A stroll around my patch at Christchurch International this afternoon found the following worthy of comment.
I was not disappointed with the helicopter variety on the Western side.
It also carries the 'L J Hooker Rural" signage.
A stroll around my patch at Christchurch International this afternoon found the following worthy of comment.
I was not disappointed with the helicopter variety on the Western side.
In 2006 there were a smaller number of P 2002 Sierras registered, a total of three:
The Nelson Aero Club purchased a pair of P 2002 JF Sierras to their training fleet in early 2006. The first was ZK-RJE (c/n 032 in the JF series), which was registered to them on 29/3/06 and was delivered on 4/5/06. However the Sierras didn't last long at Nelson and on 25/5/07 it went to the Wakatipu Aero Club in Queenstown. That didn't last long either and on 2/10/07 ownership changed to R G Brown of Christchurch on 2/10/07 and then on 24/10/07 it flew from Kerikeri across the Tasman via Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands. It was cancelled from the NZ register on 18/12/07 and on 4/1/08 it was registered as VH-IMP to Chee Hoong Khong of Geraldton, WA. It was cancelled from the Australian register on 21/11/16.Carrying on into 2005, another six P 2002 Sierras were registered, as follows:
ZK-WAK (c/n 010 in the JF series) was a fully certified P 2002 JF model that was registered to the S & B Jones Family Trusy of Queenstown on 21/2/05 and it quickly went to the Wakatipu Aero Club at Queenstown (hence the registration I guess), on 4/4/05. in September 2013 it was leased to the Wairarapa and Ruahine Aero Club at Masterton and they assumed ownership on 1/10/14. The above photo was taken at Masterton on 10/11/13. Tragically it was involved in a mid-air collision at Masterton on 16/6/19 (with the skydiving Cessna 185 ZK-CBY) and both pilots were killed. It was cancelled from the register on 19/7/19.
A poser for our readers. I got this photo from the internet and it was taken in Christchurch:
P 2002 Sierras kept arriving at Ardmore during 2004, with a total of six registered during the year. In registration date order they were:
ZK-NPS (c/n 032) was registered to the New Plymouth Aero Club on 10/5/04. It went to Pro Flight Ltd of Tauranga on 19/4/07 and it is photo'd in their ownership above. On 20/11/07 it went to the NPS Syndicate of Tauranga and then on 5/11/09 it went back to Tecnam Ltd of Ardmore. From 23/4/10 ownership was with Rod Vaughan Ltd of Ardmore.Following on from the low wing P 96 Golf, the all metal Tecnam P 2002 Sierra was designed by Tecnam in 2002 and was introduced at Aero Friedrichshafen 2003. It was designed to comply with the European microlight regulations as well as the American Light Sport Aircraft regulations. It proved to be very successful and by 2005 it made up 70% of the output from Tecnam.
The P 2002 Sierra was a development of the P 96 Golf but it had a new tapered laminar flow wing which produced a slightly improved cruise speed with the same 100 HP Rotax engine. It was heavier than the Golf but it has the same 544 Kg MAUW as a Class 2 microlight in New Zealand (and it can be registered as a LSA with a 600 Kg MAUW). The Sierra also became available with retractable undercarriage and is still produced as the updated Sierra Mk II with a new canopy and as the P 2002 JF with the old style canopy which is a certificated version (and which has been purchased by the Argentinian and Greek Air Forces).
The specifications for the original model Sierra were: length 6.6 metres (21 feet 7 inches). wingspan 9 metres (29 feet 6 inches) and the wing area was 124 square feet. The empty weight is quoted as around 330 Kg (730 pounds) and the MAUW for a Class 2 microlight in New Zealand is 544 Kg (1,200 pounds). With a 100 HP Rotax the cruise speed is around 120 knots, and the stall with full flaps is quoted at 41 knots. From the specs I have seen the Mk II Sierra is heavier than the original model at 380 Kg but it can be operated at a MAUW of 620 Kg in some overseas countries.
We have had twenty nine P 2002 Sierras of various models registered in New Zealand to date. The first couple are detailed below in the order of their dates of registration:
Our first P 2002 Sierra, ZK-TST (c/n 008) was obviously a very early model from the Tecnam factory. It was registered to Ardmore Aviation Services on 28/11/03. On 23/12/07 it was sold to N C Cleine of Westport and then on 15/12/14 it went back up North to T S Hunt of Kaitaia. One year later, on 23/12/15 ownership transferred to Dreamcraft Aviation Ltd of Whanagarei and then on 4/11/18 to the interestingly named Hamingja Enda Fylgjur Ltd of Auckland. It is photo'd above at Whangarei on 26/11/17.Moving onto the Heli Ag base at Maraekakaho their 2 AS350B were in residence being ZK-ICR and ZK-IRE. The latter has been owned by the company since importation from Australia in 2019, while ICR was acquired in March 2021, having been imported from the US in 2015.
Operating from the Heli Ag base was Christchurch Helicopters' EC120B ZK-HTV2 fulfilling a survey contract in the North Is. This was imported from Australia in 2002.
And a return visit to Hastings airfield showed Hughes 369E ZK-IDV2 now more complete, details as per yesterday's blog below.
Here are the last five of the twenty three Tecnam Golfs that we have had registered in New Zealand:
ZK-TSC (c/n 235) was registered to T S C (Trevor) McKeown of Masterton on 4/4/03, and it is still owned by him. It is photo'd above at Masterton on 30/11/19.Among our twenty three P 96 Golfs several have gone to Australia, but one that was different was ZK-TMG which flew across the Tasman to Australia.
ZK-TMG (c/n 236) was registered to M G M (Michael) Gray of Wellington on 21/2/03. I think that Michael Gray maybe always intended to move to Australia and he undertook some flying training in his aircraft with John Bolton-Riley at Feilding. He then arranged with John for him to fly ZK-TMG across the Tasman to deliver the aircraft to South Australia. John Bolton-Riley had previously flown his Sky Arrow (ZK-EBR) across the Tasman and return, making him the first to fly a microlight aircraft from New Zealand to Australia. Logan McLean had also flown the Tasman and return in his Alpi and so Golf ZK-TMG would be the third microlight to make the East-West trip, in October 2003. This made ZK-TMG the shortest lived of our Tecnam Golfs in New Zealand at just over 7 months. I had not seen any photos of it previously, and as you can see above it had the ZK marks as required for international flights.As I mentioned in my previous post, there were ten P 96 Golfs registered in New Zealand during 2002 (as well as four P 92 Echos) so Tecnam NZ were very busy at Ardmore. Here are the remaining P 96 Golfs from 2002 in the order of their registration:
ZK-JTG (c/n 212) was registered to Allied Press Ltd of Dunedin on 29/7/02 and it is still registered with them 19 years later. It does not appear to have been photo'd much and the above photo is from Jet Photos.