A couple of Cessna 185's

On my recent doddle around the top of the South I came across these two Cessna 185's

ZK-VKE Cessna 185A c/n 185A-0297 was registered to Hugh Bethell ; now of Waikari, North Canterbury; on 04-07-2005. It was spotted on the Pirikawa strip alongside SHI north of the Clarence River on February the 8th. Its colour scheme has changed slightly since its arrival here. The dark blue fuselage strip was originally a dull yellow. It served in PNG from new in 1962 until moving to Australia in the 80's. It ferried into Auckland on 22-04-2005.

Below is the Cessna 185D ZK-CKO c/n 185D-0790. Imported new into NZ by Rex Aviation and registered on 16-02-1965 for delivery to Wanganui Aero Work. After another half a dozen owners it was listed to F J Larsen of Upper Waitotara on 09-08-1973. By 1978 it was relisted to F J & J W Larsen and traded under the name of Ngamatapouri Air Service. A name change under Jim Larsen to Remote Adventures Ltd of Wanganui was listed on 08-01-2004.

It is based at Takaka and caters for walkers of the Heaphy Track and the odd charter. It is also still seen at Jim's farm inland from Wanganui.

An earlier blog on this aircraft can be seen at :-
http://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2008/01/zk-cko.html