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.

EC120B ZK-HCA 4

Arriving at the Glacier Country Helicopters base in Franz Josef this morning was their EC120B ZK-HCA4.  This was originally imported in 2019 from the USA and acquired by the company in October 2023.