift machine that had a tricycle undercarriage with a fixed nosewheel.

We have had one Quicksilver E registered in New Zealand and four Quicksilver M models.  The Quicksilver M was also a weight shift microlight and I am not sure how it differs from the E model.

However there was at least one early model Quicksilver weight shift microlight here before microlights had to be registered:

This machine was imported by Pete James and he told me that it was the first microlight to be imported into New Zealand.  It arrived as a kit of tubes and all the other necessary bits and was assembled by Pete in a hangar at Hamilton in 1980.  This was the machine that Pete James flew at the Aviation Showcase 80 held at Hamilton Airport in November 1980 (see HERE),  and I think it was the one that Ken Asplin later flew at Te Kowhai (see HERE). 

The five New Zealand registered Quicksilver weight shift microlights are as follows:

ZK-ESU  (c/n MAANZ/023) Quicksilver M 

Registered 19 Mar 1982 to R. T. Lambess Whangarei, then 20 May 1987 K. B. Paulsen Waimauku, 24 Jul 1989 I. G. Ellis Auckland.  Cancelled 21 May 1998 registration revoked 

In the above photo you can tell it is a weight shift Quicksilver by the lack of tubes from the main wheels to the tail.  I think all the weight shift Quicksilver Ms had single cylinder 30 HP Cuyuna 430R engines.

ZK-ESW (c/n MAANZ/024) Quicksilver M  I am not sure why this was also referred to as a Desert Fox.

Registered on 27 May 1982 to R. L. Cranswick Te Karaka.  Cancelled 16 Sep 1992 as withdrawn from use 

ZK-ESX (c/n MAANZ/021) Quicksilver M

Registered on 9 Mar 1982 to W. B. Affleck, Kawerau  then 12 May 1982 J. D. McKay, Whangarei @ 15 hrs FT 20 Mar 1984 B. J. Lambess, Feilding @ 15 hrs FT 12 Mar 1985 T. R. & J. A. R. Cameron, Levin @ 15 hrs FT ($8,000) 30 Jul 1987 B. J. Lambess, Feilding 23 Oct 1987 J. D. McKay, Whangarei cancelled 24 Jan 1992 withdrawn from use.

ZK-EWK (c/n MAANZ/039) Quicksilver M

Unregistered in Oct 1980 with Pacific Kites (1981) Ltd, Auckland (Rick Poynter) Unable to legally fly because CAD had not completed certification rules for microlights. 

Registered ZK-EWK 13 Apr 1982 to Skyflight (Waikato) Ltd, Hamilton (Ken Asplin) then 10 Feb 1984 P. J. Barry, Port Waikato,  1 Jul 1987 M. A. Halcrow, Bethells Beach.   Cancelled 9 May 1995 as withdrawn from use

ZK-JAG (c/n MAANZ/364) Quicksilver E

Unregistered in Jun 1983 with Pacific Kites (1981) Ltd, Auckland )Tommy D. Namais), Henderson then Kevin Toms, Onehunga, Auckland.  Had a 20HP single cylinder Cuyuna 215R engine.

Registered ZK-JAG on 3 Jul 1986 to J Stewart and G Rule, Whangaparaoa, then on12 May 1992 N. D. & P. W. Hughes, Helensville.  Crashed.  Cancelled 10 Jun 1994 as destroyed. 

As ever, if any reader has photos of Quicksilvers please send them to the Editor.

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Quicksilvers (1) - The First One Registered ZK-MRW

Quicksilver ultralight aircraft had their genesis in the early 1970s when Dick Eipper founded Eipper Performance in Southern California as a hang glider manufacturer.  One model they made was a rigid wing design with a conventional tail that had been developed by Bob Lovejoy that became the Quicksilver C powered hang glider.  I was told by Pete James that there was a Quicksilver hang glider (not powered) in the first New Zealand Hang Gliding competition in 1975 at Bayleys Beach, out on the coast from Dargaville.

The Quicksilver C was developed into the Quicksilver E which had a tricycle undercarriage with a fixed nosewheel and was a weight shift ultralight.  We have had one Quicksilver E registered in New Zealand as well as several others, also weight shift, that were registered as Quicksilver M models (and I don't know the difference).

As ultralights were rapidly developing in the US, demand grew for more conventional machines that were not weight shift, and the single seat Quicksilver MX was born.  The first MX's had 2 axis controls with a side stick that you pushed left and right to control the rudder and that you moved forwards and back to control the elevator, and turning the rudder tipped the aircraft due to its relatively large dihedral.  Later spoilerons were added to the top of the wings to give better and more balanced turns.  The original MXs had single surface wings and were named MX Sprints and later a double surface wing model was named the MX Sport and this gave better performance and a sportier feel.  Then somewhere along the way the controls were changed to 3 axis with rudder pedals and a conventional control stick.  All of the MXs were cable braced.  Later on various 2 seat versions of the Quicksilver appeared and remarkably Quicksilvers are still being manufactured in the US today, some even with strut braced wings. 

The specifications for the Quicksilver MX Sport are:  length 18 feet 1 inch (5.51 metres), wingspan 28 feet (8.53 metres), wing area 156 square feet, empty weight 250 pounds (113 kg), MAUW 525 pounds (238 Kg).  With a 40 HP Rotax 440 the cruise speed was 50 mph (43 knots) and the stall speed was 24 mph (21 knots).

We have had 112 Quicksilvers of various models registered in New Zealand.

The first Quicksilver to be registered here was Marty Waller's MX model ZK-MRW which was registered to Pacific Kites (1981) Ltd of Auckland on 22/1/82.  Pacific Kites was formed by Marty Waller and fellow American Tommy Namais and ownership of ZK-MRW passed to Tommy Namais of Muriwai Beach on 11/5/83.  Tommy Namais later went to India where I understand he died in suspicious circumstances.  ZK-MRW then went to Dennis J Smith of Whangarei on 2/7/90 then to Andrew G Carter of Murupara on 5/7/93 and finally to Russell K Brodie of Rangitata Island on 10/8/08.  It was cancelled as withdrawn on 15/11/10 and is stored at Rangitata Island as part of Russell Brodie's early microlight collection.

Marty Waller was one of a trio of microlighters who flew their aircraft from North Cape to Bluff in February 1982.  He is photo'd above landing in ZK-MRW at Bridge Pa on 12/2/82.

And here is a later photo of it back in typical Quicksilver colours, at Pikes Point airstrip.

Although ZK-MRW was the first Quicksilver to be registered here, there was at least one other earlier model that pre-dated it and which I will post about next.

   

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Fledgeling ZK-PJH at Waitohi in 1985

I have previously posted about Pterodactyl microlights of New Zealand including the couple of Fledgelings that have been registered here and you can find that post HERE  In that post both of the registered Fledelings had canards and in the post I said I was at a loss to explain this.

Now Marcus Bridle of Marcus's Old Aircraft Photos on Facebook has come up with an early photo of ZK-PJH taken at Waitohi in 1985 that shows it without the canard:

So that explains why is was registered as a Fledgeling (as well as having the direct drive propeller).

Thanks very much for the photo Marcus.

More recent Rangiora photos.

 Rangiora on Friday the 29th produced two more strays from close by.

The Bush Caddy R-80 ZK-LIL c/n CA 001-117 arrived in from the Maddisons Road strip, did some local flying and returned home mid afternoon.
Built by Graham Johnson of Leeston, registered on 09-12-2010, and based at Ashburton for a while
It was moved on to Dylan Wear of Rolleston in April last year.

Nigel Forrester flew his BRM Aero Bristell LSA (TD) ZK-TDN c/n 174/2016 into Rangiora from his new abode of Cheviot for a couple of hours.

Initially registered late in 2015 as 24-8698 to Anderson Aviation in Australia. It joined the 'real' aeroplane register briefly as VH-ZYT3 in October of 2023.

Nigel purchased it, had it re-registered as ZK-TDN on 18-10-2023, and it was ferried from Latrobe Valley to Coolangatta on 30-10-2023. It carried on to Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands on the 31st. The new month had it flying to Kerikeri and Motueka, with a final flight to Timaru and Alexandra (Nigel's hometown at that time) on 02-11-2023.

Recent Rangiora pics.

A visit to Rangiora on Friday revealed the Zenith CH701 STOL SP ZK-DBC3 c/n 7-5464 making use of its Rotax 914 Turbo on take off.

This was built in the USA as N510DM with a date of manufacture of October 2005 at Fort Collins in Colorado.

It was certified at Rangiora by Stol Performance NZ Ltd and joined our register on 05-07-2016 for James Herlihy of Patearoa. It underwent a major rework at Custom Aviation at Taieri in 2018 and later sold to its current owner Jeremy Hurst, down Waimate way, in September of 2021.

After a period of storage, the Sigma Aircraft Sigma - 4 ZK-JRC2 c/n 09 is coming back together and should be back in the air shortly for its owner, since 2009, Harry Devonish of Christchurch. 
This is just one of four imported by Maxim Vassiliev - ZK-JQF, ZK-JRN, ZK-JRC and ZK-SRN, with just the last two still on our register.

Meet the TEAMs at Rangiora.

 A couple of seldom seem microlights at Rangiora were exposed to the daylight recently.

Above (and literally above) is the Tennessee Engineering And Manufacturing Inc (T.E.A.M) Z-MAX ZK-JGM c/n 666/MAANZ/556.

This first raised its head in February of 1996 with J A Gray of Christchurch, then to Richard ONeill-Dean of Dunedin.in early 2001 - it was next listed with Waarren Bezzant and L Anderton of Timaru in early 2001 followed by Richard Jones of Christchurch from mid 2002. Other Christchurch owners included Paul Woodward in mid 2004, Rod Webb from October 2005, Russell Byfield from August 2007 and Chris O'Brien in February of 2011. Up to this time I had never seen its registration on its fuselage side. However, Wayne Lindebaum and Brian Fitzgerald took it over from 05-02-2019 and now its sports its 'JGM' fuselage marks and carries 'JGM' under its Starboard wing.

Above we see a very very close relation - the Mini Max USA 1550V V-Max ZK-VMB c/n BF04.

This is a recent addition to the register for Brian Fitzgerald of Christchurch from 03-10-2025.

It registration letters of VMB appear in black on the darkish blue fuselage side and difficult to read.

Brian also owns the Facet Sapphire ZK-SAP which is parked in the left background.

More History of the Amphibious Savannah ZK-CEE/2

Following my previous post on the newly registered amphibious Savannah ZK-CEE2 (see HERE), we have been contacted by the new owner Fergus Watts who has sent some more information on its history:

Fergus advises that the Savannah is a 2016 factory built example that was flown out of Nusatupe Island in the Western Solomon Islands, which is South of Bourganville in the Solomon Sea, and also about 400 km East of Port Moresby in New Guinea.  Nusatupe Island is pretty much all airstrip and was constructed by the Americans during WW2 by flattening two islands and joining them together using the excavated material.  It was redeveloped in 2013 under a New Zealand aid programme and is now Nusatupe Airport, and this is where Bishop Capelli based I-C664 in the hangar photo'd above.

Don Luciano Capelli was the Bishop of Gizo Diocese in the remote Western Solomons.  The Savannah features his own personal coat of arms, designed when he was appointed Bishop in accordance with Catholic and Vatican heraldry tradition, and that has been kept for ZK-CEE2.  The above photo shows him pointing out details of the crest.  He retired in August 2023 and left the Solomons in 2025 after which Fergus Watts acquired the Savannah and recovered it to New Zealand.

Fergus told me that although the Savannah was registered to a Napier address in the medium term it will be flown out of Whangarei by him and David Cull.