To and From the RAANZ Flyin at Feilding in Foxbat ZK-SGI

A couple of months ago I was chatting to David Signal who was planning to fly down to the RAANZ flyin Feilding over the weekend 14 and 15 November and we made a plan that I would fly with him.  Of course the weather will always be a big factor in whether we could go but after the washout of last weekend the forecast looked good for this weekend and so we planned to set off early-ish from North Shore Airfield.  I drove down to North Shore arriving about 7.15 am.

We planned to leave with Greg-Dawson-Sheehan and John Issott who were flying down in Greg's A 32 Vixxen.  Of course we wouldn't see them again until Feilding as the Vixxen is faster than the Foxbat and Greg has made it even faster with the installation of an e-Props propellor.  Here both planes are loaded up to near their maximum all up weights.

We planned to fly out through the Whenuapai Control Zone and the ATIS told us the tower was unattended, so we did not need permission.  Then we flew under the Auckland Approach at under 1,500 feet across the Manakau Harbour at Cornwallis and down the coast to Raglan.  Then our plan was to fly in a straight line to Feilding.  But there was lowish cloud around the Mountains after Taumarunui so we had to detour a bit to the West.  The mountains were there but we couldn't see them.

However when were south of the mountains near Ohakune the clouds parted briefly and we got a view of Ruapahu, Tongariro and later we could briefly see Ngaruahoe before the clouds came back.

Then it was over more uninviting country for forced landings, flying over the Rangitikei area but it was all downhill to Feilding  (You can click the photo to enlarge to see more detail and there were some of the typical white limestone cliffs down there).

Our flight time to Feilding was just under 3 hours which was the longest flight I had done in a sport aircraft.

We camped on the airfield which was convenient.  However Feilding aerodrome is quite close to a busy road and also a train track so it was a bit noisy until cars got less as it got later.

We had planeed to leave around 10 am for our flight back but the weather was again low cloud over the high country near the mountains so we left packed up and left early and headed towards Mt Egmont feeling our way along until we could see through to the North near Hawera.

Just like on the way down the mountain showed itself though the clouds for a short while - pretty spectacular!

We then flew up the West Coast north of New Plymouth which is pretty rugged and spectacular, here just North of the White Cliffs with State Highway 3 running parallel to the coast at this point.

On past Marokopa which was in the news for a couple of years recently.

Then past Kawhia Harbour, and you can just see the mouth of the Aotea Harbour further up ahead.

By now we were looking forward to getting home to North Shore.  We cut inland at Port Waikato to miss some rain up ahead and on past the Glenbrook Steel Mill with its smoke showing us we had a fair head wind.  And the under Auckland Approach at 1400 feet to Cornwallis on the North bank of the Manakau Harbour and then climb over the Waitakeres.

Back in the big smoke but keeping clear of the built up areas of Watakere City.  The Waitamata Harbour, the city and you can just make out the Harbour Bridge, North Head and Rangitoto in the distance.

Back at North Shore outside the hangar.  The flight time coming home was 3 hours and 45 minutes and we were both pleased to get out of the Foxbat's seats!  Thanks very much for the great trip David.

I will post more from the RAANZ flyin at Feilding tomorrow as it is time for bed!

Piper Cub J3 ZK-AHE at Taieri.

Piper J3C-65 ZK-AHE at Taieri on 12-11-2026.

This Piper J3C-50 with the c/n 2708 was built at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, USA, shipped to New Zealand and registered as ZK-AHE to Barnard Owen 20-04-1939 and first flown at Christchurch on 16-06-1939.

It was stored during World War Two and joined the Middle Districts Aero Club at Palmerston North from 08-11-1945.

Some six owners later it was with E V West of Palmerston North from July 1955 with whom it was re-engined with a larger 65hp Continental, making it a Piper J3C-65 from August 1959.

Robert Burnside acquired it in July of 1960 and it has remained with Robbie ever since.

Below we have an early photo of ZK-AHE.

Note the large underwing registration spread across both wings.

          

Heli Otago's ZK-IID

   A reasonably recent addition to the Helicopter Otago Ltd's fleet, from 13-07-2026, was this Airbus MBB-BK117 D-3 (H145 D3) ZK-IID2 c/n 21492.

Some better pics of ZK-IID by Angelus Parker can be seen HERE

Taieri Thursday the 12th

 On windy Thursday I dropped in on Taieri Airfield expecting to find it a closed shop.

It pretty much was but there was some activity in a couple of the hangars.

Rex Telfer showed me his own design Rex Telfer REX-1 ZK-ROR c/n R118

See HERE for an earlier post on this.

Sharing the same hangar were two AutoGyro Germany MT03 Eagles.

Above we see ZK-KIW c/n NZ009 as listed with Doug Wallace of Oamaru who is currently undergoing flight training out of Taieri,

Below is ZK-ZEE2 c/n 544 of the Gyrate South Syndicate.

Westland Scout ZK-HVD at the Geraldine Military Museum

 In an earlier post we mentioned that the Westland Scout ZK-HVD2 was on the move to the Geraldine Military Museum.
Well, I popped in there recently, to escape the unpleasant meteorological conditions, and found it near center stage in new UK Army Air Corps markings representing its time as XV129.

Nicely done.

See previous posts on ZK-HVD2 Here and Here

Pipistrel Sinus ZK-GPI at Kaipara Flats

 As of last week we now have two Pipistrel aircraft hangared on the airfield at Kaipara Flats:

ZK-GPI is registered to Pipistrel Aircraft NZ Ltd of Kerikeri and is flown by Alan Clarke.  Man that wing is long!  It shares a hangar with an eclectic mix of 1940s aircraft - Tiger Moth, Aeronca and the Miles Messenger.  The Messenger is for sale for NZ$175,000 if you would like to buy it.

Atlas Air 767 N664GT at Wellington.

Allister Jenks reports :-

An interesting visitor arrived in Wellington on the night of November 7th.

When I checked the next morning, it was still on gate 26 but I watched it hooked up to a tug and pushed, backwards, all the way to the government apron. For a time it completely blocked taxiway Bravo at the A5 intersection, causing a couple of ANZ turboprops to turn around on the runway and head back to A6. There also appeared to be an issue at one point as RFS trucks raced across the runway and were firing water under the aircraft in the vicinity of the main gear.

Boeing 767-31B (ER) c/n 26259 first flew on 02-03-1994 and was delivered to China Southern Airlines as B-2565 until joining the Irish register as EI-CRD for Eurofly in November of 1998. 

It then went on line with Alitalia from September 2001.

It then became D-ABUL with Condor until becoming N664GT in March 2021 with Atlas Air.

Harvard ZK-OTU at Ashburton

 Also at Ashburton during Akro Fest - and remaining there for the remainder of this week and available to the public for joy rides - is the 'Legend Aviation' North American NA88 Harvard 2A ZK-OTU c/n 88-13193.

This served with the RNZAF as NZ1044 from June 1943.

In October 1971 it became an instructional airframe with the NZNAC/ANZ Engineering School at Christchurch.

After a period of storage, it was fully restored and reflew on the NZ civil register as ZK-OTU on 10-03-2023.

Ashburton Akro Fest 2026 #2

 Also at Ashburton for the Akro Fest we see the Sonex  ZK-CSL2 c/n 1476 of Cameron Day.

See HERE for more on ZK-CSL.

The American Champion 8KCAB ZK-DCL2 is c/n 1087-2009.

See Here for a recent post on this aircraft.

Morris Tull also had his MXS ZK-MXS c/n 0013 on site.

 

And Chris Schadler had his Rihn DR-107 One Design ZK-WAM3 c/n 94-0115 down from Whakatane.

See Here for more on ZK-WAM.

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Also hanging around - but not part of the Akro Fest was the Moravan Zlin Z50LS ZK-ZSO c/n 0070 which is mounted on the back wall of the Ashburton Aviation Museums hangar.

Ashburton Acrofest Friday the 6th

 The South Island Akro Fest 2026 is being hosted by the Mid Canterbury Aero Club at Ashburton this weekend.

Below we see four partaking Pitts Specials.

Above we have the Morrice Tull Aerotek Inc S-1S ZK-FRJ c/n 1-0025.

See here HERE for more on ZK-FRJ.

ZK-KEM is a Pitts S-1D with c/n AACA/404 as listed with Alex Kaandorp.

See HERE for more on ZK-KEM.

The Brad Pearpoint Pitts S-1S ZK-PEG c/n AACA/179/2

Drill down through here HERE to find more on ZK-PEG.

And ZK-PUG the Aerotek Inc S-1S c/n 1-0020 of Andrew Love.

Click here for  Search results for ZK-PUG