Rangitata Island fly-in on the 28th.

Allan Bowman dropped into Rangitata Island for the fly-in on Saturday.

Here are three of his shots from that day.

There were over twenty aircraft lined up on the field.

Tecnam P2002 Sierra ZK-MVS is c/n 049 and is listed with Maximum Adventures of Wanaka. 

It is a permanent part timer at NZRI.

Solving all of the problems.

The Godfrey Brothers on the left; Paul (ZK-KNZ) obscured, with hand on prop hub, and Michael (ZK-KIV)with back to us. On the right we have Brian Jones (ZK-FOJ) bearded and Les Eade (ZK-LVE).

Above is a portion of the line up.

ZK-BDF

Rural Aviation Ltd at New Plymouth registered half a dozen Cessna 180's on 11-08-1953.

One of these was ZK-BDF (c/n 30179).

ZK-BDF gained its CofA on 01-11-1953.

Its NZ registration was cancelled on 31-10-1957.

It went to Hazair Agricultural Services at Orange in NSW as VH-AFK5 on 22-11-1957.

It was crashed at Timor in NSW on 27-03-1958.

This was the earliest production 180 in the country until the arrival of ZK-WGT (c/n 30012) on the register on 05-01-2007.

The classic top photo of ZK-BDF comes from the CMM collection.

Lower photo is by Jim Dyson and comes from the Ed Coates collection.

Question time # 177 resolved.

Mit scores again with his perfectly correct answer.

the question was :-

How many of these have been registered in NZ ?

                                                                                                      And the answer is

       "SIXTEEN CURRENTLY REGISTERED".

The aircraft is the De Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk, and the two specimens in this shot can be found in the workshop at Mandeville.

Both are ex Indian with the nearer having the standard canopy frame whilst the yellow fellow appears to be leaning towards the bubble version.

Mit's chocolate fish is already in the mail.

On the piquets at NZHK today

Ben from Wilderness Wings at Hokitika captured Cessna 182T Skylane ZK-MAR (c/n 18281127) on the tie downs today.

This is a 2002 model which hit the NZ register on 04-05-2010 for Roger Shepherd of Rotorua.

Just being nosey

Below is a grotty pic I took at Wanaka back on 14-04-2006.

It shows the modified nose section of what is labelled as ZK-NSY.

Fairchild Swearingen SA227-AC Metro III ZK-NSY was c/n AC711.

It joined Air Nelson on 04-04-1990 and was withdrawn from use on 25-10-2002.

Ownership passed to New Zealand Aircraft Specialists Ltd of Upper Moutere on 15-07-2003

 Below are two photos from Cessna185 showing what is ZK-NSZ (c/n AC712).

 It joined Air Nelson on 14-05-1990 and was withdrawn on 10-11-2002 and also went to N Z Aircraft Specialists.

 It was spotted in a commercial area of Nelson recently.

Both these aircraft followed the same career paths - worthy of a future blog perhaps.

Heli gaggle at Hokitika

Ben from Wilderness Wings at Hokitika captured these helicopters gathering around the pumps today.

They are

Robinson R44 Raven II ZK-ITH (c/n 10467) of Hopper Developments of Orewa.

Robinson R44 Raven II ZK-INC (c/n 109040) of Silver Fern Helicopters of Silverdale.

Then two unidentified Robinson R44's.

Eurocopter EC 120B ZK-IZG (c/n 1037) from I Spy Helicopters of Palmerston North.

Bell 206B JetRanger ZK-HGD (c/n 4143) of North Shore Helicopters of Albany.

They arrived from points South for a quick drink and then all departed North.

RANS S 7 Couriers of New Zealand (1) - 1997 to 2005 Aircraft

Our next type of 2 seater sports aircraft to be registered was the RANS S 7 Courier.

The RANS S 7 Courier was designed by Randy Schlitter in 1985 as a two seat trainer for the single seat RANS S 4 model.  As it turned out the S 4 was not very popular while the S 7 has turned out to be very successful in its own right.  Like the S 6, the S 7 has a 4130 steel cockpit frame with aluminium rear fuselage and wings, all fabric covered.

The current S 7 is 23 feet 3 inches (7.09 metres) long with a wingspan of 29 feet 3 inches (8.92 metres) and a wing area of 147.1 square feet.  It was originally powered by a Rotax 503 but the engine was upgraded to a Rotax 582 and more recently to a Rotax 912S of 100 HP.  The empty weight with the 912S engine is around 730 pounds and MAUW is 1.200 pounds (544 Kg).  Over the years the empty weight and horsepower of the S 7 have both approximately doubled.

We have had twenty five S 7s registered in New Zealand to date (and one has worn two registrations).  All except one are still current as at March 2015.  Interestingly, only two S 7s have been registered to North Island owners.

Our first S 7 was ZK-JGV (c/n 0694134) that was built by Hugh Tapper of Invercargill, and was first registered to him very early on, on 27/3/97, and it is still owned by him.  Hugh told me that as an early model it had a 2 inch fuselage stretch over the S 7 prototype. but that later models had a further 4 inch stretch.  It is photo'd above at a flyin at Waitohi on 14/4/01.

It has recently been re-covered as in the above photo taken at Invercargill on 19/11/14.  You can also see that it now has a Roberts Bush Gear Piper Cub type undercarriage.  Hugh has a set of floats for his S 7 that he is interested in selling.  If you are interested contact the email on the blog header page.

Our second S 7 did not come along for another four years but was also a short fuselage model.  ZK-JNK (c/n 1095157) was built by Raymond J Keown of Cattle Flat in Southland.  It was first registered on 29/8/01 and Ray Keown still owns it.  It is photo'd above at the 2009 SAANZ flyin at Ashburton.

ZK-OAC (c/n 0195144) was built in Canada in as C-FVFN and was imported by Wright Aviation Ltd of Mosgiel, being first registered to them on 11/2/04.  It is photo'd above at the 2007 SAANZ flyin at Ashburton.  It was cancelled on 20/4/12...

And it was re-registered as ZK-WAL3 on the same day, 20/4/12.  It is photo'd above on 21/10/12 at Rangitata Island and is still owned by Wright Avaition Ltd and now with the Roberts Bush Gear undercarriage.

The reason for the change of registration was to free up ZK-OAC for the S 6 ZK-WAL2 that had been purchased by the Otago Aero Club.  The above photo shows S 7 ZK-WAL3 that used to be ZK-OAC alongside ZK-OAC2  that used to be ZK-WAL2.  Confused??

ZK-RIC (c/n 0402319) was built by Richard Bourke of Ashburton and was registered to RJ and DFJ Bourke on 27/7/04.  It is photo'd above at the 2006 SAANZ flyin at Ashburton.

ZK-JPH3 (c/n 069113) was built in the USA as N125NS.  It was imported into New Zealand by Nic Kagan of Lowburn and was first registered to him on 19/10/05.  It is photo'd above at Barrytown  on 23/4/07 with the original standard spring steel undercarriage.

And here it is photo'd outside Custom Aviation Ltd at Taieri on 7/10/06, now with a Roberts Bush Gear undercarriage.  It was damaged in an accident at Casey's Flat in the Arthur's Park National Park on 19/3/14 and it was cancelled on 27/11/14.

Future Flyers Now Completed at Custom Aviation Ltd, Taieri

Last November I visited Craig Miller of Custom Aviation Ltd at his hangar at Taieri, and I posted about some aircraft that were near to completeion at www.nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2014/11/future-flyers-at-custom-aviation-ltd.html  Craig has made great progress on the four aircraft that I posted about, and today he has sent photos of two of them completed.  Test flights are expected in the next week.

ZK-MFD (c/n 04140014) is our first Rans S 20 Raven and was registered to Moa Flat Downs Ltd of Tapanui in Southland, on 3/3/15.  The S 20 is the latest in a long line of Rans aircraft designed by Randy Schlitter.  It features the side by side 2 seat fuselage of the S 6 but constructed entirely of 4130 steel tubing (rather than the aluminium rear fuselage of the S 6), mated to the wings of the S 7.  It also has a higher MAUW of 598 Kg, which is higher than both the S 6 and the S 7.

Another view of the S 20 Raven ZK-MFD with the rebuilt S 6 ZK-ZAZ, outside Custom Aviation's hangar at Taieri..

Rans S 6ES Coyote II ZK-ZAZ (c/n 11111950) was damaged in a landing accident at Cromwell on 15/2/14 and has been rebuilt by Craig for Robert McSkimming of Ranfurly.  It had its accident as a tri-gear aircraft but has been rebuilt as a taildragger.

Thanks very much to Craig Miller for the photos.

Question time # 177

Thinks are a bit slack in my aviation world at this time.

So as a bit of a fill in.

How many of these have been registered in NZ ?

I remember when.

No I don't.

Below is the official credit for this photo.

Harry Wigley beside a Miles M11 Whitney Straight ZK-AUK, ex G-AFJX, BD183, G-AFJX, near Fairlie in August 1950.

Whites Aviation Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library. WA-25760-F

Miles M11A Whitney Straight c/n 507 was built by Phillips and Powis Aircraft Company and registered as G-AFJX, with Cof A number 5383, to Brigadier General Arthur Corrie Lewin on 14-09-1938. The General was stationed at Kanda Kamu, Njoro, Kenya and I believe the aircraft was flown down to Kenya and then returned to the UK in July of 1939.

It was sold on 01-07-1939 and listed to John Tweedale of Beaumonds, Lancs on 12-07-1939 until impressed for military service on 18-08-1940 and was allocated to the Royal Air Force with the serial number BD183.

Post its RAF career (1946) it was returned to the UK civil register under its old G-AFJX registration to Dorothy Shuttleworth and Allan Henry Wheeler who traded as Warden Aviation and Engineering Co at Old Warden Aerodrome on 03-03-1947.

It was sold abroad on 21-03-1950.

The rest - as they say is history.

Here is a link to another fine pic:-

http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac2/NZNZ/ZK-AUK.html

And that history is :-
It entered the NZ register on 20-04-1950 as ZK-AUK for Mount Cook and Southern Lakes Company at Timaru.
It then went to private ownership with D H Withers of Christchurch from 22-11-1955 and then to A M Ferguson of Christchurch on 13-06-1956.
A V Martyn of Timaru had it from 07-08-1959 - the first several aircraft he owned over the years.
S C Jones seem to fit in about here before Ivan Strathern of Dunedin took over from May of 1962.
It was ground looped at Christchurch on 26-06-1966 and then passed to V B Murray of Timaru. Its registration was cancelled on 29-07-1968 and I believe it was moved to the Ferrymead Aeronautical Society followed by time with the RNZAF Museum at Wigram about 1981.
It is currently a long term restoration project with Greg MacDonald at Forest Field, who has just finished titivating up the Auster Mk5D ZK-BGU.

At Christchurch today 25-03-2015

Bargeldo1 also got most of these shots at Christchurch International today - with a couple tossed in by Blue Bus.

 Robinson R44 Raven II ZK-IJB (c/n 10267) was on the pad at Pacific Helicopters. This is the John Butterfield machine. It went new too John from Skysales Aviation from 29-04-2004.

Parked on the hard outside the Canterbury Aero Clubs hangar was the Beech C90A (SE) King Air ZK-MKG (c/n LJ1367) of Air Wanganui Commuter Ltd. Been with them since mid-2005.

Trying to sneak through undetected in the heat waves was the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan ZK-MYH (c/n 2080604 from Air2there.com (2008 Ltd).

On borrowed time. Boeing 737-319 ZK-NGI (c/n 25608) went new to ANZ in November 1999. It is due to be retired very shortly. The last ANZ 7377 is due to be retired by September.

Over at Heli Maintenance the Aero L29  Delfin ZK-VAU (c/n 094019) of Soviet Star Ltd is getting some attention.

ZK-PSK passing through NZRT

 The latest Just Aircraft SuperSTOL on the register is ZK-PSK (c/n JA342-01-14) which was listed on 03-03-2015 to Chris Pask of Hastings - passed through Rangiora today on delivery.

Chris is a well known Ag pilot who started with Cookson Airspread from about 1961 before forming his own Pask Air Services in 1966, which operated at least eleven aircraft over the years.

 He also finished the construction of the Pitts S-1C Special ZK-DOH back in 1976.

Photos by Bargeldo1.

Jabirus on New Zealand (6) - J400 and J430 Models

The J400 and J430 model Jabirus are four seater versions of the J200 and J230 models.  They have the same dimensions and 6 cylinder 3300 cc engine but have an increased MAUW of 700 Kg (1,543 pounds).

We have had one J400 and one J430 in New Zealand to date.

J400 model ZK-ZMA (c/n 114) was built in Australia and first registered as VH-ZMX on 20/10/03.  After several owners it was sold to Alan P Warren of Roseberry, NT.  Its VH registration was cancelled on 27/4/12 and it was registered ZK-ZMA to Alan P Warren of Waimate.  However, it was not registered for very long here as its New Zealand registration was cancelled on 28/1/14, and it has returned to Australia with Alan P Warren as VH-ZMY, being re-registered there on 4/3/14,  The above photo was taken at Rangiora on 16/1/13.

And J430 model ZK-NKH (c/n 253) was built at the Jabiru factory by Nicholas George Herrold who travelled to Australia to build the aircraft.  It was registered VH-NKH on 19/8/05 and did its test flying in Australia and was cancelled from the Austarlian register on 3/11/05.  It appeared on the New Zealand register on 21/11/05 and is still current with Nick Herrold.  It is photo'd above at Ardmore on 31/12/09.

That's it for Jabirus in New Zealand, a total of 28 aircraft to date.  I reckon we will see a few more of them in the future, particularly imported aircraft.

The new ZK-BKD and PAL

Magnaman has sent in a couple of pics from Ardmore taken today.

 Above is our latest Piper PA-18-180 Super Cub ZK-BKD2 (c/n 18-8470). It was listed to the BKD Syndicate on the 12th of March. Above it has its full ZK registration on the fuselage side and it Australian letters VH-PPH still under its left wing.

Below is a pic nicked from Keith Morris showing it as VH-PPH as seen at Ardmore on 18-02-2015.

 These two lower shots from Magnaman show the Piper PA-22/20-180 ZK-PAL3 (c/n 22-2298) as listed to Tail Dragger Classics Ltd. 

ZK-HTL at Rangiora

 Hughes 369HS ZK-HTL4  (c/n 1240686S) was sighted at the fuel pumps at Rangiora yesterday afternoon.

Below is what NZ Aviationn News Magazine said about it at the time of its ZK registration on 07-01-2003.

"The Hughes 369HS is a December 1974 production machine – The construction number tells us that; and its previous identity was N600BC. It has recently operated from the Tuna fishing boat Captain M J Souza, and flew into Nelson on 04-12-2002. It became ZK-HTL₄ with Talleys Fisheries on January the 7^th. 

It passed through Ardmore on 15/16-01-03, still on floats, on its way to Whangarei to rejoin a Tuna boat. 

Ownership has since moved to the Amaltal Fishing Co Ltd"

Ownership went to the Talleys Group Ltd on 15-12-2011.

The photo below shows N600BC at Nelson - as captured by Peter Campbell on 13-03-2002.

Another pic of ZK-HTL can be found at the following link.

 http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2009/04/h500-zk-htl.html

Jabirus of New Zealand (5) - J200 and J 230 Models

The next Jabiru model up from the J160 (and the similar looking J170 that we have not had any examples in New Zealand to date), is the J200/J230 model.  This is a bigger airframe again and in easily recognisable by the extra window in the fuselage.  The J 230 is recognisable from the J200 by the wingtip winglets.

The J200/230 has a length of 6.550 metres , a wingspan of 9.582 metres and a wing area of 102.2 square feet.  It has a cabin width of 1120 mm and is powered by the 6 cylinder Jabiru 3300 cc engine of 120 HP, which gives a cruise speed of 120 knots.  Empty weight is around 370 Kg (816 pounds) and MAUW is 600 Kg (1323 pounds).  The fuel capacity is 135 litres in the wings giving a range of 675 nautical miles.

We have had three J200s and five J230s in New Zealand to date and all except one are still current.

J200 Model ZK-ORN (c/n 10) was built from a kit by Paddy McDonnell at Ashburton and it was first flown there by Evan Belworthy on 24/5/02.  It was first registered to Dennis Horne of Manakau in Auckland on 22/5/02. and it is still owned by him, although it has had an adventurous life over the years.  On 10/4/05 it suffered a prop strike at Ardmore and the nosewheel was damaged.  In November 2013 it suffered a major engine failure at Thames followed by a forced landing.  Then, after an engine rebuild it suffered more engine/fuel problems off  the Mahurangi Peninsula on 10/1/14 which resulted in a forced landing on the beach at Martin's Bay.  And then it suffered a well publicised accident when it tried to take off from the curving beach and caught its wheel in the water and ended up in the sea.  It is currently being rebuilt.  The above photo of ZK-ORN was taken at Pikes Point airfeild in 2003.

J200B ZK-CPA2 (c/n 60) was first registered to HPCA Ltd of Masterton (Messrs Dempster and Buchanan) on 27/5/03 and it is photo'd above in their ownership at the 2004 SAANZ flyin at Tauranga.  You can see that it has www.hpca.co.nz on the rear fuselage in small writing.  It was sold to IF Boag of Palmerston North on 1/7/05 and then to Greg Van der Hulst Ltd of Dargaville on 12/1/10, where it is still based.

Jean210 reports from Dargaville that ZK-CPA has recently been re-engined with a Rotax which has necessitated some cowling re-work.  The above photo was taken at Whangarei on 4/1/12.

J200B ZK-CHW2 (c/n 009) was first registered to the Watkins Family Trust of Waitakere in Auckland on 27/1/06 and it is still owned by them.  It is photo'd above leaving the 2011 Black Sands flyin at Raglan.

Our first J230 model was ZK-STA (c/n 474) which was registered to Logan Holdings Ltd of New Plymouth on 29/1/08, and it is still owned by them.  Thanks to Rodney Mass for the above photo, which was taken at Wanganui on 6/1/13.

J230 ZK-PSH (c/n J447) was registered VH-FTE in Australia on 1/5/07.  It flew across the Tasman arriving at Kerikeri on 12/8/08 and was registered ZK-PSH to Painter Sinton Holdings of Auckland on 28/8/08.  On 4/9/13 it was sold to Manakau Microlights Ltd of Auckland (Alexander Sinton) and it is photo'd above at Ardmore on 26/12/14.

J230 ZK-SLR (c/n 581) was built by Peter J Flintoff of Feilding and was first registered to him on 11/11/08.  It is photo'd above visiting the 2009 Wings Over Wairarapa airshow at Masterton on 17/1/09.

J230D (which I think was a factory built aircraft) ZK-EFO2 was registered to Euroflight International Ltd of Tauranga on 28/10/09 and was feriied across the Tasman from Bundaberg to Lismore the(from Lismore to Lord Howe Island to Norfolk Island on 12/11/09, and then from Norfolk to Kerikeri and on to Tauranga on 13/11/09, in company with J120 ZK-EFG,  It suffered an engine failure and force landed on Matakana Island on 10/11/10 and its registration was cancelled on 10/12/10.  I understand it was returned to Australia and has been repaired and registered as 24-7918 on the Australian Microlight Register.  It is photo'd above at the 2010 SAANZ flyin at Tauranga.

J230 ZK-DIZ2 (c/n 643) was built by Dennis G Jacobs of Wellington and was first registered to him on 3/12/10.  Sadly, Dennis Jacobs passed away and ZK-DIZ is currently for sale at Dennis Thompson International at Ardmore, where the above photo was taken on 23/8/14.