Rangiora lunch time selection.

 Thrashing the circuit was the Taylorcraft Auster 5D ZK-BMD. The CAA has its c/n listed as NJ635 - but this is in fact was its RAF serial number from 07-06-1944 through to January 1950 when it was sold onto the UK civil market to became G-ALZM.

 Its real c/n is 1035 and it was built as an Auster AOP5, being converted to a 5D before sale to NZ in about August of 1955.
 Now a 5D has a 130hp Gipsy Major engine and an enlarged fin and larger balanced rudder.
From memory it was re-engined with an O-320 around 1978.

Does that make it a 5D/L ?

Current listed owners are Guy Redfern and Fiona Nimmo of Kaikoura. Nice !
 

 The Robinson R44 Raven II ZK-IRW (c/n 11696) was at the pumps today. This is the third ZK registration this Raven has carried. Its first was ZK-ISL with Skysales Aviation (NZ) Ltd from 27-04-2007 before moving to Te Anau with Southern Lakes Helicopters Ltd from 31-05-2007. It was traded back to Skysales on 19-12-2011. They re-registered it a ZK-ISP on 02-12-2012 and some months later (on 11-09-2012) it was re-registered again as ZK-IRW (almost a personal registration) on sale to Wood Contracting Nelson Ltd.
 

 Up from its Ashburton base was the Kintore Trust's Jabiru Sp500 ZK-JJR2  (c/n 506) to have some radio type work carried out. This one first flew on 01-06-2012 after some ten years in storage.
 

Now a Rangiora resident is the Cessna 180B ZK-REN (c/n 50627). This arrived from Australia on 14-10-1993 and adapted its VH-RFN registration to REN as RFN was already allocated.

It moved from Wanaka to Tim Gould of Southbranch Farm Ltd on the northwest outskirts of Christchurch on 03-04-2012.