ZK-BWL returns.

Two shots of the resently revived Cessna 172A ZK-BWL c/n 47320. A Rural Aviation import registered on 16-03-1960 before delivery and listing to the Middle Districts Aero Club on 01-06-60. Top pic taken at Wellington in 1962. In 1964 B A Morice of Napier appears on the paperwork. Pic below taken at Napier 02-03-1969 by which time it was with the Napier Aero Club.
In mid December of 1970 Cookson Airspread of Wairoa were the operators with a transfer to Manawatu Aerial Top Dressing Co Ltd on 23-06-1975. It was withdrawn from service in June 1977 and stored at Feilding and its registration was cancelled on 03-04-1991.

It has returned to the register with Crusader Aircraft Co Ltd of Napier .

Question time # 26 solved.

James has cracked Question time # 26.
Aerotek Pitts S-1S with c/n 1-0025.

Built in the USA as N8036 in about 1974 and cancelled in May 1988.

Shipped to NZ but wing damaged during transit.

Registered here as ZK-FRJ on 14-06-1988 to the Ashburton Aerobatic Syndicate which consisted of at least ten members. It carried "Inexcusable Extravagance" on port engine cowling. On 25-05-2003 it struck a fence during a cross wind landing at Cust. It is now on its way back to an airworthy condition by Maurice Till at Rangiora.

Pictured at West Melton on 09-12-1988

"Inexcusable Extravagance"

I believe the "RJ" in the FRJ registration comes from the first two initials of one of the syndicate members.

The nose in the background is that of a Titan Tornado.

Robinsons at Christchurch Friday 28th

A quick lunchtime visitation to the Western side of Christchurch Airport found these Robinson helicopters.
Above is ZK-HMW2 c/n 2555 on the Helipro pad. This was a new import by Wing & Rotor & registered on 05-12-1995 for delivery to Marlborough Helicopters (listed to them on 10-12-96). It then went to the New Plymouth Aero Club from July 2000 until going to Helirange Helicopters of Ohope in September 2001. By May 2003 it was with Karamea Helicopters and November 2006 had it with Karamea Country Freight of Westport. On 03-09-2008 it was registered to CHL Investments of Christchurch.

In the Skysales hangar (above) two recently unpacked R44 Raven II's await purchasers. No registration requested at this stage. C/n's are 12463 ans 12466 (clearly visible on the end of the rotor blade crates). By the time you read this, two new R22's should have joined them.

And as mentioned in an earlier blog the R44 c/n 0630 has indeed become ZK-HAB2. It was registered to Maruia Springs Thermal resort on 19-11-2008. Given its US airworthiness certificate on 16-07-1999 as N7114A it was cancelled on 18-06-08 for export to NZ, whilst under the ownership of Kevin Farmer of Lodan, Ohio. Hard to see in this cramped hangar shot is the "Maruia Springs" stylised script on the fuselage side.

Gone offshore. Koala ZK-IHS

One of our October cancellations from the NZ Civil Aircraft register is this Agusta A119 Koala ZK-IHSc/n 14037. First noted on the US register as N48HH with the manufacturer Agusta Aerospace on 09-12-2003. It was re-registered as N928KR for TexAir Helicopters Inc on 14-04-2004. An incident near Big Bear City, California on 19-07-04 meant a trip back to the manufactures with whom it was recertified on 25-04-2005. It became VH-PSR2 in August 2006 and had an owners address on the Isle of Mann. It was noted in Northern Ireland among other places during this time. On 09-11-2007 Heliflite Pty of Bankstown appear on the paperwork which was cancelled on 07-12-2007 for it to become ZK-IHS on the same day for Heli Solutions Ltd at Tauranga. The above pic shows it on 18-03-08 at Ardmore.
It became N119JT with Skyrunner Aviation Inc Trustee of Wilmington, Delaware on October the 7th; the day following its NZ cancellation.
It has been replaced at Heli Solutions by the Agusta AW119 Mk11 ZK-ISR c/n 14710.

Robin R1180 TD Aiglon ZK-TZW.

A resonably recent arrival in the Rangiora region is the Avions Pierre Robin R1180 TD Aiglon ZK-TZW c/n 263. Built and registered in December 1980 as F-GCRR it was imported into NZ by Izard Pacific Aviation and became ZK-TZW on 31-05-2005. Ownership moved to Fiona James on 15-09-06, initially of Auckland but listed as Rangiora on 03-10-2008.

This is a view of the construction plate showing the type, serial number (or construction number) and registration. A closer look tends to indicate that it is a "TO" model and there is no hyphen following the French national letter "F".

Pacific Aerospace 750XL ZK-SWA

A 750XL not previously reported on is ZK-SWA, serial number 130 and previously registered ZK-JNV from April 2007 until June 2007 when its ownership changed from the manufacturer to Kiwi Air of Gisborne. It was at Cork, Ireland 01Nov 2007 and then again on 17Feb (see attached photo) and commented that it was enroute from Africa (arrived from Lisbon). It was noted at Marqueete, Michigan on 01Aug and has now arrived in Australasia, being photographed at Toowoomba 08Nov and rocking into Cairns from Innisfail on 15Nov and then noted again flying into Cairns from Mareeba 21Nov. It carries the titles of UTS as does most aircraft operated by Kiwi Air.

Paul Daly photo via www.abpic.co.uk

Kiwi Air's fleet includes 750XL's ZK-FNZ, ZK-JBC, ZK-XLA and ZK-XLB plus Reims/Cessna Twin Caravan ZK-XLC which is apparently operating somewhere in Alaska and Cresco ZK-LTP in Australia!

Does anyone know how ZK-SWA left NZ, or was it built in the USA? The NZ Customs website has it listed so perhaps it left NZ around October 2007 to be in Cork by 01Nov07.

Ambling at Ardmore

A late spring day had me take the opportunity to amble around Ardmore and today proved well worth the effort.

Tecnam seemed to be buzzing with recently registered P92 Eaglet ZK-NSR/2 outside the avionics workshop. It was registered to Neil Ross of Gore just 3 days ago.

A second Eaglet, ZK-WTF, was parked in front of Tecnam's HQ along with P2002 Sierra ZK-JAX/2.

Note the 2 seat Spitfire departing in the background!

Helicopters were well represented with Robinson R44 ZK-HQF/2 and Robinson R44 ZK-HJU/4 both outside. Coromandel based Robinson R44 ZK-IAY was beating the helicopter circuit.

Eurocopter EC120B ZK-IFZ has been around since June this year and is operated by Heliflight. It was returning from a local flight when snapped.

Eurocopter BK117 C-2 (aka EC145) ZK-IGT is NZ's only example and is flown under Advanced Flight Limited banner on behalf of its owner.

A couple of foreign registered aircraft were also on the field, check out www.mrcaviation.blogspot.com.

Question time # 26

What aircraft does this tail belong to ?
Just the type for a starter ; then maybe what model ; then you can add a registration:

Once that is sorted; what will the nose in the background belong to when it is completed ?


ADDITIONAL CLUE (maybe) Added 25-11-2008.

There is something special about this inexcusable extravagence !!!

More on the Zlins down South.

Pete said...

Alexandra Z-37S - I happened across these today. The third wears a plate on the fuselage side as ZK-RJE. (all three have clearly visible plates) Where did you get the cns from? One of the bits in the pile on the other side of the shed had 040 in red painted on it but I didn't see anything to confirm 011 or 015.

November 2o, 2008 7:54 PM

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Continuing the blog from November 4th.

Evening Pete.
The three fuselages by my calculations, from left to right, and from my notes taken on the day (08-10-2008) have - on the left with the blue fuselage stripe is ZK-RJI which is plainly marked on the fuselage side. Carefully check the background of the third pic below. I did not see the cockpit plate in this aircraft. There is a plate on the outside, visible on the pic below, towards the left hand edge of the pic and below the hand hold. I don't recall what it had on it.
The middle fuselage I noted as Z37T 011, taken from a plate within the cockpit.
The third airframe noted from the cockpit plate as Z137T 040.

Checking against my notes on the NZ Civil Register I note that ZK-RJI is c/n 015.
The c/n 011 on the cockpit plate on the centre fuselage tells me that this airframe did not come onto the NZ register. However The previous identity of this aircraft was OK-RJE. The only ZK-RJE on our register to my knowledge was a Tecnam P2002-JF c/n 032; now in Australia as VH-IMP. (did you mispoll this as ZK-RJE ? or have I got it all wrong ?)
The right hand fuse c/n plate giving 040 makes it ZK-RZN (ex ZK-RDZ) as per the aircraft register and also the black fuselage stripes narrow this ID down. This also had red wing tips, rudder etc, but I noted no red bits at LX during my visit.


The wing centre section and elevators I did not take much interest in.



The three fuselages from another angle. "RJI" visible on the blue stripe on the far away fuselage.

Pete you say "the third wears a plate etc" Which one do you class as the third one ?

Interesting feedback thanks Pete. All the more reason to take good & copious notes. It just prooves that two people looking at the same thing, can come away with different observations.

Belated New Plymouth shots.

Back on the 25th of October Tony Mcfarlin sent me the following pics taken at the New Plymouth Aero Clubs 80th anniversary over Labour weekend.

Kawasaki-Hughes 369HS c/n 6631 wearing "US" marks and in a military scheme. It is in fact ZK-IUS (minus the "I"). Built in Japan in 1974 it arrived in NZ to become ZK-HSE3 on 26-03-01 following work by Wing & Rotor after an incident it had on 23-08-00 in Japan. After serving with Sutton Moss, Frank Wright and Volcanic Air Safaris it went to Kiwi Kopters Tauranga Ltd on 31-03-08 & was re-registered as ZK-IUS on 06-05-08.

The real ZK-HUS being a Bell 206B JetRanger just a few clicks down the road with Tarata Helicopters near Inglewood.

Bell 47G-3B1 ZK-IAR2 c/n 6605 from the Precision Helicopter fleet was also on the field. Of 1967 vintage. It spent time in Canada as CF-VUB from near new (Factory reg was N7804S) until gyrating down to become VH-KHY on 07-08-1987. It joined the Kiwi register on 11-07-05 via Heliwork NZ Ltd of New Plymouth.

And an unknown Cessna 210 "ZIO".

Speaking about REX

ZK-REX4 was in Christchurch Town on Nov 2nd in all its radiant beauty. Here it is parked outside the Canterbury Aero Club. It's been flying for just over four years now behind its 180hp Lycoming O-360.

FYI.

ZK-REX1 was a Cessna 310B c/n 35654 for about a year 1959-1960. It went to OZ and carried about five VH & one P2 registration until it was cancelled following a nose gear collapse in August 1986 at Bankstown.

ZK-REX2 was a Embraer EMB 110P2 Bandeirante c/n 110184 with Rex Air/Tranzair from 04-07-1989 until withdrawn and broken up. Cancelled 09-02-1996.

ZK-REX3 was another Bandit - A P1 model with c/n 110407 with Rex Aviation/Ansett NZ Regional from 13-11-1996 until cancelled on 29-10-99 to become VH-TLH.

ZK-TRS comes to town

Parked on the tie downs near the Canterbury Aero Club today was this Cessna 172N ZK-TRS2. c/n 68450. This is up from Geordie Hills Station, which is in the Lindis Pass, between Omarama and Tarras. It was registered here on 09-10-2007 after having been N733PU and then N172PN. An unusual colour !

Rukuhia Relics

Wayne Grant sends a photographic report of some 'dung dusters' at Hamilton today 18Nov.

This first is a shot of the remains of FU24-950M ZK-BXS c/n 77 registered to Super Air. This aircraft was involved in a landing accident at Piako on 11Nov when, per the CAA website, it was fast and high which resulted in the aircraft running off the end of the strip and coming to rest upside-down. The pilot was not injured.

The second is of FU24-950M ZK-CYM c/n 132 which was registered to Super Air 07Apr08 ex VH-CYM. Note the cabin windows.

FU24-950 ZK-DZO c/n 212 looking great in its Super Air scheme and PT6 engine.

FU24-950 PK-PNZ is destined for Indonesia, with a ferry flight originally planned for late October but it obviously remains holding at Hamilton.

Vans ZK-RVJ flies

Peter Campbell reports that The Copter Shop of Nelson RV6A ZK-RVJ c/n 21273 test flew at Nelson this morning, 18Nov, flown by Rex Newman. This aircraft was imported to NZ and previously flew in the USA where it was registered N747RV and subsequently cancelled from that register on 18Mar08. It was then registered ZK-RVJ on 15Apr08.

Harewood today.

A quick whizz around Christchurch about lunchtime today found the MD520N ZK-HWH2 , c/n LN098, having an AD done at the back end.
It is still listed to Faram Helicopters of Gisborne.

Still visible on the tail boom are the Phoenix Police markings.
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A long distorted shot during the heat of the day found the Beech C90 King Air ZK-MKG, c/n LJ-1367, of Air Wanganui refueling on the other side of runway 29.

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Across at Heli Maintenance on 03-11-08 was the Robinson R22 Beta D-HIRO. This is C/n 2336 which was listed as ZK-HYR3 on 21/10/08 for Ed Schenk of Clandeboye (near Temuka).
Ed still has R22 ZK-HMU2.

ZK-HYR3 as seen today.

Also: at Heli Maint is the R44 Astro c/n 0630 - making it ex N7114A (to be ZK-HAB ?)[What has happened to the historic helicopter registration batch ??],

Pic of the unmarked R44 Astro c/n 0630. ex N7114A (canc 18-06-08 as exported to NZ).

and at Skysales two new R44's c/n 12463 and 12466 still in their crates.

ZK-FKB at Wigram.

Parked at Wigram late this morning was the Cessna 182Q Skylane II ZK-FKB2.
This is c/n 182-65618. It came to NZ with an Australian history having been VH-BKB; the initials of its new owner, B K Bland of North Parramatta, NSW from 01-11-1977. In January 1987 it moved to Batchelor in the Northern Territories for Batchelor Aviation, followed by a period with SW Pty Ltd of Casuarina, NT from August of 1999.
It was purchased by Samual Campbell of Te Aroha and registered to him on the Australian register on 01-05-2001. This Australian registration was cancelled on 29-10-2001 for it to become ZK-FKB. It was listed to Cricklewood Deer Ltd of Fairlie on 11-08-2004.
I guess it is in town for the A & P Show at the showground just over the Northeastern corner of the airfied.

Gippsland Airvan for Salt Air

Salt Air took delivery of brand new Airvan ZK-MAB at Kerikeri 31Oct with the aircraft arriving as VH-BQY from Latrobe Valley and Lord Howe Island. It positioned to Whangarei where it was painted in the company's livery before heading back to Kerikeri 10Nov. It is pictured in the Salt Air hanger 11Nov.

Mike Condon photo

Question time # 25 resolved

Agh, or should that be "ah De Havilland"


Yes Barry, the Anonymous Barry, has cracked it again.
DH89 ZK-SWR with c/n 6853.
Listed with the Dragon Rapide Aircraft Group Ltd of Napier.
My undersanding is that his group consists of Benno Tissi, Chris Hart, Steve Turner and Gerald Grocott (note spelling of Grocott - we don't want to get Gerald Grumpy).
This aircraft along with the Beech 17 and the Racing DH60 are all listed for sale.

Question time # 25 - Another picture clue.

What's this then ?
What aircraft type does it belong to ?

So far not even one stab in the dark.

So I have added the above additional pic to assist you.

Agh !

Spartan ZK-ABK

I managed to miss the first flight of Bob McGarry's Simmonds Spartan 3 seater at Wigram on 02-11-2008. I did however find it tucked away in the hangar on the 3rd.
And how simple can you get ?

A great labour of love. Well done Bob.