ZK-NAC the third.

 Cessna 172P Skyhawk II c/n 75232 N3400H ferried into Auckland from Pago Pago on the 11th of May 1982 - I don't imagine a lot of 172's have done that.
After NZ certification it was registered here as ZK-EXE on the 17th of May to Motor Holdings (Aviation) Ltd at Ardmore and went on their flight line.

Above we look down on it from the control tower at Invercargill on 28-02-1984.

It was sold on to A M Clarke of Dunedin from 24 April 1985 but was damaged on landing at Queenstown on 3rd October 1988.
The damaged aircraft was taken to Drake Aviation Ltd at Christchurch International Airport.

Photo above of ZK-EXE at Christchurch following assessment for rebuild on 14-10-1988.

Its registration was cancelled on 15 May 1989 and was taken on by Drake Aviation Ltd as a rebuild project.

Photo below shows it at Christchurch on 30-03-1989 with replacement central fuselage with one of ZK-EXE's original doors and engine installed.

It was rebuilt using parks from the the imported Cessna F172P Skyhawk II ex F-ODUF which had been damaged in New Caledonia.
F-ODUF was basically built on the Cessna production line in Wichita, Kansas with their c/n of 76589 and allocated the US registration of N9608L but this was not taken up. 
The airframe was sent to France for completion on the Reims/Cessna line using their c/n F17202246. 
It was listed with Cercle Aeronautique de Tahiti on the 4th September 1986. 
All these came together and I believe first flew on 22nd June 1989.

Photo above shows the 'new' ZK-EXE outside the Drake Flying School facility on 30-06-1989 a week after its first flight following rebuild.

ZK-EXE was re-registered on 14 September 1989 still listed with A M Clarke, now of Fendalton, Christchurch. and went on lease to the Air New Zealand Flying Club at Christchurch International. Ownership eventually passed to the Air New Zealand Flying Club from the 14th April 1994.
On 18th May 2020 the ANZ Flying Club (now Rangiora based) re-registered their Cessna 172RG Cutlass II ZK-NAC2 as ZK-NBC2 and this is currently under heavy maintenance at Rangiora.
The ZK-NAC registration was then re-issued to ZK-EXE on the same date making it ZK-NAC3.

Photo below show it as ZK-NAC3 refueling at Rangiora on 14-06-2020.

And above at Paraparaumu on 11-05-2021 by Tim Gorman.

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The first allocation of the ZK-NAC went to the first Boeing 737 for NZNAC. 

It transferred to Air New Zealand name from 01-12-1978.

This was a 737-219 with the c/n of 19929 which arrived in Wellington on 18-09-1968. Its NZ registration was cancelled on 22-04-1986 and became N321XV and served with numerous operators until being broken up at Mojave in August 1992.

Photo below of ZK-NAC1 at Christchurch on 13-03-1984.

The second allocation of the ZK-NAC registration ; ZK-NAC2  was allocated to the Cessna 172RG Cutlass II c/n 172RG-0620 which had spent eleven and a half years in Australia as VH-TNU before arriving in Auckland on 11-04-1993 to become ZK-NAC2 with the Air New Zealand Sport and Social Club Southern Inc of Christchurch from 01-06-1993. 

Title changed to the Air New Zealand Flying Club on 19-07-2019.

It is seen below at Rangiora on 04-02-2016.

As mentioned above this was re-registered as ZK-NBC2 on 18-05-2020 - marks previously worn on an ANZ Boeing 767 between September 1986 and its sale offshore in May of 2005.

Cessna R172K XP ZK-TED/3 at Feilding

Ray Deerness was at Feilding recently and photo'd the newly re-registered Cessna R172K XP ZK-TED3 (c/n R1722915):

The aircraft was registered to Harvest Logistics of Whakatu, near Napier, on 21/12/20 and was re-registered ZK-TED3 on 18/2/21.  Previously it was registered ZK-MXP2, and its previous history includes a stint with the Chilean Army.

Thanks for the photo Ray.

Avid Flyer STOL ZK-NIC at Waipukurau on 27-6-2021

I have previously posted about Avid Flyer STOL ZK-NIC back on 16 December 2013 as part of my series on Avid Flyers of New Zealand (see https://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2013/12/avid-flyers-of-new-zealand-2.html ).  In that post I noted that the aircraft had been sold to R M Cohen of Napier in January 2013 and that it was undergoing restoration.

Now quite a few years later it is flying again and last Sunday it made its first visit to Waipukurau where Ron Day photo'd it.  It still looks as it did when it was first registered in June 1993.

Thanks for the photos Ron.

A Spectacular WACO YMF at Tauranga on 26-6-2021

A much anticipated aircraft was out at Tauranga yesterday for its first engine runs, being Marty Cantlon's spectacular WACO YMF ZK-YMF and all the usual suspects were there to chronicle the event:

In fact this WACO is not as old as may be thought, as it is a 2012 manufactured WACO Classic Aircraft Corporation model YMF-F5C (c/n F5C-8-129) with a 300 HP Jacobs R 755 radial engine.  It was registered N30AB in the US but it was damaged when it force landed in a lake and it was sold to Marty in a damaged condition.  Marty registered it as ZK-YMF on 15/4/21. 

The original WACO YMF biplane of 1934/35 is reckoned by many to be one of the finest open cockpit biplanes ever built (however Marty's other WACO biplane, the Taperwing must also be up there).  I look forward to seeing it with its cowling installed!

I also look forward to seeing it at Classic Fighters in September.

Thanks for the photos Warwick Hamilton and HMR.

A Flight to Matamata and Back in Texan ZK-TXN

As we go through winter this year we have had some really wet weather in the North, but after the grot comes a day like yesterday with light variable winds and a clear blue sky - so smooth to be flying!  Brien O'Brien, the owner of Fly Synthesis Texan ZK-TXN2 was flying down to Matamata for lunch and would I like to come?  You bet I would!

Climbing out over the Mahurangi 

Pakatoa island with Rotoroa Island behind.

Te Aroha where we used to live many moons ago.

On finals for Runway 10 at Matamata.

There were a few other aircraft in the circuit including Vans RV 8 ZK-MRM over from Tauranga.

Parked up for a cuppa with 3 local gyrocopters out in the sun.

One of the gyros was VPM M16 Tandem Trainer ZK-VPM.

And another was the Autoflight Single Seat Dominator ZK-RAZ.  It is actually a 2 seat Dominator which has been fitted with extra fuel tanks and bigger wheels.

It has recently had a bit of red trim added to the rudder, which looks good.

Another aircraft that was out flying was the locally based Tecnam P 96 Golf ZK-PPG.

And the local skydiving club Cessna 172M Skydive Ballistic Blondes ZK-JIB was pushed out for some jump action.

Our steed awaits in the sun.

On our way back home we flew up the Coromandel coast of the Firth of Thames, here passing Thames.

Up as far as Coromandel where there are some nice islands.

The sea was so smooth that there were reflections of the islands.

And then to cap off a great day, back at Kaipara Flats I took my Jodel D9 ZK-KMM for a flight with its speed increasing undercarriage fairings and a new rocker cover that didn't leak oil!

 

ZK-CMR from CMM

 

About a week ago CMM was sneaking around at Motueka and caught up with the Classic Aviation and 

 Adventurer CA18 ZK-CMR (c/n PT001) even went for a very enjoyable ride in it.

Built by Malcolm Savill of Hamilton it was first registered on 10-07-2015.

Peter Trewavas of Richmond took it over from 09-02-2019 and it was then transferred to the CMR Syndicate from 01-09-2019.

For previous posts click on the link below - and also the link within this post.

https://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2016/12/pauanui-final-report-for-2016.html

More helicopters

A revisit to Taupo Airport early this morning provided another sampling of helicopters including the latest addition to the Mid West Helicopters fleet, AS350B2 ZK-IDI.   Formerly with Gisborne Helicopters this was imported from the US in 2015, and acquired by Mid West in April 2021.

Just off rebuild is R22 Beta ZK-HZW which has been owned by a Whakatane private owner since late 2019.  This was originally imported new in 1986.

Moving onto Whakatane where Kahu Helicopters' Sikorsky EH60A ZK-HKU3 was out in the sun. Imported from the US in late 2019 this is utilised on heavy lifting jobs around NZ.

 

Rotorua & Taupo

A visit to the Heli Hire base at Ngongotaha near Rotorua today revealed 3 of their fleet of 6 in residence including Hughes 369D ZK-IWX which was imported from the US in 2009 and acquired by the company in 2012.

And R44 Raven II ZK-HWX3 which was imported new in 2011 and also acquired by the company in 2012.

Down the road at Taupo Airport was Bay Heliwork's R44 sprayer ZK-HAZ2 which was imported from Australia in 2011 and acquired by the company in June 2020.

And visiting from Te Kuiti was Cessna 182P ZK-RLG2 which has had a repaint.  This was imported from Australia in 1995 and has been owned by its current owner since 2007.

 

Cessna 172S ZK-CTY/3 at Paraparaumu

Another aircraft photo'd by Tim Gorman at Paraparaumu recently was the C 172S ZK-CTY3 (c/n 172S9819) which has not appeared on the blog previously:

An ex-L3 Aviation machine, ownership changed to Merlin Labs NZ Ltd on 7/4/21.  I think there could be an interesting story behind this.

Thanks again for the photo Tim.

Pipistrel Alpha Electro ZK-EAL/4 at Paraparaumu

New Zealand's first electric powered aircraft, the Pipistrel Alpha Electro ZK-EAL4 has been carrying out demonstration flights with the Kapiti Districts Aero Club in June:

ZK-EAL4 (c/n 942 AE 60) is owned by Electric Airline Ltd of Lyttleton and was trailered up to Paraparaumu from its Rangiora base (as it does not have the range to fly there).

A couple of days ago the Aero Club showed off the aircraft to local VIPs including Kapiti Coast District Councillors, no doubt hoping to make them more aware of the plans to save Paraparaumu airport.

Tim Gorman took the photos - thanks Tim.

First Flight of Vans RV 14 ZK-LCW at Whitianga on 17-6-2021

Pete Walton's new RV 14 ZK-LCW (c/n 140520) made its first flight at Whitianga yesterday, in the hands of test pilot Harry Gallagher.  Gavin Magill was on hand to capture the event:

First flight, landing I think.

Pete Walton and Harry Gallagher after the second flight.

Congratulations to all involved and also to Chris Wade who did a lot of the construction.

And thanks for the photos Gavin.

Mercer & Ardmore on the 17th June

A visit to Mercer and Ardmore airfields today revealed a lot of activity including at Mercer the Avid Aircraft Magum ZK-CLC2 which was originally imported from the US in 2007 and has been with its current Huntly owner since 2010.

Onto Ardmore Piper PA28-181 Archer ZK-FNA hasnt been blogged here before.   This was imported from Fiji in 1986 and has been with its current Auckland owner since 2010.

At the Heli Sika base was AS350B2 ZK-HOP3 wearing the titling of their associate company, HeliNorth, which has a base at Dargaville.    This was imported new in 2010, progressing through ZK's IJS & HQF before becoming HOP with Heli Sika in 2011.

Calling in for fuel was "Police 1" being Bell 429 ZK-IPC2.   Registered to Advanced Flight it is one of 3 imported from Australia in 2019 for NZ Police duties.

And not often seen out & about is our sole Beech 77 Skipper ZK-SXB which was imported from the US in 2012 for its current Drury owner.