"RNZAF" Tiger Moths in New Zealand

In New Zealand we have several DH 82A Tiger Moths that are painted in RNZAF yellow training schemes.  They have registered colour schemes. as below:

ZK-AIE (c/n 83492) is owned by the Royal New Zealand Air Force and is marked as NZ 662 - which it wore during its WW 2 service.

ZK-ASV (c/n DHNZ 36) was most recently restored by Colin Smith of the Croydon Aircraft Company at Mandeville.  It is marked as NZ 786 which was its serial during its WW 2 service.  Recently (23/3/23) ownership transferred to Wayne Thomas and Craig Wing of Drury and I expect we will see it more often.

And ZK-BRL2 (c/n DHNZ 123) is registered to East Canterbury Aviation Ltd (Russell Brodie) of Rangitata Island.  It is marked as NZ 1443 which again is the serial it wore during its WW 2 service.

And there will soon be another yellow Tiger Moth as NZ Warbirds are restoring one at Ardmore for a projected 2024 completion date (is this ZK-ALM?)

There are quite a few other Tiger Moths out there wearing NZ xxx serial numbers but most of them also have the registration letters painted on as well, so they won't have registered colour schemes (ZK-BLI as NZ 1448, ZK-AKC as NZ 847, ZK-ALM as NZ 841, and a couple of silver Tigers from Masterton ZK-ANQ as NZ 892 and the inaccurate ZK-ANL as NZ 861).  Have I missed any?

There is one more Tiger with a registered colour scheme, being ZK-BJR as NZ 1425 based at North Shore, but this has a grey upper fuselage with yellow below like an RAF Tiger Moth - is this a genuine WW 2 RNZAF scheme?

Three from Christchurch today 03-10-2023

 A flying visit to Christchurch Innternational early this afternoon found two Hughes 369's on the Western side.

The Hughes 369HS ZK-IOZ c/n 6406608S is of 1974 vintage and served in the USA, Canada and back to the US to became ZK-IOZ on 28-08-2020 with Stephen Robertson of Oamaru and carries 'L J Hooker Rural' titles.

Previously noted at the Hanmer Hughes 369 fly in HERE.

The Hughes 369D ZK-HUT3 c/n 510970D built in 1982 becoming ZK-HBA4 in August of 1997 and re-registered as ZK-HUT3 on 18-06-2019 and was listed with Tim Hutchinson from 11-08-2021.

A long distant phone shot of the wingtip of the Boeing 737 Max DQ-FAF of Fiji Airways. 

NZ2423 | John Smith's P-51D Mustang Moving Day

With Brendon Deere's P-51D-30NT Mustang, NZ2423 (serial no. 45-11513, now registered ZK-BHT) nearing the end of it's restoration at the Biggin Hill Historic Aircraft Centre at Ohakea and Keith's recent blog post. I thought it would be an appropriate time to share my photos from the 19th of August 2020, where I was fortunate enough to watch NZ2423's final time on the ground at John Smith's Mapua property. Before it began it's journey north to RNZAF Base Ohakea.

This week, NZ2423 is due to reach a major milestone of the complete restoration, where it will hopefully undergo an engine run, and a compass swing, weather dependant. This will mark the first time NZ2423 has been out on the airfeild at Ohakea since 1957.

NZ2423 in the air for the first time since it's last flight in 1958.

NZ2423 can be seen above being position onto the trailer at an angle after a few attempt. During the prior attempts it was discovered that the wheelbase of the main gear was too long for the trailer, leaving the wheels overhanging off the side. On the trailer, you can see the premade chocks for the journey which ended up being unused.

NZ2423 ended up on the trailer securely by use of some wooden blocks placed below the landing gear shocks where it's main weight was being held. 

Pictured above is NZ2423 leaving Seaton Valley Road, Mapua where John Smith's historic military aircraft haven property was.

Darfield today 01-10-2023

 Tony McFarlin popped out to Darfield today and offers these three photos.

The Cessna U206F Stationair ZK-VQU c/n U20602136 was created in early 1973 as N71294 by Cessna at Wichita, Kansas and was exported to Australia to become VH-IQU from 08-11-1973 with Schutt Aircraft Sales Pty Ltd. By April of 2013 it was with C206 Pty Ltd of Gayndah, Queensland.

It was ferried from Archerfield through Norfolk Island and into Kerikeri on 16-09-2018.

It became ZK-VQU with Paul Jones of Picton from 09-10-2018. 

ICP Savannah S ZK-RDY2  c/n 19-10-54-0694 was new with Lionel Green of Forest Field where it lives with his Auster ZK-ASL2, Cessna 172S ZK-TZR2 and Tiger Moth ZK-SSA.

"Live The Adventure" and "Charlie" ZK-CCL3 is Ryan Humpherys Rangiora based Ibis Magic GS700 c/n GS-02-10-7-098.

Great Progress on the Biggin Hill Trust's P 51D Mustang

We have posted on the Biggin Hill Trust's P 51D Mustang back when it was registered ZK-BHT2 back on 10/8/23.  This of course is the ex John Smith machine NZ2423 that John rescued from the wrecker yard in the late 1950s.

And now we can see the great progress that has been made in the last couple of months.  The aircraft has had fuel in its tanks for the first time since the restoration and next week ground running is planned.

Congratulations to Brendon Deere and his team at the Biggin Hill Historic Aircraft Centre.  The Mustang looks amazing!

A foreign visitor to Nelson. Hughes 369D N100AT.

 Hughes 369D N100AT c/n 50-0178D was photographed at Nelson today (29-09-2023).
 A Hughes product from May of 1980 it went to Scandinavia and bounced around the registers of Sweden as SE-HLA, Denmark as OY-HSA and Finland as OH-HLA until moving to Canada to become C-FWNK4 from 28-05-2009 with WH Aviation Inc until cancelled on 31-05-2016 to pop up in the States as N100AT on 06-06-2016 with Eastern Shore Helicopters of Labelle, Florida. It joined Western Pacific Fisheries of Hermosa Beach, California about 28-02-2018 and arrived in Nelson on the 25th aboard the Tuna boat Western Pacific which is in for a refit. N100AT will also receive some attention from Repaircraft.

Above photo from Bill Mannix.

Photo below from Lord Nelson.

More recent strangers at Christchurch

          Tony McFarlin captured these three executive jets at Christchurch International airport in 

                                                                    the last few days.

Gulfstream 650ER VP-CVA c/n 6223 arrived on the 25th of September.

Built in mid 2016 and registered as N623GA with the manufacturer Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation of Savannah, Georgia. It was cancelled on 19-02-2017 to become VP-CVA on the same day to Star Vision Holdings Inc on the Cayman Islands and is operated by Jet Aviation Business Jets-Hong Kong.

Another Gulfstream N48RT c/n 73022 arrived on the 27th. Initially registered as N622GD to Grumman Aerospace in about October of 2019 for transfer on 09-06-2020 to Raytheon Technologies Corporation of Hartford, Connecticut and then to RTX Corporation of East Granby, Connecticut from August this year.

And a better photo of the Embraer 190 Lineage 1000 VT-PTM which dropped in on the 23rd and was mentioned HERE on the 24th just prior to its departure.

Historic Weihe Sailplane ZK-GAE at Ashburton Aviation Museum

When I was at Ashburton for he SAANZ flyin back in April, I was interested to have a look around the Ashburton Aviation Museum which has some really interesting aircraft.  One of them is the Weihe Sailplane ZK-GAE:

The Weihe sailplane was designed in Germany by Hans Jacobs in 1937-38 and had an 18 metre wingspan which would have been remarkable for the time.  It was the pre-eminent sailplane for its time and for well into the 1950s,  It won the world gliding championships in 1948 and 1950.  Initially it was produced by Deutche Forchangstalt fur Segelflug (DFS) being the German Institute for Soaring Flight, but later models were built by Jacobs-Schweyer and I understand that ZK-GAE (c/n 535) was one of those.  It was rebuilt by Slingsby after WW 2 and flew in England.

It was shipped to New Zealand in 1952 for Dick Georgeson of Christchurch and then went to Philip Wills who flew it to a height of 30,400 feet in wave over the McKenzie Basin in 1958.  You can see more of its history in the above photo by clicking it twice to enlarge.  It is displayed at Ashburton minus its outer wings.

A very interesting example of our gliding history and thanks to the Ashburton Aviation Museum for rescuing it to its display condition.

Do you recognise this propeller ?

 Can you tell us what this propeller was fitted to ?

                                                      

Daher Kodiak 100 N282KQ at NZAA Yesterday 24-9-2023

Peter Dorbeck was at Auckland International yesterday and photo'd the newly delivered Daher Kodiak 100 N282KQ (c/n 100-282).  This aircraft is for Glenorchy Air and it is painted in their colours:

The Kodiak 100 is a direct competitor for the Cessna Grand Caravan that performs a little better because of its more powerful P&W PT 6-34 turboprop engine, but it only seats 10 as against the Grand Caravan's 14 seats.  This aircraft will be the first of its type to be registered in New Zealand although a float equipped Kodiak 100 (N181KQ) has operated here.

Thanks for the photo Peter.

Embraer E190 Lineage VT-PRM

An unexpected visitor into Christchurch yesterday was the Embraer ERJ 190 Lineage VT-PRM c/n 19000571.

Arriving in Auckland and then grounded overnight with a technical problem - it was flown down to Hamilton for a fix and then arrived into Christchurch yesterday afternoon.

Above we see it today refueling at Christchurch prior to departure for Australia.

Built in 2013 by Embraer SA and said to have been PR-TDZ before becoming N28888 on 30-05-2013 for operations by Premiair. Cancelled on 10-06-2015 it then became OE-LUV with International Jet Management before delivery in September 2022 to it current operator as VT-PRM.

Further afield

 A couple of exotics from up in the Pacific Islands.

The Beech Kingair 200 N625BW c/n BB-1090 was snapped at Funafuti International Airport on 09-09-2023 by Andrew Harper.

First noted back in August of 1982 as YV-493CP and then as N54SK back in the States in February 2003. Then as N49SK from February 2004.

It took up its current N625BW registration in August of 2013 and by March of 2018 was listed with TSC Government Services LLC out of Arlington, Virginia. From 15-04-2023 title changed to Technology Service Corporation, Arlington.

As can be seen it carries "Forum Fisheries Agencies" fuselage markings and large "FFA" underwing marks. (Basically a fisheries patrol and transport aircraft for the participating Pacific Island nations).

At Pilolevu Airport, Tuvalu on 28-08-2023 the Saab SF340B+ A3-PUA c/n 340B-408 of Lulutahi Airlines was captured by Andrew Harper.

First flown by SAAB in Sweden as SE-B08 on 06-11-1996 it became N408XJ the following month to be hidden within the US Banking system, but was known to be with Lambert Leasing and operated for some time by Northwest Airline..

It popped up on the Australian register as VH-VNX on 03-08-2012 with Vincent Aviation (Australia) of Winnellie, NT and then to Vee H Aviation Pty Ltd of Fyshwick, ACT from 11-07-2014 - with a registration change to VH-VEF2 on 31-07-2014 and carried "Corporate Air" titles until cancelled on 21-04-2016 for its transfer to A3-PAU with Real Tonga followed by a lease to Lulutai Airlines in September of 2020.

Bombardier Challenger D-AFAB at Christchurch on the 17th.

The Bombardier Aerospace Challenger 604 D-AFAB c/n 5378 flew a medevac flight into Christchurch from Kuala Lumpur and Darwin on 15-09-2023.

Photo below from Tony McFarlin showing D-AFAB at Christchurch International 17-09-2023.

It departed on the 17th flying direct to Darwin. 

On the 18th it continued on to Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Trabzon and to Nuremberg.

I believe it was built by Bombardier Aerospace as C-GDBZ, becoming D-ASTS in December 1998 with Bavaria Aircraft Leasing and operated by ACM Air Charter.

It  became D-AFAB in June of 2014 with FAI (Flight Ambulance International).

Motueka Aero Club, Club Day - April 2021

Featured below are a selection of photographs from the archives, April 25th, 2021 at Motueka (NZMK) of the Motueka Aero Club's club day (last sunday of each month).

Above is ZK-TRF (c/n 398-98), an American Champion 8GCBC Scout. Listed with Drake Aviation Ltd of Fernside. Last featured on the NZ Civil Aircraft blog here, where it was noted to be in storage. Parked alongside ZK-TRF is ZK-LPB.

ZK-LPB, an Alpi Pioneer 200 (c/n NZ20013) pictured above, rolling down runway 20 grass. ZK-LPB is a local, registered to Geoffrey M Waring, of Richmond as of 22/03/2021. Previously residing at Timaru, more blog posts of ZK-LPB can be found here

ZK-ROY, a local, was also in attendance after a quick flight from Nelson where it is hangared. ZK-ROY, a Rans S-6ES Coyote II (c/n 1194686) was built for Peter Roy of Queenstown, registered on 20/03/1996. The aircraft was then sold to current owner, R.O.Y Syndicate of Motueka in January of 1999.

ZK-IJR, a Robinson R44 Raven II (c/n 10828) was also at Motueka. Another local, privately owned and hangared in Redwood Valley.

 

ZK-TCV (c/n 0081), a Titan T51 Mustang had also made the hop from Nelson. Current owner being Alan M Caudwell of Nelson. Previous blog posts featuring ZK-TCV can be found here

ZK-DVE, a Pacific Aerospace 750XL (c/n 159) was also at Motueka, operating for Abel Tasman Skydive on parachute drops. ZK-DVE's history can be found here.

 

EAA Acrosport II ZK-DJK/2 Re-Visited

We have covered the EAA Acrosport II ZK-DJK2 previously on the blog (you can search for it) but we have not managed a decent photo of it, or chronicled what happened to it.  Peter Dorbeck who has been photographing aircraft at Ardmore for many years has recently shared a nice photo of it taken in 2006:

ZK-DJK2 (c/n 1483) was registered on 17/2/00 and was based at Ardmore.  In a very sad situation it crashed into the sea off Great Barrier Island on 23/5/14 with the loss of the pilot and was not found at the time despite extensive aerial searches.  Its registration was cancelled on 13/6/14.  Later in a one in a million chance it was snagged by a fishing boat on 7/8/14 and the wreckage was recovered.

Helicopters South Canterbury

Based at Waitohi, inland from Temuka, is Helicopters South Canterbury who operate a fleet of 3 Bell 206Bs, 1 Robinson R44 II and 1 AS350BA.

The last of these is ZK-HMG3 which was imported from the USA in 2015 and has been with the company since October 2021.

One of the Jetrangers is ZK-IGT3 which was imported for the company from Australia back in 2016.

 

The Alpine Helicopters' 500s

Wanaka based Alpine Helicopters currently operate 3 Hughes 500s comprising single examples of the C, D & E models.

The 500C is a Kawasaki built example ZK-HMW4 which was originally imported from the Philippines back in 2002 as ZK-IAC being reregistered HMW in December 2020.

The D model is ZK-HOT8 which was imported from the US back in early 1985 as ZK-HUW being reregistered as HOT in December 2020.

And the E model is ZK-HNW4 which was imported from Australia in October 2018 as ZK-HOT6,  being reregistered HNW in the same month.

 

New Tecnams at Oamaru

A visit today to the NZ Airline Academy at Oamaru Airport found most of their fleet active including 3 that havent featured on this Blog before.

Starting with P2008JC ZK-TBT2 which is a brand new example imported in April 2022 with ZK-TCT.

A very recent import in August 2023 is P Mentor ZK-TDT2 which was imported with ZK-TET.

And a P2008 imported from Australia in March 2023 together with ZK-TZT was ZK-TYT.

 

Cessna 680 Sovereign ZK-ZEK at Ardmore

We now have two Cessna 680 Sovereigns registered in New Zealand.  The C 680 Sovereign was introduced in 1998 and made its first flight in 2002.  It was granted FAA certification in June 2004.

ZK-ZEK (c/n 680-0012) is a very early example and previously was N970RC, N61DF, N690VP and VH-ZEK.  It was registered to Airlift New Zealand Ltd of Auckland on 23/8/23 and was photo'd at Ardmore by Peter Dorbeck on 19/9/23.

Our other Cessna 680 Sovereign is Skyline Aviation's ZK-RXD which is based at Napier which you can find by searching the blog.

Thanks for the photo Peter.

New helicopters in Queenstown

The latest additions to the fleets of the Queenstown Airport helicopter operators were noted today starting with EC145 / BK117C-2 ZK-IDT2 which has been acquired by Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters.   This was purchased from North Shore based Orbit Helicopters where it was ZK-IGL2, and has had a series of ZK registrations since importation back in 2007.

The same company has also added 2 brand new AS350B-3e helicopters ZK-IHO and ZK-IKW,  both seen stacked up here.

And on the other side of the Airport Heliworks has added the EC130T2 ZK-ICH3 which was imported from Australia.