The new ZK-RGB ! AMENDED

 Captured yesterday at Tauranga by Hairy Mole Rat was this Tecnam which had been marked in Italy as "RGA".

It is I believe the Tecnam P92 Mk II for the Canterbury Recreational Aircraft Club at Rangiora and will most likely become ZK-RGB3 to replace the previous Tecnam P92 Echo Classic ZK-RGB2 which was destroyed back on 28-04-2021.

*************************************************************

Amendment

How wrong can you be ?

Todays photo (31-03-2022) from Tauranga from Hairy Mole Rat tells a different story to what the scuttlebutt in the CRAC Club House has been saying. 

Actually HMR did advise me that :-

"It arrived as ZK-RGA but I understand it is in fact ZK-RGE but not on the CAA Reg yet."

Evidence in camera.

Here we have ZK-RGE as seen today (Thursday 31st)

Dare I mention a c/n of 1657 ?

Sorry HMR

A Couple of Different Helicopters at Waimauku on 26-3-2022

After the demonstration of Oskar Stielau's interesting electric Mosquito at Parakai last Saturday, I headed on down the road to Waimauku following Tim Pike to his impressive workshop that contained some other interesting helicopters:

Tim's Cicare SVH-4 ZK-HZV3 (c/n 018) is a tethered single seat helicopter trainer powered by a Rotax 912, that was designed in Argentina by Augusto Cicare.  It was registered here on 20/12/16 and it is the only one of its type in the country.  It is currently for sale on Trade Me.

And stored on a shelf in the corner of Tim's shed is the remains of a Elisport CH 7 Angel helicopter.  This is a development of Augusto Cicare's original CH 6 design so it is closely related to the SVH-4.

As there has been only one Elisport CH 7 Angel helicopter registered here, we can detail its history (thanks to Blue Bus).  It originally was registered here on 19/1/96 as ZK-HOC2 (c/n 034) to R I W Simpson of Takapuna, however it was damaged in a road accident, presumably while being trailered, as was cancelled on 11/11/97.  It was rebuilt and restored to the register as ZK-HOU3 on 9/2/00 for Simon Clark of Auckland.  However it also didn't last long in this guise as it suffered a roll over accident at Ardmore on 25/7/03 when the engine failed while hover taxying, and it was finally cancelled on 7/12/05.

Couple of helicopters at Ardmore

Noted at Ardmore today was our first example of the Robinson R44 Cadet version now carrying its registration ZK-HNG8.    It is currently registered to the NZ Robinson dealer Heliflite Ltd.

And over at Oceania Aviation the former Gisborne Helicopters' Hughes 369D ZK-IKL has completed its refurbishment and it is now for sale on the Oceania website.   It was originally imported from the US back in 2007.

 

Yeoman YA1-250R Cropmaster for Export

Noted on the Dennis Thompson International ramp at Ardmore today was the well known Yeoman YA-1 250R Cropmaster ZK-CPW.   Previously based at Waipukurau this was cancelled off the NZ Register last Friday as "Exported" and it is believed to be heading to Australia.

 

Electric Mosquito Helicopter ZK-IAB/2 at Parakai 26-3-2022

Yesterday I drove on from North Shore to Parakai where the Northern Aviators Club had arranged with Oskar Stielau for a demonstration of his electric Mosquito Air helicopter ZK-IAB2.  There were about 25 interested observers from as far away as Whangarei and Whitianga, and Oskar gave a great presentation about his electric helicopter which is probably the only example in the world.

The electric motor is tiny.  It is the round black object below the registration.  And the 7 all electric tail rotors are adapted from a 15 Kg drone.

Then Oskar took off and flew impressively up and down the airfield for about 15 minutes.

Oskar is an electrical engineer and also a rotary flying machine guy.  He originally built his helicopter as a Rotax 2 stroke model ZK-HNG6, as above, which he flew for 60 hours from 2008.  It is photo'd above at Parakai on 1/3/09.

Tecnam P92 ZK-PFL

Visiting Pauanui yesterday was the Matamata Aero Club's Tecnam P92 Echo Super UL ZK-PFL.  Now carrying the Club's titling this was originally imported new in 2011 and was acquired by the Club in mid 2021.

 

Chilton DW.1 ZK-CHT

John Gray's Chilton DW.1 ZK-CHT2 c/n NZDW1A/04 was first flown by Evan Belworthy from Rangiora late last week.

It was out again today and was taxied around to a Sport Aircraft Association hangar gathering.

Below, Evan taxying the Chilton round to the SAA hangar gathering.

                                                       It flew again later in the morning.

This project has been mentioned several times previously.

See :   https://nzcivair.blogspot.com/search?q=chilton

A Lost LAD at North Shore Today 26-2-2022

I was passing through North Shore airfield today, where there was not much activity due to quite a strong cross wind.  However there was a stray Piper Tomahawk that has not appeared on the blog previously:

PA 38-112 Tomahawk ZK-LAD (c/n 38-79A0773) is registered to Tonic Engineering Ltd of Greenhithe in Auckland and has been with them since 1/5/19.  It is ex ZK-EZG and has been in New Zealand since May 2012.

I thought the LAD looked a bit lost.  Maybe he was missing his MOM who is at Ardmore.

 

A Couple of "New" Cherokees at North Shore back on 5-3-2022

A couple of weeks ago I was at North Shore airfield and photo'd two Cherokees that have recently had a change of ownership and that have not been posted on the blog previously:

PA 28-161 Warrior ZK-WWW (c/n 28-7716057) was registered to Bikini Airways Ltd of Auckland on 1/2/22.

And PA 28-180 Archer  ZK-DOS (c/n 28-7405002) was registered to a North Shore owner on 27/1/22.  

It is surprising that neither of these 2 Cherokees have been posted on the blog previously as they have been around for quite a while - since January 1974 for ZK-DOS while ZK-WWW has been around since December 2011.

ZK-EOJ arrives Christchurch

 Taxying gingerly towards the Canterbury Aero Club tie downs during my lunch break today was the Cessna 152 ZK-EOJ c/n 82940.

The ownership of this passed from Airborne Aviation Ltd of Hastings to the recent start up company Feilding Aviation Ltd in December.

Muttley at Maungaturoto 19-3-2022

Yesterday I travelled up to Maungaturoto with Ray Deerness to meet with Murray Hargreaves and see his "new" 400 HP Fletcher ZK-MUT:

MUT is for Muttley the dog

Murray's strip provides lovely backgrounds for photographing aircraft,

and he had washed the Fletcher so it sparkled in the sun.  It looks really good for a hard working aircraft.

Muttley being towed back to his kennel/hangar after we had taken our photos.

For the history of this Fletcher have a look HERE

ZK-DOL 2

Visiting Pauanui today from Te Kowhai was the Vans RV12iS UL ZK-DOL2 which was only registered 2 weeks ago.    So far it has flown 10.9 hours and in due course it will be painted in a blue colour scheme.

 

One highly chuffed granddad

 I had the honour early yesterday to take my granddaughter out to Rangiora for her second instructional flight in the CRAC Tecnam P92 Echo Classic ZK-RGC.

Here Deborah is doing the pre flight check under the watchful eye of Doug Anderson. 

Pauanui

The variety of visitors to the Pauanui airfield continued today with the early morning visit from Tauranga of the sleek Stoddard-Hamilton SH3R Glasair III ZK-PGB.    Originally registered in 2014 this has been with its current owner since late 2021.

Up from New Plymouth showing its smart new paint scheme was the 1970 model Piper PA32-300 Cherokee Six ZK-PDX.   Originally imported as ZK-DBC this became PDX in 1999 and has been with its current owner since late 2020.

And for something completely different 3 RNZAF T-6C Texan II trainers,  NZ1401,1404 & 1407,  did a low fly past the eastern end of the runway while heading south.

 

ZK-LWW

An interesting visitor to Pauanui today was the Whakatane based Cessna TR182 Skylane RG ZK-LWW.  Not often seen this was originally imported new back in 1988 as ZK-TRC before briefly becoming ZK-TRO2 in 1996, and then ZK-LWW in the same year.

It has been with its current owner since 2007 and carries "Bay Wine Country" scripting on the tail.

 

Masterton Tiger Moth Fly In

 Aaron Murphy was at the Tiger Moth Fly In at Masterton last weekend.

Here are several shots taken over that weekend.ZK-BAH c/n 83589 of John Baynes.

ZK-BCZ c/n DHNZ155 of Ian Dittmer of Masterton.

ZK-BEF c/n 83323 of Darren Luff of Whanganui.

ZK-BEW c/n 84771 of the Irish Air Transport Company, Te Kauwhata.

                                  ZK-BLI c/n DHNZ128 from the BLI Syndicate of Papakura.

ZK-ICS

 Noted at Hastings today by Des Smith was the Guimbal Cabri G2 ZK-ICS2 c/n 1024 of Aroha Helicopters Ltd of Hastings.This Cabri was one of the first two to arrive in NZ being listed to CHL Investments Ltd of Christchurch on 07-10-2011 as ZK-HCS4 (along with ZK-IDC).
It was damaged near Eyrewell on 05-12-2013 and rebuilt and reregistered as ZK-ICS2 and was flying again by March of 2015.
It joined its current operator from 01-09-2020.

Rotorua and beyond

Continuing our travels north the first stop was Rotorua where the resident Super Air Air Tractor is now the 602 model ZK-SXO.    This was imported used from the US in 2021 and assembled at Feilding.

Visiting from Tauranga was the R44 Raven II ZK-IMF which was imported new in 2005 and has been with Aspiring Aviation since 2014.

Amongst all the glider activity at Matamata for the week long MSC competitions was the Magni M24C gyrocopter ZK-RHW which was imported in 2015 and has been with its Te Aroha owner since late 2021.

And lastly at Airbus Helicopters Ardmore another new H145 D3 has arrived for assembly believed to be our 3rd example of the 5 bladed version to be registered as ZK-IJL2 to Airlift NZ.    The first two were Advanced Flight's ZK-ITF4 and Helicopters Otago ZK-ICU2.

 

BBJ arriving CH +1

 Boeing 737-75T (WL) Business Jet N883LS c/n 29142 (and line number 167 if you are interested) arrived into Christchurch from Melbourne this afternoon.

This first flew on 9-12-1998 becoming N700WH on 29-12-1998, N737WH on 16-12-1999 and N260DV on 22-02-2013.

It was certified to N882LS on 07-03-2019 to Las Vegas Sands Corporation who also operate two other 737's and five Gulfstream GV's

Above it is short finals for 20.

Below a long distance shot of it smoking up the nose wheels.

On the Canterbury Aero Club side of the airfield the Cessna 172 ZK-FJB c/n 65126 of U-Fly New Zealand Ltd from Wanaka was parked but departed for points south mid afternoon.

Helicopters in the Waikato

Tripping around the Waikato uncovered a number of helicopters that havent featured on this blog before starting with Bell 206B ZK-HLG5 which was imported by Rotor Flite NZ this year from Japan and assembled by Rotorcraft at Hamilton Airport.

Down at the Rotor Work maintenance base at Kihikihi was Bell 206B sprayer ZK-HWR3 which was imported from Japan back in 2004, and has been with the company since 2012.

Further down the road at another Rotor Work base at Kopaki was Hughes 269C ZK-HOO2 which was imported from the US in 1993, and has been with the company since 1995.

Receiving attention at Argus Aviation at Taupo was Mid West Helicopters MD500N ZK-HZG3 which was imported from Australia in 2008, and has been with the company since 2018.

And lastly on the Rotor & Wing ramp at Taupo was the Robinson R66 ZK-IXT which was imported new in 2014 and acquired by its current owner, SCN Helicopters of Porirua, in May 2021.

 

Eurocopter AS 350 BA ZK-IDK at Dargaville

As I was preparing to leave Dargaville on Saturday, one of the Helinorth spraying helicopters arrived so I took a long shot of it:

It turned out to be their Eurocopter AS 350 BA ZK-IDK (c/n 1745).  This was imported in July 2019 and has not appeared on the blog before.  You can see the Tangihuas in the background of the shot.

Alpi Pioneer 300 ZK-DMK/2 at Dargaville

Another new aircraft for me at lunch at Dargaville yesterday was Duane Keenan's Alpi Pioneer 300 ZK-DMK2:

It looks very nice in its new colours including an eye catching rippling Italian flag

Duane told me that he wanted the new colours on his Alpi and also wanted his personalised registration, but approval was slow coming from CAA so he flew it for a short time with its original registration ZK-SCN, here photo'd at Raglan.  He has also put a glass cockpit in his aircraft.

And as we have posted on the blog previously, ZK-SCN was constructed by Sefton Crandall from a kit and was first registered on 16/8/17.

A nice aircraft.