Gardan GY 20/201 Minicabs of New Zealand (2)

Our next Minicab off the rank was ZK-DAG ( GY 201 c/n AACA/14/1) which was built by Merv Meredith at Waipukurau and was first registered on 10/11/71.  Merv was the President of the AACA for many years and he flew ZK-DAG extensively around New Zealand.  He also built Turbulent ZK-CBN and EAA Acrosport ZK-MWM.  The above photo was taken at the 1972 AACA flyin at Masterton.

The above photo was taken at the 1981 AACA flyin at Mt Hutt.  Tragically Merv Meredith and a friend were killed when ZK-DAG crashed in the ranges South of Taupo on 24/4/91, when when a weather bomb caught them out while returning from a fishing trip in the Bay of Plenty.  ZK-DAG was cancelled on 22/11/91.

Our next Minicab was a GY 20 model.  ZK-DMM (c/n AACA/180/1) was built in Auckland by GL Hall, and was first registered on 5/8/75.  Its first flight was on 7/8/75 and it featured a sprung steel undercarriage.  It was sold to FS martin of Patumahoe on 6/12/78, then to DR King of Matamata on 2/3/89.  It is photo'd here at the 1992 AACA flyin at Tauranga.

It then migrated to the South Island under the ownership of the Lillybank Syndicate of Rangiora from 23/11/98.  Somewhere along the line it was repainted in the above colour scheme, as photo'd at the 2009 SAANZ flyin at Ashburton.

Next came ZK-DDH (GY 201 c/n AACA/106/1) built by Ralph Leaf of Dargaville, which was first registered on 7/1/76.  It is photo'd here at the 1981 AACA flyin at Mt Hutt.  The colour scheme was unusual but I guess looked beautiful to the builder.  Maybe it was a good colour scheme to be seen in the air.  It was sold to KE George of Pukekohe on 18/6/87.

It was sold to Keith Turner of Masterton on 13/6/08 and now wears this new colour scheme as photo'd at Feilding.  It was re-designated as a Class 2 Microlight on 8/10/12.

And the final Minicab of this group is ZK-EEF (GY 201 c/n IW1 163) which was built by Ian Whyman at Wanganui, and was first registered on 22/7/76.  This was different to other Minicabs in that it had a 2100 cc Revmaster motor and had a lighter MAUW.  I do not have a record of who took the above photo, which is at Wanganui.  It was sold to AR Gernier of Te Aroha on 4/5/79.

Then it went to the EEF Syndicate of Auckland on 3/6/88.  It is photo'd here under the syndicate ownership at the 1989 AACA flyin at Taeri.  It was named Rag Doll in the syndicates ownership and it suffered several minor accidents in 1992 and 1999.  It was rebuilt by syndicate members Ian Davis, Bob Keith and Allan McCreadie and first flew after its rebuild on 22/7/00, in the colour scheme as below.

 

 It was sold to AR Wood of Wellington on 11/5/04 and was re-designated a Class 2 Microlight on 6/9/04.  It then went to BG McClennan of new Plymouth on 18/7/07 and finally to its current owner Gary Marsh of Inglewood on 13/4 10.  It was re-engined with a 85 HP Aero Vee engine in September 2010.  The above photo is at the 2007 Black Sands flyin at Raglan.