Corby Starlets of New Zealand (2) and a Kestrel

The Corby Starlet is a small aeroplane with a length of 4.50 metres (14 foot 9 inches), a wingspan of 5.72 metres (18 foot 6 inches) and a wing area of 6.4 square metres (69 square feet). It has an empty weight of 230 Kg (500 lbs) and a MAUW of 340 Kg (750 lbs). It has a top speed of 260 Km/hr (160 mph).

The photos are from the Keith Morris collection.


Our fifth Starlet was Norm Bartlett's ZK-ONE (c/n AACA/570/1) which was first registered on 12/10/84. ZK-ONE has spent most of its life in Auckland with Harry Bielby from 3/86, and Dave Campbell-Morrison from 5/92. It was redesignated as a Class 1 microlight on 26/1/01 and it has been owned by Michael Wilkins of Taupiri since 7/10/01. It is photographed here at Pikes Point airfield, and as can be seen it is painted in Norm Bartletts favoured pseudo USAF colour scheme (similar to his RV 6 ZK-NRV).
Our sixth Starlet was ZK-TNT (c/n 272) which was built by Alfred Hirzel of Auckland. It was first registered as a Class 1 microlight on 29/1/02, and was first flown at Ardmore by Don Wilkinson on 31/1/02. It is photographed here at the 2007 SAANZ flyin at Ashburton.

It was purchased by David Wilkinson of Auckland on 4/7/10 and now forms one of a pair of Wilkinson Starlets at North Shore. It is photo'd here at the 2010 Black Sands flyin at Raglan, where it is part way through getting the Wilkinson treatment.

And our most recent Starlet to date is ZK-MGM (c/n 152) which was completed by Paddy O'Donnell of Ashburton from a partly built project, and was first registered as a Class 1 microlight on 29/6/05. It has a Jabiru 2200 engine of 80 HP. Its first flight was around 15/10/05, flown by Evan Belworthy. The above photo by Blue Bus shows Evan in ZK-MGM around that time. As can be seen ZK-MGM is painted in Paddy O'Donnell's favoured colour scheme of yellow and silver and black (as also seen on Turbulent ZK-CAQ and Avid Flyer ZK-VID). ZK-MGM was sold to Philip Olsen of Hokitika in 6/06 and to Patrick Webb of Christchurch in 5/07.

Then there was a surprise Starlet at the 2007 SAANZ flyin at Ashburton: ZK-SJM (c/n SP1234) which was built by Gary Montagu of Dunedin (who also built Corby Starlet ZK-JAM), and was first registered on 29/11/07. ZK-SJM is a metal CM 2 model, and is the first one in the world. It is photo'd here at Ashburton with Corby Starlet CM 2 on its rudder.

Later its name was changed to Corby Kestrel CM 2 as photo'd here at the 2010 SAANZ flyin at Tauranga. The Kestrel is a development of the Starlet with a wider cockpit, lower turtle-deck and an RV style undercarriage.

We look forward to more Starlets and Kestrels appearing, and several are on their way.