Northern Aviators in the North Today 27-7-2024

The weather turned out great this morning for the Northern Aviators Club committee meeting at Kaipara Flats this morning and a couple of the committee members flew in:

John Issott flew across from Parakai in the Tecnam P2004 Bravo ZK-TNM, the first time I had seen it at NZKF.  It has been fitted with a Chinese "Rotax style" Zhongshen engine, the first in the country.

And Willy Morton flew down from up KawaKawa way in his Aeroprakt A 32 Vixxen ZK-VLW.

It was very pleasant having our meeting on comfy chairs out in the sunshine!  The first NAC flyin for the new flying season is a Pancake Breakfast at NZKF on 19 October.

RNZAF Hercules C 130J NZ7013

 Not civil but of interest I reckon.

The RNZAF's third C 130J Hercules NZ7013 has flown in the US.  The photo is from Lockheed Martin.

Beavers and Beavers #3 ZK-BMF - Update

ZK-BMF was one of the Beavers that Dave Paull posted about back in 2010 and you can find his post HERE   However I have been able to do a bit more digging and so here is an update:

DHC-2 Beaver ZK-BMF c/n 948 was built by De Havilland Canada in August 1956 and imported into NZ by the De Havilland Aircraft Company of New Zealand Ltd of Wellington in October of 1956 and was registered to them. It was not assembled immediately but stored until February 1958. It first flew at Wellington on 04-03-1958 and was used by DH as a demonstrator as in the above photo.  The colour of the fuselage stripe was blue with a dark blue lower fuselage.  I do not have a record of who took the photo or where it is.

It was registered to Fieldair Ltd of Gisborne on 24/4/61 and was painted in their standard blue and white scheme as in this photo taken by Dave Paull at Wellington on 27/5/64 after repairs following an incident where it swung on landing on an ag strip at Te Whero and hit a concrete roller and overturned.  As with nearly all ag aircraft in New Zealand it suffered further accidents - on 4/10/74 near Palmerston North and on 23/11/81 near Gisborne.

At Gisborne on 28/8/68,

At Dannevirke on 25/7/74,

Following the various Fieldar reorganisations its ownership transferred to Fieldair Holdings (Central Ltd) of Palmerston North on 18/11/80 and then to Fieldair Holdings Ltd of Palmerston North on 30/3/84, wearing various versions of the Fieldair yellow scheme, as here at Waipukurau on 1/8/76,

And here at Napier on 5/4/80.  Both of these photos are by Bob Kerr via the AustAirData website.

After being withdrawn it was stored at Gisborne until rebuilt to passenger configuration by Frank Wright of Tauranga; being registered to Frank & Kay Wright on 18-09-1991.  It was sold abroad and cancelled from the NZ register on 13-08-1992.  I can't find a photo of it as ZK-BMF after its rebuild by Frank Wright, but as usual he made a lovely job of it.  I include the photo of it below as C-FGAL as it shows the colour scheme that Frank painted it in.  Does anyone have a photo of ZK-BMF in this scheme?

On 14-08-1992 it appeared on the Canadian register as C-FGAL with Glacier Air Ltd of Fort James, British Columbia until being canceled on 22-12-1998.  It moved to N712TS on 07-12-2000 with Hans Munich of East Sound, Washington State.  Then it went to Seair Adventures LLC of Washington State and then to Harris Aircraft Services Inc of Sitka in Alaska.  Tragically it disappeared on 20-09-2004 near or on Sitka Island with five persons aboard and it has never been found.

Mosquito ZK-PWL is Now Registered in the US

The DH 98 Mosquito T43 ZK-PWL was cancelled from the New Zealand register on 16/5/24 as exported, and it was then shipped to Planes of Fame at Chino in California:

It was registered N2308Z to Spitfire Ventures LLC of San Antonio in Texas on 31/5/24 (a nice play on NZ2308) after reassembly by a crew from Avspecs.  I don't think it has flown in the US yet, but recently was outside where Craig Bryant took this photo and posted it on the Planes of Fame Facebook page.

My guess, because of the placement of the registration, is that it will be painted in a new colour scheme.

Beaver ZK-BFN

Over the last few days I have posted the histories of the first two Fieldair Beavers ZK-AZB and ZK-BBX.  In those posts I referenced the earlier posts on the blog by Dave Paull who had been requested to do some posts on Beavers in the run up to the Lawson Field reunion at Gisborne over Labour Weekend in 2010.

Dave did not do posts on all of our Beavers at that time so I thought I would fill in the blanks and update his original posts to bring them up to date.  I will start with Fieldair's Beavers of which there were 19 in total.  I have a soft spot for Beavers as I was attending Rongotai College in the 1960s when many Beavers were imported, most of them for Fieldair.  And I often saw Beavers from their fleet and other companies arriving at Rongotai for maintenance. 

The third Beaver in the Fieldair fleet was ZK-BFN  which was first registered to De Havilland Aircraft Ltd of Downsview, Ontario as CF-HGW on 12/4/54.  It was quickly exported to New Zealand arriving in May 1954.

ZK-BFN (c/n 564) was registered to the De Havilland Aircraft Company New Zealand Ltd on 20/5/54 and they used it as a demonstrator and it carried out demonstrations of air dropping fencing materials as in the above photo which was taken near Palmerston North.  The photo is probably a DHNZ publicity photo and is via Janic Geelen.

It was registered to Fieldair Ltd on 4/4/55.  It was damaged when it hit HT wires at Rakauroa on 27/1/58 but was repaired . It is photo'd here with the Fieldair logo on the door.  I do not have a record of who took this photo or where it is.

It acquired the standard Fieldair blue and white colour scheme as in this photo which I took of on one of its visits to Hawker Siddeley in Wellington for maintenance in the 1960s.

And this photo of it was taken by New Zealand Beaver expert Graeme Mills at Dannevirke in 1960.  

However it never got any of the later yellow colour schemes as it was written off in a bizarre accident at Gisborne on 14/4/69 when it took off on a test flight after maintenance with its aileron cables reversed and crashed heavily, injuring the 2 pilots.  It was cancelled from the register on 28/4/69.

Beechcraft Super King Air ZK-APL

 I have waited over two years to capture this King Air. 

It, like myself are Christchurch based and this is my first photograph of it.Beechcraft B350i Super King Air ZK-APL2 c/n FL-415 arrived into Wellington on 28-04-2022.It was registered to Apollo Air Ltd of Christchurch on 10-05-2022.

It was mentioned previously HERE

Guimbal Cabri G2 ZK-HIA

 Noted today at Christchurch was the Guimbal Cabri G2 ZK-HIA3 c/n 1299.

This has been listed with the DC Leasing Partnership of Kaikoura since new on 30-06-2022.Originally just plain gray it now has some fine decals which improves its looks.

Nelson today. 23-07-2024

 Bill Mannix did his duty at Nelson Airport today, 23-07-2024, and captured these photographs.A recent addition to the Helicopters Nelson Ltd's line is this factory new 
Guimbal Cabri G2 ZK-IHN2 c/n 1353.

It has the Nelson Helicopters "swirl" and web details, as do company vehicles and hangar. 

From the Massey University School of Aviation at Palmerston North came the Diamond DA 40 Diamond Star ZK-MTI c/n 40.1013.

It was initially listed to the manufacturers Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc of London, Ontario as 

C-FBDG - a well used factory test registration.

A regular visitor from the Motueka Aero Club is the Piper PA-38-112 Tomahawk ZK-VBM 

c/n 38-79A0608.

This was originally N2384K in the US from 2000 before importation for John and Lorraine Horrell of Nelson in 2004. It joined the Motueka Aero Club from 18-05-2023.

Widgeon ZK-CFA In its Element

 

For no other reason than it is a spectacular photo, here is Grumman Widgeon ZK-CFA near the top of the Clutha in Central Otago.  This was just after the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow.

Beavers and Beavers #1 ZK-BBX -- Update

Recently I posted about Fieldair's first Beaver ZK-AZB and I referenced the post that Dave Paull had done back in September 2010 on ZK-BBX which was Fieldair's second Beaver.  As nearly 14 years has passed since then, I thought I would do and update on ZK-BBX with a very early photo of it and which sadly does not end well:

ZK-BBX (c/n 324) was imported into New Zealand by the De Havilland Aircraft Company of NZ Ltd and was first registered to them on 22/8/52.  Its first flight here was at Rongotai on 7/1/53.  On 24/11/52 it was registered to Fieldair Ltd of Gisborne and it was delivered to Gisborne on 14/1/53.  The above photo of it at Paraparaumu in 1954 is sourced from Don Noble I understand.  It ran off an airstrip at Otoko and overturned on 12/5/55 and was repaired at Rongotai, making a test flight on 1/9/55.  Then it was damaged in a crash landing at Elsthorpe on 13/5/67 but it was repaired again to topdress another day.

It was repainted into the standard blue and white Fieldar colour scheme as seen here at Dannevirke on 2/3/69.

Like all the then survivng Fieldair Beavers it went through the various company reorganisations and resultant colour schemes, to Fieldair Holdings (Central) Ltd of Palmerston North on 18/11/80 and then to Feildair Holdings Ltd, also of Palmerston North on 30/3/84.  Here it is photo'd at Masterton on 8/7/81.

And here at Hamilton on 4/11/77,

And here at Palmerston North on 22/7/86.

On 4/11/88 it was registered to C Rye c/- Duffy Aircraft of Duffy, NSW as VH-IDR3.  Ownership transferred to Western Aerial Cropspraying Pty Ltd of Derrinallum in Victoria on 8/12/89 where the above photo of it was taken.  It was cancelled from the Australian register on 10/9/93 and exported back to New Zealand.

Back in New Zealand it was re-registered as ZK-BBX to James N W (Jim) Frogley of Havelock North on 13/9/93.  It is photo'd here as a sprayer at its Havelock North base on 16/12/93.

It was seen widely around the country, here at the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow on 16/4/96.

And finally, here at the Wings Over Wairarapa airshow on 18/1/13.

Sadly it was badly damaged when it undershot a topdressing airstrip near the Napier/Taupo Road on 28/10/17.  It was sold to Auckland Seaplanes Ltd in a damaged condition on 10/6/18 and cancelled on 20/8/18. However Auckland Seaplanes went into liquidation in 2023.

There is a suggestion that ZK-BBX may be being rebuilt - can anyone provide any further information on this?

Mudrovcich Pearse Replica at Classic Flyers 17-07-2024

The daring but ultimately unsuccessful Richard Pearse Monoplane replica built by Ivan Mudrovcich of Auckland was outside last week at Classic Flyers Museum at Tauranga Airport to whom it has been gifted by Ivan's son Ivan.  It was on show there last week where the engine was started.  There is an article and video of this event in the New Zealand Herald (see HERE ).  

We have posted previously on Ivan Mudrovcich's replica ZK-RPT ( HERE in 2012 and HERE in 2019).  The last I heard of it, it was attempting to fly at Whitianga but sadly Ivan Mudrovcich took ill, and he later died in 2018.  Despite the best efforts of many volunteers it never flew.  The aircraft was cancelled from the register as withdrawn, on 11/10/18, and has been in storage since. 

Thanks to Neil Williams for the photo.

More Information on Beaver ZK-AZB

Following my recent post on the venerable Beaver ZK-AZB, Westland 831 of our sister blog Third Level New Zealand has emailed some more information (from Italy!) on its time with Motiti Island Air:

The (Motiti Island Air) service was particularly aimed at fishermen and divers and supporting a lodge on Motiti Island. It also served the needs of the locals. During the summer of 1986/1987, with the service growing, Island Air Safaris leased De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver ZK-CZL from Fieldair after its rebuild. The lease convinced Island Air Safaris of the need for its own Beaver and after its rebuild Island Air Safaris acquired, initially on a lease, ZK-AZB. It operated its first flight on the Tauranga-Motiti Island-Tauranga run on the 31st of July 1987 and was registered to Motiti Island Air on the 11th of February 1988.

Island Air Safaris' first DHC Beaver ZK-CZL at Tauranga on 1 January 1987

Their own machine, DHC Beaver ZK-AZB at Tauranga on 19 May 1988

The link to the Third Level New Zealand blog post is:  https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2021/03/island-air-safaris-experience-magic-of.html

I have gone back into my original post and updated it with this information.

Thanks very much Steve!

At Nelson this morning.

 Bill Mannix found six ANZ and three Origin Air aircraft parked at Nelson due to fog and low cloud playing havoc at Auckland and Christchurch International Airports this morning.

Also noted this morning was the MBB BO 105 DBS-4 ZK-IAA2 c/n S814 from the AMH Trust of Nelson.

Its previous history can be seen HERE

Aerospatiale AS 350 B2 ZK-HND 3

 The Christchurch Helicopters Ltd's Aerospatiale AS 350 B2 ZK-HND c/n 2073 was noted out in the continuing inclement weather conditions at Christchurch today.

The green strip adds nicely to the colour scheme.

The earlier story on this airframe can be found HERE

Ownership passed to Christchurch Helicopters 2001 Ltd on 21-04-2017.

Guimbal G2 Cabri ZK-IJK 3

Noted at its base at North Shore airfield this morning was John Key's Guimbal G2 Cabri with its personalised registration ZK-IJK3.      This was imported new in August 2023.

 

Beavers and Beavers #0 ZK-AZB

Back in September 2010, before the Lawson Field Reunion that was to be held at Gisborne over Labour Weekend 2010, Dave Paull was asked by a blog follower to post on some more Beavers and he started with ZK-BBX as Beavers and Beavers #1 (see HERE ).  Dave went on to post up to Beavers and Beavers #17 ZK-CZL but he stopped there.  That meant he missed on the first of Fieldair's Beavers, the venerable ZK-AZB.

I recently came across a photo of ZK-AZB in Ohakea Museum colours which was new to me, so I did a bit of digging:

DHC 2 Beaver ZK-AZB was the 156th Beaver constructed at the De Havilland Canada factory at Downsview, Ontario and it was shipped to New Zealand in late 1951.  It was assembled by Rural Aviation at Mangere and first registered on 19/12/51.  Its first flight in New Zealand was on 21/12/51 and it was delivered to Fieldair Ltd at Gisborne on 23/12/51.

An early photo of ZK-AZB as it would have been delivered, with the Fieldair logo on the door.  The photo is from the Aerial Visuals website.  It continued to operate in the East Coast area and for a time flew in East Coast Air Services markings.  As was common with ag aircraft it suffered a few mishaps, crash landing near Wairoa on 20/3/67.

Janic Geelen took this photo of it at Gisborne in August 1969, now in the standard blue and white Fieldair colours.  It crashed again at Holden, near Gisborne on 30/1/80 but was again rebuilt.  It soldiered on to a have very long life as a topdressing aircraft and was repainted into the Fieldair yellow colour schemes that they never got standardised:

Bob Kerr was very industrious in capturing ZK-AZB on his visits to the North Island - here in October 1972 at Dannevirke

and here at Waipukurau in July 1980.  

It was involved in the various Fieldair reorganisations with ownership transferring to Fieldair Holdings (Central ) Ltd at Palmerston North on 18/11/80 and to Fieldair Holdings Ltd on 30/3/84.

On 11/2/88 ownership transferred to Motiti Island Air of Tauranga who traded as Island Air Safaris and who operated it as a passenger aircraft.  The Motiti Island Air service was particularly aimed at fishermen and divers and supporting a lodge on Motiti Island. It also served the needs of the locals. During the summer of 1986/1987, with the service growing, Island Air Safaris leased De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver ZK-CZL from Fieldair after its rebuild. The lease convinced Island Air Safaris of the need for its own Beaver and after its rebuild Island Air Safaris acquired, initially on a lease, ZK-AZB. It operated its first flight on the Tauranga-Motiti Island-Tauranga run on the 31st of July 1987 and was registered to Motiti Island Air on the 11th of February 1988.

ZK-AZB at Tauranga in passenger configuration on 19 May 1988 with Island Air Safaris titles.

It then it went to Kairanga Air Charter Ltd (Hallett Griffin) at Palmerston North on 22/5/90 and reverted back to ag configuration as in the photo taken at Palmerston North on July 1990.

At Masterton as a sprayer with Griffin Ag Air Ltd titles in March 1991.

Then the photo that piqued my interest, parked at Ardmore in October 1995.  Can anyone add any more information on its life around this time?

It was cancelled from the New Zealand register on 16/1/88 and exported to Australia where it was registered VH-WOZ2 to Walair Pty Ltd trading as Walcha Aerial Services at Walcha, NSW on 16/3/98:

VH-WOZ2 photo'd in October 1998

and at Toowoomba in April 1999.  I understand it was the last topdressing Beaver to operate in Australia.  It was cancelled from the Australian register on 8/2/10 after it was purchased by Kairanga Aviation Ltd of Palmerston North - read Hallett Griffin on 19/1/09, and he re-imported it back to New Zealand for his collection of historic topdressing aircraft.

The old Beaver was re-registered as ZK-AZB on 13/9/10 to Griffin Ag Air Ltd of Palmerston North.  It is photo'd above and below at the Wings Over Wairarapa airshow at Masterton on 18/1/13 where it can be seen that it wears Fieldair Ltd titles on its port side and East Coast Services Ltd titles on its starboard side.  It has also now reverted back to the standard circular rear window.

This year, 2024, will bring up 73 years since ZK-AZB first flew in New Zealand which, considering the type of work it flew on, is a most remarkable achievement.