In Memorium for Classic Fighters 2025

 

Our commiserations to all those who had put so much effort into Classic Fighters 2025, such as the 3 Pitts Specials aerobatic team, only to be thwarted by the fickle weather.  Roll on Classic Fighters 2026!

Tokoroa on 11-4-2025 (2)

Well it was not Peter Beck's actual L-39 Albatros but a really large scale model jet.  What we had stumbled upon was the monthly flyin of the New Zealand Jet Modellers Association (https://www.nzjma.com/):

The L-39 was bigger than one third scale and was built by Colin Austen of Whangaparaoa from a kit.  Its all up weight is around 70 kg.

There were also some other spectacular models including the first turbo prop model that I have seen:

This is a model of a Royal Saudi Air Force Pilatus PC 21 which is owned by Paul Connor of Warkworth.

Pretty impressive!

And it even has smoke!

Then there was this model of a Blue Angels jet which I think is not of a particular jet that was flown by the Blue Angels team.  It was flown by Brian Groves of Wellington.

In talking to some of the modellers they said that Tokoroa was a great place to fly jets as it is central and not very busy, has a sealed runway and is not surrounded by much development.  These model jets fly really fast and could do a lot of damage if (perish the thought), they ever crash.

Tokoroa on 11-4-2025

As we drove down to Taupo last Friday, it would have been remiss not to call into Tokoroa airfield which is only a short drive off SH 1.  It is often pretty quiet with all the hangars locked up.

So I did not expect to see Peter Beck's Aero L-39 Albatros there!

A Grand Entrance to the V8 Supercars

Although this is a blog on New Zealand aircraft, we occasionally stray into other forms of local aviation and this is just such a case:

Every day at the V8 Supercars at Taupo parachutists dropped in in a patriotic manner followed by the singing of the Australian and New Zealand national anthems before the main race starts.  I managed this photo on the Saturday - that is a HUGE flag! 

Tiger Moth ZK-BAA captured in flight.

 The De Havilland DH82A ZK-BAA c/n 84893 was photographed by Aaron Murphy on 12-04-2025.

The photos above and below, piloted by Amanda, were taken north bound in the Lindis Pass area.

The photo below is in the region north of Tekapo.

A Couple of Helicopters at the Aussie V8 Supercars

We arrived at Taupo late in the very late afternoon on 11/4/25 and checked out the carparking for the Taupo circuit.  This was free on the runway of the Centennial Park airfield which was closed for the weekend - the airfield is right alongside the motor racing circuit.  I had thought that there might be a few helicopters that had flown in for the racing, but there were only a couple:

In the very late afternoon the golden sun was sparkling off the Airbus AS350 BA Squirrel ZK-HBR2.  This is an old friend as it was the helicopter that we flew down in from the Tasman Glacier in back in September 2019 when in was in Inflite ownership with their titles.  It has been owned by RD Manufacturing Ltd of Takanini since 21/2/22.

Then on Sunday 13/4/25 the Bell 206L-1 Long Ranger ZK-IRL2 flew in for the races.  This has been owned by Heletrips Ltd of Auckland since first being imported in December 2007.

EC130B4 ZK-HAP 4

Noted at Ardmore today was EC130B4 ZK-HAP4 which was registered to an Auckland private owner back in February 2025.   It was imported from Dubai where it was operated by Falcon Aviation.

 

Takaka on Saturday

 A visit to Takaka on Saturday proved to be well worth the trip over the 'Hill".

The Cessna 172L ZK.DAZ c/n 17259907 has been listed with the ZK-DAZ Partnership of Takaka since 11-11-2021.

For some previous history See HERE

One surprise was to see the JMB Aircraft VL-3TE-915 LSA ZK-ECO2 c/n VL-3-527 as listed with a a Lyttelton owner.

And the Murphy Renegade ZK-JZC c/n 0099 has been with the Te Ara Investments of Takaka since  04-08-2023.

More Renegade info can be found HERE

Zlin Trener Master at Ardmore on 11-4-2025

I am back home after a great trip down to Taupo over the weekend to watch the Aussie V8 Supercars, with of course a few diversions to aerodromes along the way.  Ardmore seems pretty quiet these days, at least during weekdays, but I did manage to photograph one interesting sport aircraft:

Zlin Z526F Trener Master c/n 1091 was previously registered ZK-CJY back on 19/3/70 to DG and RH Owen of Christchurch before being cancelled on 25/6/92 as being shipped to Australia with its owner, becoming VH-ZLN for David G Owen of Tewantin in Queensland on 30/9/92.

It was returned to New Zealand arriving in July 2020 and we reported on it HERE.  It has made progress towards flying again as can be seen in the above photo.  I understand it will again be registered ZK-CJY for an Auckland owner. 

At Motueka late this afternoon.

 In the late afternoon sun at Motueka I snapped these three ho hum photos.

The Cessna 172M ZK-DXJ c/n 17265810 just arrived in from Greymouth.

It has been with the DXJ Syndicate since May of 2010.

A difficult one to photograph at the best of time.

On the tie downs outside the Aero Club was the Cessna TU206A ZK-JPC c/n U206-0511 of Rural Air Work of Otane who also operate the Cresco's ZK-SUZ and ZK-TPW, plus the FU-24-954 ZK-CRY2.

Moving out from the Aero Club on a training flight was the Just Aircraft SuperSTOL ZK-SNP c/n JA615-01-21 which has been with the SNP Syndicate of Motueka since 05-03-2024.

All three have been mentioned previously on these pages.

Rangiora open day on Saturday.

 Just the two photos so far to cover the Rangiora open day on Saturday from Tony McFarlin.

Morris Tull's acquired the MX Technologies MXS ZK-MXS c/n 013 from Doug Brooker in February of 2024. Morris also still retains the Pitts Specials ZK-PPS and ZK-FRJ.

The MXS has been previously mentioned several times Here

The Foxcon Aviation Terrier ZK-UTC c/n NZ2005, one of eight in NZ, started life as ZK-MEG.

It has been with Gordon Lidgard at Rangiora since mid 2017 and has been a work in progress for some time.

See HERE. for further NZ Terrier details.

Reims Cessna FA337F ZK-SVY

Visiting Pauanui airfield today was the Dunedin based Reims Cessna FA337F Skymaster ZK-SVY.  Originally imported from Australia in 2017 this now features a new fuselage paint scheme and flew from Taieri to Pauanui via Whanganui and Taupo.

 

Cessna 172R ZK-TAP

Another of the Ardmore Flying School's fleet of 14 Cessna 172s has been repainted, being 172R ZK-TAP.    Originally imported new in 1999 it visited Pauanui airfield today.

 

Couple of new helicopters at Ardmore

 Outside Heli Sika Agriculture at Ardmore today was their latest acquisition,  AS350B3 ZK-HIN5.  This was one of 2 AS350B3 imported from China by Brian Comerford in late 2024,  the other being ZK-HDD5 which earlier this year joined Heli Sika's subsidiary HeliNorth.

The latest BK117B-2 to be refurbished by Salus Aviation at Ardmore is ZK-IFQ which is a Kawasaki built example imported from Australia in early 2025.

At the Motueka dump station.

 Motor homes have cause to visit dump stations a couple of times a week.

The Motueka station just happens to be on the boundary of the Motueka Airfield beside the Argus Helicopters facility.

A very good spot to capture the comings and goings.Marlborough Helicopters Bell 206B ZK-HZE c/n 769 returns from a short test flight on Monday the 7th.

Aerospatiale AS 350 B2 ZK-IPE c/n 2249 with blades turning.

Surprise for the today - the 8th - was the Bell 206L-1 Long Ranger ZK-HUG3 c/n 45480.

This is still listed with NR Aviation of Gisborne and has been on lease to Chopper Worx (Company name still above cabin windows) and now on lease to Helicopter Charter Nelson.

All three have been mentioned previously.

Antonov AN-124 UR-82072 departing Auckland.

 Wayne Grant captured the departure from Auckland International of the Antonov AN-124-100-150 Ruslan UR-82072 c/n 9773053359136 on Sunday the 6th.

It arrived in Auckland via Pago Pago and Honolulu on and departed for Avalon, Melbourne.

Bearing the Ukranian flag and in Ukrainian colours and with the nose inscription of "Be Brave like Kherson"

Kherson being a port in southern Ukraine on the Black Sea.

CRAC open day Rangiora April 12th.

 

Ole YLO at Kaipara Flats Today 5-4-2025

 A first time visitor to Kaipara Flats this morning was the yellow J3-65 Cub ZK-YLO:

ZK-YLO has been owned by Matt Harte of Waiheke Island since 10/5/22 and he keeps it in a hangar on the airstrip on the island.  It fits in really well with the ethos of NZKF as a historical flying airfield.

Matt took off with the doors open, and of course flying from the back seat.

The after climb out he turned and headed for Waiheke.  This is a really long shot that came out pretty well

Pilatus PC-12 ZK-PLV departs for Alaska today 04-04-2025

 This was the 300th PC-12 built and was rolled out as HB-FQR3 by Pilatus Flugzeugwerke Ag at Stans                                         in Switzerland and registered to them on 23-04-2001. 

Photo above taken at Jandakot on 21-10-2004.

It became VH-VWO on 01-11-2001 with the RFDS Western Operation at Jandakot, West Australia.

(RFDS being the old Royal Flying Doctor Service).

Above at Jandakot on 09-10-2014.

It flew into Auckland from Sydney in full Sounds Air colours on 20-11-2016 and became ZK-PLV on 18-02-2017.

It was the fifth PC-12 for Sounds Air Travel and Tourism Ltd.

Some more pics of her and Sounds Air in general can be seen on our Third Level Airline blog HERE

At Westport on 03-12-2017.

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On 23-10-2018.

Its final Sounds Air service was from Christchurch to Blenheim on 06-03-2025 and it was ferried up to Ardmore on the 28th awaiting ferry to Juneau, Alaska.

Above at Ardmore on 28-03-2025.

It departed Ardmore about 0930 on 04-04-2025 bound for Samoa. It will then move on to Hawaii on the 5th then to Merced, in California and up to its new home base at Juneau, Alaska to become N726KP to be operated by Alaska Seaplanes in Juneau.

Meanwhile at the Beach Hop at Whangamata

I have posted some blog posts on Whitianga happenings from last Sunday. but there was another major event happening down the road at Whangamata:  the Beach Hop.  I think there are synergies between the two hobbies of sport flying and custom cars but there was one crossover project at the Beach Hop:

This DC 3 based custom caravan caused a bit of controversy over what category it should be judged in, but I think it did receive an award.  Can anyone advise what the donor DC 3 was?

Back from Whitianga to North Shore on 30-3-2025

After a nice BBQ at Gavin Magill's hangar on Whitianga airfield, we headed back over the Coromandel and across the Hauraki Gulf in David's Foxbat.  We got some nice views as we went:

After taking off on Runway 22 and heading straight out to Buffalo Beach (for noise minimisation although the Rotax in the Foxbat is pretty quiet), we turned right and flew on a Westward track for home.  In this view you can see part of the the Whitianga Waterways development in the foreground with the airfield beyond

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In one corner of the airfield there is a huge new development of what I was told was 58 hangars!  However from what I saw only one of them was open on the day (housing RV 8 ZK-ZRV).  In this view you can see across the saddle to the Firth of Thames/Hauraki Gulf outside of Coromandel township.

And here is the one way Coromandel Airstrip below (near the bottom centre of the photo) - click to enlarge to see it clearer.  There is a white hangar near the nearest end of the strip.

Over the water with clouds and blue sky and sun above makes for some lovely views.

Back home at the hangar at North Shore ZK-SGI never missed a beat.  Thanks David.

French CN-235 at Nelson today.

 Snapped by Lord Nelson on the hard at Nelson this afternoon was the CASA CN-235-200M c/n 107, coded 82-IH of the ARMEE DE L'AIR.

It is not a stranger to our shores.