In addition to all the other activity at Ardmore last Thursday, there was quite a lot of rescue helicopter activity, all BK 117 B-2s, with the first three all being owned by Search and Rescue Services Ltd of Taupo:
Being such a lovely afternoon at Ardmore last Thursday there were lots of aircraft out and about:
It was the first time I had seen Pete Hunt's RV 6A ZK-PCH. It has acquired a basic trim since it first flew here, and it was nice to have an uncluttered background at Ardmore to show the aircraft off.
While I was enjoying the afternoon at Ardmore a Pitts Special arrived overhead in the circuit. I did not at first recognise it but as it landed I saw it was Robert McNair's lovely looking ZK-RMR:
I was interested to see what was going on at Avspecs now that the Spitfire has gone.
I had not managed to make it down to Ardmore for quite some time so I was looking forward to spending an afternoon there on a lovely day last Thursday. I was not disappointed.
Carrying on to Auckland Airport (less of the International) to do a drop off, I had a quick squizz around but nothing new. I did however manage these couple of photos:
With a bit of pre-planning I was on the spot for the first flight of Dave Campbell-Morrison's new RV 12 ZK-SCM (c/n 120905) at North Shore airfield yesterday:
From the Waimea Weekly :- Forwarded by CMM.
Jason Deer with previous owner Robin Langslow, and Ben Carmine, who taught Jason to fly, on the day he took ownership of CAK. Photo: Supplied.
The owner of a light aircraft was left utterly heartbroken last week (Tuesday the 18th) after his 60-year-old plane was completely destroyed by a fire at Malibu Park airfield in Teapot Valley, Wakefield.
Jason Deer, who had owned the Cessna 185 since 2015, says, “It’s devastating. I’ve had condolence messages from all over the country this week.”
The plane was in the hanger for routine maintenance when it caught fire and was quickly engulfed by flames. Jason was nearby and his first reaction was to push the plane outside to save the hanger and another plane. After calling 111, he joined others trying to put the inferno out, but by the time the fire brigade arrived, all that was left burning was the tyre.
“You can tell it was an airplane once, but it was destroyed beyond rebuilding,” says Jason.
Sixty years of aviation history was also lost in the fire as the Cessna, ZK-CAK, was the first of its kind brought into New Zealand back in 1961, and the 17th built worldwide.
“She just had her 60th birthday last week,” says Jason.
“She was my pride and joy. One brief moment in time and she’s all gone.”
Her initial use was carrying newspapers and passengers from Nelson to the West Coast. In the early 80s, CAK was registered as an air ambulance and later was used for parachute operations. After use for aerial spraying, she passed back into private ownership.
Jason has enjoyed many hours flying over mountains and into the back country. He says 185s are a handful, but very satisfying to fly.
“She was a grand ol’ lady, the other woman in my life,” he says. “At the beginning of the day last week, there was no way I could ever have imagined what has now happened to her.”
Over the years his plane has been the one constant thing in his life that he wouldn’t sell. Jason says he didn’t look at himself as the owner of CAK, more of a guardian of history.
Along the way, CAK has experienced other incidents where repair was needed, usually caused by a ‘ground loop’, where there is loss of directional control and the plane spins around. Damage to the undercarriage or wing tips can result, but CAK was always rebuildable after these.
“I always thought if I were to write the plane off, it would be at the end of a back country airstrip,” says Jason.
He knows he wants another plane, but there aren’t many for sale that are suited to land on the remote airstrips he enjoys.
Jason says that although no-one was hurt in the fire, they did follow advice from fire crew to go to the Emergency Department to be checked for smoke inhalation.
ZK-CAK has been mentioned previously at :-
A group departure back home followed with the Waco and Stinson featured below.
A routine pilgrimage up into the hills in the Aerospatiale AS 350 B2 ZK-HDL3 (c/n2981) as based just out of Tekapo.
Newly registered Cessna T206H ZK-MMG2 (c/n T20608291) was out in the sun at Tauranga today and the Hairy Mole Rat was there to get a nice photo:
Down from its Kaikoura base was Just Aircraft Highlander ZK-JKO2 which was first registered in 2015 and has been with its current owner since 2018.
Now in a stunning new paint scheme is Zenair Zenith CH200 ZK-NEN which was originally registered back in 1980 and has been with its Christchurch owner since 2019.
And for something different the Air Creation ARV trike ZK-TNG2 which was registered back in 2010 and has been with its Rangiora owner since 2017.
Yesterday the 22nd of May 2021 marked the 75th Anniversary of the first flight of the De Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk from Downsview in Toronto, Canada, and the occasion was marked with a small gathering of Chipmunks at Hood Aerodrome at Masterton. The Chipmunk is reckoned to be the poor mans Spitfire and it has lovely DH lines that still look great today.
EC120B ZK-HHT6 is now on its fourth ZK registration being originally imported new back in 2008 as ZK-IFE. It moved onto HJW4 in 2015, HBC5 in 2017 and then HHT6 in March this year.
AS350BA ZK-HFZ2 has been with the company since the beginning of 2019 and has now acquired large company titling on the boom.
Granddaughter shuttling duties last Sunday put me at Silverdale and close to North Shore airfield for some more Avgas. It was quite busy on a nice Sunday afternoon:
Another of the ex RNZAF CT4E Airtrainers has been sold to Australia, following ZK-PTB which became VH-CNZ, ZK-PTG which became VH-ETV and ZK-PTI which became VH-PTX:
While registered to a Christchurch owner since arrival in late 2020 the new Guimbal Cabri G2 ZK-HNN4 seems to have spent most of its time based in Auckland, mostly at the Heletranz Albany facility.
