Our latest Bell 429 at Ardmore this afternoon

Bell 429 ZK-HUU msn 57246 ex N544RF seen in the Oceania Aviation Ltd compound at Ardmore this afternoon. This 2014 built machine was registered here on 11-1-17 to Bell 429 Operator Ltd;Cottesloe;WA;Australia. Today was the first time I've seen it.

Solomon's

 

Maybe no direct connection to the ZK civil register but interesting anyway.

Above is the Dash 8 H4-SOL (c/n 289).

This was originally N418AW from 1991 followed by N835EX from March 1996, then briefly to C-FNZM in June 2007 transferring to OE-HWG the same month. By September 2009 it was in Greece as SX-BIW until joining Solomon Airlines in November 2012.

 The Dash 6 H4-NNP is c/n 491 and was initially YJ-RV1 from February 1990. 

It went to the Solomon's in March of 2007.

The following pics are of some of the less active locals.

RAANZ National Fly-in 2017 UPDATE

RAANZ National Fly-in 2017

Canterbury Recreational Aircraft Club

Rangiora Airfield

Friday March 31 - Sunday 2 April

Friday 31st March

• Meet at Rangiora
• Free flying
• BBQ Tea-$15
• Fly to pier and Sumner or Landing comp.

Saturday 1st April

• Breakfast at clubhouse 7.00am - $10
• The landing comp is now planned for Forrest Field (NZFF) on Sat PM
• Fly to Oxford for lunch via Forrest field and Rakaia Gorge to Lake Coleridge – Oxford. $10
• Afternoon general flying and competitions
• Dinner at RSA Rangiora- self funded

Sunday 2nd April

• Breakfast at clubhouse. $10

Notes

• Camping at Rangiora with club facilities for use.
• Up to 20 sleeping places at clubhouse.
• Motels in Rangiora, only 7 minutes away.
• Aircraft parking but no hangars are available.
• We are talking to Council about landing fees and think they will be minimal.
• Please check NOTAMs as South side of runway 07-025 is closed.
• NOTAM now also closes the west end of RWY 10
• Visiting pilots refer to your new VNC for radio frequency changes.
• Rangiora and surrounding area can be buzy ,be on top of your game..

The latest Canterbury Recreational Aero Club newsletter can be found at :=

http://www.crac.co.nz/

Click on 'Magazines' and select 'March 2017'

Foxcon Terriers of New Zealand

The next type of sport aircraft to be registered in New Zealand was the Foxcon Terrier 200, the first of which was registered here in December 2002.  It was manufactured as a kit which was built by Foxcon Aviation and Research Pty Ltd of Mackay in Queensland.  Construction is from vacuum moulded composite materials and the standard engine is a Subaru EA 81 conversion driving the propeller through a reduction box.  The Terrier 200 is of high wing strut braced tri-gear configuration with 2 side by side seats and it can be built as a camper model which has fold down seats that allow for room to sleep in the fuselage.  The company first produced the Terrier 100 model in the late 1990s, and a 4 seater Terrier 400 model has been under development but has not appeared yet.

The Terrier 200's length is  6.1 metres (20 feet), its wingspan is 8.7 metres (28 feet 7 inches).  Empty weight is around 340 Kg (750 pounds) and MAUW is 544 Kg (1200 pounds) although this is increased to 600 Kg for an LSA.  With the EA 81 engine cruise is around 200 km/hr (108 knots) depending on the engine, and the stall speed is around 70 km/hr (38 knots).

We have had seven Foxcon Terrier 200s registered in New Zealand, plus a modified example.

First up was ZK-PCF (c/n NZ2001) which was registered to Peter C Flood of Ruawai on 9/12/02.  It is photo's above at te Kowhai on 12/3/05 and is still current with the same owner.

ZK-WMH (c/n 2002) was registered to William M Hunter of Hamilton on 17/3/03 and it is photo'd above at a flyin at Te Kowhai in December 2003.  On 4/2/08 it was sold to Michael J Van Bennekom of Rotorua.  It is currently listed for sale on Trade Me.

ZK-NRS (c/n 2003) was registered to Brent A Smith of Hikurangi on 14/8/03.  It was sold to kevin Richards of Westport on25/10/07 and later had a forced landing at Landcorp Cape on 17/1/08.  It was then sold to Robert S Power of Whakatane on 13/12/08, in whose ownership it is photo's above at the 2009 Black Sands flyin at Raglan, on 7/11/09.

ZK-MEG (c/n NZ2005) was registered to Graeme R Addison of Opotiki on 13/10/03 and it is also photo'd at the 2009 Black Sands flyin at Raglan, on 7/11/09.  On 1/7/11 it was sold to Tomino Cacciamani of Havelock in the South Island.

Tomino Cacciamani re-registered the aircraft as ZK-UTC on 14/7/11. and it photo'd above as such at Omaka.  It then went to the Zenair Microlight Syndicate of Motueka on 13/4/14 but it did not last long at Motueka as it suffered a forced landing when it lost engine power on approach to Motueka airfield on 2/6/14 and came down in an orchard with substantial damage. it is still registered so maybe it is being rebuilt?

ZK-SOD (c/n NZ2004) was registered to Anthony Kevin Matthews of Warkworth on 6/12/04.  It is photo'd above at Te Kowhai on 12/3/05 where it can be seen that it is named " SOD off".  On 10/2/10 it was sold South, to John R Plunkett of Winton and then it was sold North again, to Glen M Pyle of Hamilton, on 17/9/14.

ZK-JPY (c/n 031101) was registered to Recreational Aviation Ltd of Gisborne on 7/3/05 and has been based at Opotiki where it suffered a nosewheel collapse on 7/5/05.  However it was repaired as in this recent photo from David Mclaurin.  I understand that is also for sale.

ZK-EEN2 (c/n 010501) was registered to Ian C and G Belfield of Whangamata on 5/3/10.  It is based at Thames where the above photo was taken.  Thanks to Ian Belfield for the photo.

Our last "Terrier" in this list was modified when it was built by Paul Hopper by incorporating carbon fibre for extra strength.  However this put it out of the Class 2 Microlight category and it as registered as an Amateur Built Aeroplane.  ZK-EZY2 (c/n CL04001) is a Cli-mate Cli-mate 100 and was first registered to the Paul Hopper/Rex Swenson Partnership of North Shore on 21/7/04.  On 1/3/06 ownership transferred to Paul Hopper and he is very active in the aircraft around the Northern Microlight Club activities in the Auckland and Northland regions.  ZK-EZY2 is photo'd above at the 2011 Black Sands flyin at Raglan, on 12/11/11.

RAANZ National Fly-in 2017

Canterbury Recreational Aircraft Club

Rangiora Airfield

Friday March 31 - Sunday 2 April

Friday 31st March

• Meet at Rangiora
• Free flying
• BBQ Tea-$15
• Fly to pier and Sumner or Landing comp.

Saturday 1st April

• Breakfast at clubhouse 7.00am - $10
• Fly to Oxford for lunch via Forrest field and Rakaia Gorge to Lake Coleridge – Oxford. $10
• Afternoon general flying and competitions
• Dinner at RSA Rangiora- self funded

Sunday 2nd April

• Breakfast at clubhouse. $10

Notes

• Camping at Rangiora with club facilities for use.
• Up to 20 sleeping places at clubhouse.
• Motels in Rangiora, only 7 minutes away.
• Aircraft parking but no hangars are available.
• We are talking to Council about landing fees and think they will be minimal.
• Please check NOTAMs as South side of runway 07-025 is closed.

Question Time # 193. Piper PA-38 ZK-RPM

We have here a photograph of a Piper PA-38-112 Tomahawk marked roughly as "RPM" as seen at Ardmore in November of 1995 and comes from the late Bob Kerr collection.

To the best of my knowledge there has never been a Tomahawk registered as ZK-RPM !

The first ZK-RPM was a Cessna 182P Skylane II which was a re-registration of ZK-JBH in February of 1987. It flew offshore on 18-02-1989.

There is a Corby CJ-1 Starlet - as yet uncompleted - at Rangiora which did have hopes of becoming ZK-RPM.

On 14-11-2012 a Cessna U206G - ex ZK-TAM - was re-registered as ZK-RPM2 and is still currently registered as such.

So the question is - What is the identity of this aircraft ?

Its previous US markings are faintly visible under the 'RPM' marks.

These appear to be N24???

The last digit or letter has a rounded base so could well be either :-

0, 6, 8, B, D, G or U.

To my eye the fin and vertical tail plane appear to be from different aircraft.

Any thoughts ?

RANS S 9 Chaos ZK-OUT at Greymouth

I have posted previously on Rans S 9s of New Zealand at http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/rans-s-9-chaoss-of-new-zealand.html  In that post of our four S 9s to date I noted that Evan Grooby imported ZK-OUT from the US in 2007, but at that time I didn't have a photo of it, and then it was damaged in the Greymouth hangar collapse at Easter 2014.

Since that time the aircraft has been rebuilt by Craig Miller of Custom Aviation at Taieri, and Evan Grooby has now kindly sent photos of his aircraft which he says flies well.

ZK-OUT (c/n 0888058) at Greymouth on 13/11/16.  Thanks for the photos Evan.

.

I thought this would be a good lead-in to the RAANZ flyin to be held at Rangiora over the coming weekend.  I am looking forward to it.

Portuguese Surprise at Ardmore 27-3-17

Bell TH-1L Iroquois CS-HBV msn 6426 seen just after being unloaded from a truck early this afternoon. This helicopter served with the United States Navy until being wfu on 8-6-83. It then became N434RR / N450AH / and N540GH before taking up it's present registration. I wonder who it is destined for here ?

Cessna 172N ZK-EJR at NZKF

On a return trip from Dargaville back on 31/1/17 I called in to Kaipara Flats airfield where the Rodney Aero Club's Cessna 172N ZK-EJR was sitting in the late afternoon sun.

ZK-EJR (c/n 17269035) was first registered in New Zealand on 8/9/77 and remarkably has been owned by the Rodney Aero Club ever since.  It has also not been posted on the NZ Civair blog.

Two from Hamilton 24-03-2017

In a less than ideal day gray and misty day at Hamilton, Richard Currie captured these two aircraft for our blog - neither of them having appeared previously.

 The Cessna 172M Skyhawk II ZK-DXP (c/n 17265333) was imported by Rex Aviation (NZ) Ltd for the Taumarunui Aero Club who took it over in September of 1975. It only lasted a year before being bent after which it was rebuilt by Dalhoff and King of Dunedin.

Some fifteen owners later it was taken up by Steve Hampton of Hamilton in May of 2011.

A recent addition to our register is this Diamond DA 42 ZK-SHB (c/n 42.354) which was registered to Air Hawkes Bay Ltd of Hastings on  07-03-2017.

This airframe along with two others (VH-FGO and VH-FNV) where trucked into Aeromotive at Hamilton Airport on 25-10-2016.

 See Here for more background.

A new Cessna and two helicopters at Ardmore taken earlier this week

Bell 412 ZK-HRX msn 36008 ex JA6636 which was registered to Oceania Aviation on 7-3-17 flew for the first time on 22-3-17

Cessna 182T VH-NIH msn 18282081 built in 2008 arrived at Ardmore at 17.50 on 21-3-17 after having flown Lord Howe Island-Norfolk Island-Kerikeri earlier in the day. I understand it was on delivery for a local owner.

MBB-BK117 B-2 ZK-ISE msn 7240 ex D-HSFB registered to Airwork (NZ) Ltd on 6-12-16 was noted flying latter in the evening on 21-3-17

A couple from Pauanui today - 23-03-2017.

Just two pics from a rather busy Pauanui today from Richard Currie.

 The RTE Syndicates Piper PA-28R-200 Arrow ZK-RTE (c/n 28R-35725) has been mentioned before - see:-HERE

Geoff Thompson's Tecnam P92 Echo Classic ZK-VTE (c/n 1526) from Tauranga called.

Balloons Over Waikato 2017

 Balloon Over Waikato got underway today.

Richard Currie was there and has sent us the following photographs.

 One of several special shapes for this event is this Canadian registered Alien Rocket C-FIIY (c/n Alien Rocket-01) of Alain Bard of Ottawa.

 Above we have the Kavanagh D-84 VH-FRE (c/n D84-488) of Rolf Dennler from Coburg, Victoria.

 The Boland Phoenix ZK-PHX (c/n 137) is listed with Gail Dryland of Hamilton.

The Cameron C-70 'Poppies' above, is ZK-PPI (c/n 10939), which was first listed in the UK back in 2006, coming to NZ for the Poppies Syndicate of Auckland in April of 2015.

 No not Milton - but Hamilton. ZK-UPP2 is the Kubicek BB60Z with the c/n of 956.

It was first registered on 23-22-2012 with Kiwi Balloon Co Ltd.

 Another balloon from the States is the Boland Rover ZK-WHS (c/n 152 A2) as registered to Murray Shaw of Hamilton since 17-03-2009.

 ZK-WON is the Cameron C-90 (c/n 10492) and has been with Balloon Promoters Ltd of the Hamilton since late 2003.

ZK-RYB (c/n 10818) is the Waikato Hot Air Balloon Club Inc's Cameron O-90.

Check out the facebook page at :-

https://www.facebook.com/balloonsoverwaikato/?fref=nf

And for further details about the balloons drill down through this site :-

http://balloonsoverwaikato.co.nz/2017-programme/

Just (Aircraft) Hanging Out at Omori

Tony Fullerton-Smith has sent some photos of the delivery of his new Just Aircraft Super STOL ZK-KTF (c/n JA345-01-14) to his airstrip at Omori, on the Western side of Lake Taupo.

New Zealand Just Aircraft agent John Hood flew up from Geraldine in his Highlander ZK-MLT (the black one) with Tony's new Super STOL.

ZK-KTF was first registered on 4/8/16.

and Rod Milne popped across from Taupo to welcome the new arrival in his Super STOL ZK-RIM.

Thanks very much for the photos Tony.