A return to Motueka

A return visit to Motueka airfield today revealed an interesting collection of Aero Club and privately owned aircraft gathered to provide the Nelson ATC cadets scenic flights and an introduction to some of the more exotic aircraft

Included amongst this group was the locally owned Pietenpol Air Camper ZK-ABY2

Registered to an Upper Moutere owner since 2016 the Sportcruiser ZK-DEU2

Also registered to an Upper Moutere owner the Thorp T-18 ZK-EDF which has been around since 1976 and still looks good

And the locally based colourful SeaRey amphibian ZK-YAY

A Beaver and Others at Motueka

Outside at Motueka today was the former Fijian Beaver DQ-GWW operated as a floatplane by Pacific Island Air until shipped to NZ in 2018 for Argus Helicopters.

At the same location was privately owned Hughes 369HS ZK-HHY4 which has been in NZ since 2009

Two of the three new Cessna 172S imported from Australia in 2018 by Nelson Aviation College are ZK-NAR2 and ZK-NAX2

And another Australian import back in August 2019 was Cessna 182P VH-SZC which has made an easy transition to ZK-SZC for a Nelson owner

Omaka

The Marlborough Aero Club at Omaka is currently hosting the 5th edition of the NZ Aerobatic Club's South Island Akro Fest and this has attracted a number of interesting participants including the Bushby Midget Mustang ZK-DDC from Otago.  This has been around since 1975 but still looks very smart.

From Te Anau the 2 seater Pitts S2A ZK-PIT

And from Christchurch the recently returned to NZ Pitts S1S ZK-PUG

Elsewhere on the field was Precision Helicopters AS350B2 ZK-ITJ2 which was imported from Canada in late 2017

And yet to officially enter the CAA register the Air Tractor 402B ZK-MOT3 being readied for Motunau Ag Air.   This is s/n 971 and was imported from Australia where it was registered VH-FAQ.

Glynn Powell RIP

I was sad to see that Glynn Powell passed away on 26 November 2019.

Glynn was the central figure in the modern renaissance of the de Havilland Mosquito in New Zealand.  He was part of a syndicate of would-be Mosquito restorers who purchased the remains of the T43 Mosquito NZ2308 from a farmer at Riwaka and planned to rebuild the Mosquito to airworthy condition.  But as the enormity of the task became apparent their numbers fell away until only Glynn remained.  However, to his immense credit he did not give up and he persisted with his Mosquito rebuild for the next 20 plus years.

The remains of NZ2308's airframe were unusable and the only way to guarantee the structural integrity of the airframe was to build the entire wooden airframe from scratch, and that required moulds to manufacture the layered semi monococque wooden fuselage - and all the original moulds had been destroyed after the war.  So Glynn set about re-creating the Mosquito fuselage moulds and their successful creation, along with the tremendous work by Avspecs, is the reason we have had the privilege to see 3 magnificent de Havilland Mosquitos take flight from Ardmore since 2012, (and hopefully there could be others to come - but that is another story).  Glynn Powell was awarded the Queens Service Medal in 2014 for services to aeronautical heritage preservation.

Glynn receiving his QSM from Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae.

and Glynn's "own" Mosquito NZ2308 in his Drury workshop.

RIP Glynn, your legacy will endure.

Helicopters at Ardmore

A visit to Ardmore this week revealed a lot of helicopter activity including the Rotor Work Hughes 369E sprayer ZK-HCD3

Over at Airwork a couple of BK117B-2s,  ZK-HMR5 and ZK-IFL,  the latter only being registered this month after importation from Germany

And at Oceania the former Japanese Sikorsky S-76B ZK-IBI2 which was registered back in February


                           

Re-registered Jabiru J 160 ZK-SLH

Jabiru J 160 ZK-SLH has spent most of its life at Foxpine, having been built there by the then Jabiru agent John Lester and first being registered to Foxpine Airpark Ltd on 5/4/05.  On 15/3/18 it was cancelled from the register, still owned by Foxpine Airpark Ltd.

However it was restored to the register on 12/8/19 by Stan Hyde of Feilding, and on 3/9/19 ownership changed to Dr KG Westerberg of Palmerston North.  Tim Gorman photo'd ZK-SLH at Foxpine on 24/11/19 and as can be seen in the photo it has not changed at all over the years.

Pauanui residents

Outside the local Yak 52 population there are only a handful of permanent residents at the Pauanui airfield and amongst these are the 2 homebuilts Peter Hicks brought with him when he moved from Australia last year.

These have just recently joined the ZK- register with Highlander VH-JPU easily becoming ZK-JPU2,  and RV7 VH-JPD becoming ZK-JPH4  (as ZK-JPD is currently on a Bantam).

Aerospread Cresco ZK-PWT at Te Horo

Tim Gorman was at Te Horo last week and caught Aerospread's Cresco 06-800 ZK-PWT working off a local topdressing airstrip.  Here are a few of his images from his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ZKaviation/:

ZK-PWT now carries Aerospread titles.  You can see its previous history at: https://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2018/07/cresco-06-800-zk-pwt-at-kairanga-26-7.html

Thanks for the photos Tim.

Masterton Today 24-11-2019

Jordan Elvy was at Masterton today and has sent in the following photos of new sport aircraft at Hood:

Posted previously from Tauranga as 24-8356, the Wairarapa and Ruahine Aero Club have now taken delivery of their "new" Tecnam P2002 Sierra ZK-DOY2 (c/n 499), as a replacement for Sierra ZK-WAK that was tragically lost in the mid-air collision near Hood Aerodrome in July 2019.

And the locally owned newly registered ICP Savannah S ZK-SVA (c/n 14-11-54-360) was out in the sun.

It was also a TVAL flying day and several of their aircraft were out flying.

Be-Spatted Vans RV 9A ZK-VNS

I just missed Pat Sheehan;s new Vans RV 9A ZK-VNS flying at North Shore this afternoon, but it was in a good position for a photo in his hangar:

ZK-VNS now has wheel spats fitted, and Pat told me that it has nearly flown off its 40 hours of test flying, so look out for it further afield than North Shore some time soon.

Twins at Ardmore

A visit to a busy Ardmore this afternoon revealed a number of interesting twin engined aircraft including the former Milford Sound Flightseeing Britten Norman Islander ZK-MCD carrying a dual Australian registration VH-IZH.   It was sold this month to Colville Aviation Services based at Archerfield in Brisbane.

Presumably here for photographic assignments was the Australian Cessna 441 Conquest VH-VEW fitted out as an aerial survey aircraft

And at Oceania Aviation the Embraer EMB 820C  (Brazilian built Navajo Chieftain) ZK-DSY apparently destined for a Vanuatu operator.     This was imported from Australia in August.

Thursdays Rangiora pie run.

Lots of pleasant surprises at Rangiora on Thursday the 21st.

Seeing the completed Cessna U206F Stationair ZK-DXC (c/n U20602986) now on its new floats is a real credit to owner Mike Scotter.

This aircraft has a long history of float operations since about 1976.

Not something we see every day at NZRT is a Stemme S 10V motor glider -  but here we have the, Omaka based, Dave Crail ZK-GSI (c/n 14-039M) getting some attention.

And passing through from Mount Cook for Motueka was the Aerospatiale AS 350 B2 ZK-HJZ4 (c/n 1230) of Inflight Ski Planes Ltd.

The now locally based KAB Syndicates Just Aircraft SuperSTOL ZK-KAB2 (c/n JA314-08-13) starting up.

A stranger in town was the Pacific Aerospace Cresco 08-600 ZK-LTG (c/n 004) of Ravensdown Aerowork Ltd - presumably filling in for the locally based machine.

New WW1 Replica Aircraft for NZ Warbirds (2)

As well as their newly flown Bristol Fighter, the NZ Warbirds have posted a photo of their latest replica WW 1 aircraft taken at Ardmore last week:

This aircraft is a replica Siemens- Schuckert D IV that is ex N1094G.  It was built by Carl Swanson of Darien, Wisconsin and it first flew in October 1981.  It was damaged in a forced landing in May 1982 but was repaired and appeared at Oshkosh in 1982.  Most recently it was displayed at the Planes of Fame aircraft museum in Arizona.  Interestingly, it is powered by a Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine producing 160 HP.

Christchurch today - Thursday 21-11-2019

On an early pie run this week I caught the  GCH Aviation Ltd's Westpac Air Rescue Airbus MBB-BK117 D-2 ZK-IGI (c/n 20223) on its pad.

 On the other side of the field the MD 500N NOTAR ZK-IGA (c/n LN078) arrives back at base at Christchurch Helicopters Ltd.

 And surprise of the day was the the Bell 429 Global Ranger "Police 3" (c/n 57049) which was in Town on Royal duties.

 Over the fence we have the Jetstar Airbus A320-232 VH-VGF (c/n 4497) in from Auckland.

 Same aircraft as seen through the heat haze.

 Then we see the Fairchild SA227-CC Metro 23 ZK-POF (c/n CC-844B) of Air Chathams Ltd.

 And again - through the heat haze.

Parked over at the Canterbury Aero Club was the Cessna 172S Skyhawk SP ZK-JSD2 c/n 17210260 down from  Air Hawkes Bay Ltd of Hastings.

New WW1 Replica Aircraft for NZ Warbirds (1)

Carrying out its first flight from New Zealand soil on Monday 18 November was the "new" Bristol F2B Fighter ZK-PRK (c/n 1).  It has been under refurbishment at since late 2017 at Omaka by Jay McIntyre and his team at JEM Aviation.  It is registered ZK-PRK for Captain (later Sir) Keith Park and wears the colours of an aircraft he flew in France in 1917, coded C814.

This aircraft is one of seven that was built for a 1980s film High Road to China, but they were not used in the film, and one of the four that were imported into New Zealand in 2017 by Graham Orphan of Blenheim.  It is ex N29HC.

The test pilot was Ryan Southam and Jay McIntyre told me that the test flight went well.

Congratulations to all those who have worked to bring this aircraft back from the brink.