Welcome back to the Piper PA-18A Super Cub ZK-AZJ

 The first Piper PA-18 Super Cub registered in New Zealand was the PA-18A-135 ZK-AZJ, c/n 18-1279, on 05-05-1952. 

It was imported by the New Zealand Piper Aircraft agents - Airwork (NZ) Ltd of Christchurch.

Its first flight in NZ was on 20-08-1952 (with a previous test flight in the USA on 14-03-1952) and was a dedicated agricultural aircraft - as the 'A' in the designation infers.
 Airwork used it in this role until withdrawing it on 08-03-1958. During its time with Airwork it was referred to as 'The Lazy Jay'.

After the end of its agricultural duties it was rebuilt as a two seater and first flew as such on 23-08-1958 and went on hire to the Canterbury Aero Club.

Above we have a photo by Neville Worsley of it at Wellington Airport on 25-10-1959 in two seat configuration. 

Note it has flaps and a door on the upper fuselage between the flaps.

In July of 1962 it was sold to J B Douglas-Clifford of Stoneyhurst near Motunau in North Canterbury.

It was known to have had dual main wheels fitted in 1963.

It was withdrawn and stored for many years until it was transferred to Timothy Douglas-Clifford from 24-11-2010.

It was moved to Nelson with some restoration works caried out, but went into storage again until delivered to Taieri in about 2021 for the 'full works' which was recently completed by Tyler Bauman of Supercraft Aircraft Support Ltd.

I was fortunate to get a good peek at it at Taieri back on 12-11-2024 (above and below) but was asked to hold off blogging any photos until AZJ was 'officially' completed.

First post rebuild flight was I believe on the 23rd.

Above is a recent photograph of ZK-AZJ taken at Taieri.

Check out their site at   https://www.supercraft.nz/

A couple at Christchurch

Here we have a selection of Locals noted at Christchurch International over the last few days.

The Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II ZK-MKW2 (c/n 34-7970041 was on the picket line on Friday the 29th. 

This airframe stared life as N2109F in late 1978, moved to Australia to become VH-IEE2 from 01-07-1987, with a move to New Zealand on 17-03-1994 to become ZK-JDH from 05-04-1994.

Michael Fowler of Christchurch listed it from 22-05-2024 and had it re-registered as ZK-MKW2 on 24-06-2024.

Above we see ZK-MKW2 on the 29th.

The Cessna 172R ZK-TAJ2 (c/n 17281011) is a recent addition to the Canterbury Aero Club's fleet.

It arrived new in NZ for the Ardmore Flying School in May of 2001.

Thats ZK-MKW in the background.

And in case you have not got the picture yet.

This is ZK-MKW as noted today (the 30th) by Tony McFarlin.

Back on the 25th I spied the Yak-52 ZK-ADM2 (c/n 833601) of the ZK-ADM Syndicate.

Two rotary wing visitors at Nelson today.

Snapped at Nelson on this rather dull day by Bill Mannix were the LongRanger ZK-HUG3 and the Squirrel ZK-IKA2.

The Bell 206L-1 Long Ranger ZK-HUG3 c/n 45480. spent its first thirty-one years in the USA a N3890B with a move to Australia to become VH-JGO4 on 05-09-2011.

It was imported into NZ and assembled at Taupo by Argus Aviation for the leasing company NR Aviation Ltd of Gisborne as ZK-HUG3 from 15-01-2024. 

It has been on lease to Helicopter Charter Nelson Ltd since late 2024.

The Eurocopter AS 350 B3 ZK-IKA2 (c/n 3409) has served time in Italy as I-AMVM, Indonesia as PK-FUA and Australia as VH-BCR6 before coming to NZ to become ZK-IGY with Action Helicopters at Queenstown on 26 January 2017. 
    It was re-registered to ZK-IKA2 on 6 September 2019 for transfer to Murchison Heli Tours Ltd.

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Early Unregistered Microlights - Skycraft Scouts

Although there were early ultralights flying in America as I have previously posted, there was an even earlier microlight in Australia - the Skycraft Scout which first flew in May 1974.

The Skycraft Scout was developed by Ron Wheeler, a Sydney boatbuilder, from his earlier hang glider the Tweetie.  The Scout was the was the first rigid wing ultralight/microlight aircraft to be produced commercially in the world.  I think the first Mark 1 Scouts were also called also called Tweeties.

Naturally, being "just across the ditch" there was early interest in the Scout in New Zealand and several were imported before 1981 when MAANZ was formed and when microlights didn't have to be registered.

It is difficult to find out much about these very early Scouts but Murray Hagen reckons there were two in Southland in 1981 owned by Dion Buchanan and Stewart Kerr and rumours of two more in Canterbury.  And I have also found a reference to one that was imported by a Mr May of Inglewood in Taranaki in 1980.  I think there could have been more - can anyone provide any other information?

I understand that this is a Tweetie hang glider flying in New Zealand, from the NZ Hang Gliding and Paramotor Association website.

And in this photo of Skycraft Scout ZK-EYO you can see that it did not take much to turn a Tweetie hang glider into a Scout microlight.  The photo was taken at Waitohi on 5/4/85 by Bob Kerr.

Tauranga Aero Club Stuff

 The Tauranga Aero Club has recently added a new Cessna 172 to their fleet:

Cessna 172R ZK-TAC3 (c/n 17281039) was registered to the club on 13 June 2025 and is ex VH-SCN.

And another photo that caught my eye from the Tauranga Airport Spotters and Photographers Facebook page was this hangar shot of the club's Cessna 172S ZK-TAI3 with their long time Cessna A152 ZK-TAA on an impressive aircraft lift above.

Thanks for the photos Mark and Josh.

Golden Hour Arrival for Citation VH-A74

Captured by Tony McFarlin arriving into Christchurch International Airport early this evening was the Cessna 525 Citation CJ1 VH-A74 c/n 525-0138.

A nice low angle sun shot.

    Originally N5211F from 1996 it became VH-MOJ2 on 18-04-1996 with a change to VH-DAA4 on 07-11-2006. 
It was re-registered as VH-A74 on 16-05-2025 - still with Vanguard Aviation Pty Ltd of Newrybar, NSW.

Airbus ZK-HZS at Nelson

 Noted refueling at Nelson Airport today was the Airbus AS 350B3 (ACH125) ZK-HZS4 c/n 9366.

First flown with the French test registration of F-WWPU.

It became ZK-HZS4 with Tasman Helicopters Ltd on 27-04-2023.

Maule Lunar Rocket ZK-MSM Arrives at Kaipara Flats 23-8-2025

Another Saturday and another "new" aircraft arrives at Kaipara Flats!  Today it was the Maule M5-235C Lunar Rocket ZK-MSM, ferried North by Peter Garlick and its new owner who will eventually base it on his farm airstrip at Matakohe near the Eastern shore of the Kaipara Harbour.

Nice and low over the threshold....

for a short roll out.

Outside its new temporary hangar at NZKF with fellow Maule owner Martin Farrand and Peter Garlick.

Aerostar 600 ZK-MVY

Aerostar 600 ZK-MVY returning to its Ardmore base yesterday was noted to be displaying some nose art "American Maid".    This was imported from Australia in 1993 and has been with its current owner, Buckly Air, since 2015.

 

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Early Unregistered Microlights - Hamilton October 1980

During 1980 a couple of American guys, Tommy Namais and Marty Waller, arrived in New Zealand with agencies for Mirage, Quicksilver and Pterodactyl microlights.  They also bought demonstrator aircraft with them and I think they had examples of the all of the three types.  This is because of photos taken at Hamilton airport in October 1980 by Janic Geelen:

A crowd is interested in what I think is a Quicksilver M (the Quicksilver M was an early weight shift Quicksilver with a control bar like a trike, and with no spoilers and just a rudder and no fin).  This machine could have been registered ZK-ESU in March 1982.  The occasion was ahead of the Aviation Showcase 80 which was held in early November 1980.

And there were also a couple of unregistered Mirages on the airfield on the same day in October 1980.  It is difficult to know what these machines were eventually registered, possibly one of them could have become ZK-ESQ for Trevor Barrett of Hamilton and  the other could have become ZK-KJA for Ken Asplin of Hamilton.  (But it is difficult to tell as the sailcloth covers could be changed!).

This photo of the second Mirage is interesting because in the foreground appears to be a Pterodactyl Ascender.

Thanks for the photos Janic, they have turned out to be very historic.

Some helicopters at Ardmore

Amongst all the activity at Ardmore today were a number of interesting helicopters including the Hughes 369D ZK-HAW4 which was imported in late 2023 from South Korea by International Heliproperties NZ for refurbishment and resale.

Outside Airbus NZ was the Aston Martin luxury ACH130 ZK-HEA7 which was registered to Advanced Flight Ltd, Auckland in January 2024.

Currently being used by the Northern Helicopter Rescue Service is the former Wellington based Lifeflight BK117B-2 ZK-HLF2.   It is being used while the AW169s are undergoing maintenance and was originally imported from Japan way back in August 2003.

And receiving attention at Heliflite was the North Shore based R44 Raven II ZK-ITS3 which was reregistered from ZK-IWP in June 2025.   It is registered to Core Aviation Operations.

 

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Early Unregistered Microlights - Terry Delore

I have previously posted that I thought Pete James was the first to fly a microlight aircraft in New Zealand when he flew his powered Easy Riser at Te Kowhai in late 1978.  However in my further research I have come across a microlight trike that potentially flew here earlier.  That trike was flown by Terry Delore around the Christchurch area in 1977 or 1978 (Terry is not sure of the date).

Terry Delore was a very early hang gliding enthusiast and he was very good at it - so good that he flew in the inaugural World Hang Gliding Championships in Austria in 1976 and won, thus becoming the first hang gliding World Champion!  In that competition Terry was flying a hang glider built by Steve Cohen of Ultralight Flight Systems in Australia and Terry was the New Zealand agent for these hang gliders.

In 1977 or 1978 Terry purchased a trike unit from Steve Cohen and bought it back to Christchurch where he attached it to a Rogallo wing hang glider.  Terry said it had a 160cc Italian engine that was really not powerful enough but he flew it.successfully as in the photo below:

The photo shows Terry Delore getting airborne in the Cracroft area on the outskirts of Christchurch.

When Terry started flying his trike it presented a problem for the then Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport as they didn't really know what to do with it.  Terry has advised:  "This is the trike the CAD would (not so secretly) come and watch flying as they were trying to make some rules around microlights.  At that time it was not registered and required a Certificate of Airworthiness and a Private Pilot's License to legally fly in NZ.  I had neither so just flew under the radar for a few years".  

Chris Payne was one of the CAD officers that was very helpful at that time, and I guess that Terry's flying would have been more visible to CAD than someone who was for example flying around their remote farm.  Eventually CAD got their head around microlights and this led to the formation of the Microlight Aircraft Association of New Zealand (MAANZ) in 1981.

Flashback to the mid 1980's

 Graeme Stratton has dug out three more pics from the past - Mid 1980's actually.

Lakeland Helicopters Ltd's Hughes 369D ZK-HSO c/n 87-0171D with Toby Clark in charge.

It joined our register, ex Australia, in October of 1983 and was destroyed by fire in the Pureora Forest in April 1987.

The Helicopter Services Taupo Ltd's Aerospatiale AS 350 B ZK-HNP c/n 1611 -in its 'Philips Rescue' scheme - probably driven by John Funnell - at Big Ben on the Ahinmawa Range between the Ripia and the Mohaka Rivers.

HNP served with Helicopter Services and the Search and Rescue Trust until being withdrawn and cancelled in January 2014.

Here we have Toby Clark moving an "A" frame down the Mohaka River to what became the 'Footy Field' strip hut. Looks like a Lama !

French Air Force Hercules 61-PG into Christchurch on 17-08-2025

 Once again, Tony McFarlin was on the spot at Christchurch International on Sunday the 17th August to capture the arrival of the French Air Force Lockheed C-130H-30 '61-PG'.

C/n 382-5150 was test flown using the Lockheed-Marietta test registration of N4242N before delivery to the French Air Force as F-RAPG and with the military serial 5150 (part of its c/n) and the code of 61-PG.

Patchett Ag-Air Beaver ZK-BVA/2

Maybe one of the reasons that the Fatman ZK-EMD could be spared up North is because Patchett Ag-Air now have extra capacity on line at Omaka  (since April 2025) in the form of the ex Farmers Air Beaver ZK-BVA2:

This photo of ZK-BVA2 is from the Patchett Ag-Air facebook page, thanks to Scott Bishell.  The facebook post also said that they like it so much that they are getting another Beaver.

Two Faces of a Fatman

Warwick Hamilton was at a topdressing strip near Te Puke yesterday where 2 of Cameron Aviation's GA 200 Fatmen (or Fatmans?) were operating.  He took some nice photos that you can see on the Tauranga Airport Spotters and Photographers blog.  A couple of his photos took my fancy, taken from near front on, and showing quite different faces.

ZK-MAW 

And ZK-EMD.  They are quite different.

ZK-MAW being loaded, 

And ZK-EMD taxying back for another load.

I am not sure if ZK-EMD is being leased to Cameron Aviation or whether it is now surplus to Patchett Ag Air's fleet as they now have another topdresser on line.

Thanks for the great photos Warwick.

Raven II ZK-HKK /4

 Noted on the grass outside the GCH Aviation Ltd.'s facility at Christchurch International today was the Robinson R44 Raven II ZK-HKK4 c/n 13486.

Note the floatation gear on the skids.

Built in 2013 and registered in Australia as VH-HCL4 on 16-10-2013 to Heliflite Pty Ltd, the Australian Robinson agents - with a move to New Zealand it became ZK-HPO5 on 02-07-2014 with John Smith of Warkworth. Four years later in July of 2018 it was acquired by Kaikoura Helicopters Ltd who re-registered it as ZK-HKK4 on 27-08-2018.

Kaikoura Helicopters Ltd was taken over by GCH Aviation Ltd in about August of 2019.

It remains registered to Kaikoura Helicopters and is operated by GCH Aviation Ltd.

Fox Moth ZK-APT Arrives Home at Kaipara Flats 16-8-2025

After a mammoth effort over the last 24 days, Martin Farrand flew his DH 83C Fox Moth ZK-APT into Kaipara Flats airfield this morning where it will now be based.  The odyssey started on 24 July when Martin along with Alan Coubray set out from Kaipara Flats in Alan's Stinson ZK-STN and travelled South down the East Coast of both Islands, stopping off at Rangiora on 26 July where Dave Paull did a nice post on the Stinson, and then on to Alexandra where Martin has based the Fox Moth since he bought it in December 2023  Then the return journey began by retracing the route, overnighting at Kaikoura and then on to Masterton.  This was a period of great weather for most of the North Island with a nice Southerly wind to help with groundspeed.  However the Wairarapa was clagged in for days necessitating leaving the Fox Moth there for more than a week.  Then last Wednesday it was back to Masterton with Alan Coubray in his trusty Stinson Flying Station Wagon and a flight North on Thursday with stops at Hastings and Galatea for fuel.  Galatea doesn't have any fuel!  But the carrying capacity of the Fox Moth meant that Martin could carry his own fuel in the cabin.  They flew from Galatea to Whitianga on Thursday and finally across to Kaipara Flats this morning with a strong Easterly tailwind, and earlier than originally to beat the rain.

Airborne Windsports Edge XTS-912 ZK-LOA / ZK-PHS

 An Australian design the Airborne Windsports selection of Trikes have been around since the mid 1980's and has proved popular - with around thirty five being on our aircraft register.

The main power plants being the Rotax 582 and the Rotax 912. They are also available with a selection of wings.

I spotted Airborne Windsports XTS-912 ZK-PHS c/n XT-912-0367 at Rangiora today (15-08-2025).

This was first noted in June of 2010 registered as T2-6196 with the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia. On arrival in New Zealand it took up the ZK-LOA registration with John Wordsworth of Taupo from 06-07-2011. 

John on sold it in January to Doug Anderson at Rangiora in early 2016 at which time it had a 'Streak III' wing. 

Below we see ZK-LOA at Rangiora on 01-04-2017 with its Streak III wing.

Paul Hyde-Smith of Rangiora purchased it in November 2021 and re-registered it as ZK-PHS2 from 12-01-2022.

It has since been fitted with a 'Wizzard 3' wing. This has a thicker wing section - and therefore slower speed range.

Below - as seen today is ZK-PHS2 with its thicker wing.

A couple from Ardmore

Imported mid year by United Pacific Aero was the Kawasaki BK117C-1 ZK-HXM4 which was previously operated by the Japanese Police as JA6816.

And now featuring a partial repaint with red striping added is the Napier based PA46-500TP ZK-ROW3.

 

Airbus AS 350 B3 ZK-HTL

A lucky catch at Christchurch on Monday the 11th was the Airbus AS 350 B3 ZK-HTL5 c/n 8572 as listed with Claridges Helicopters Ltd of Christchurch - having recently been re-registered from ZK-ILO2.

A couple of helicopters at Ardmore

Noted at Ardmore this morning was John Key's EC130B4 ZK-IJK4.   This was the former Inflite ZK-HBZ4 reregistered in early 2025 to the personalised "IJK",  and replacing his former Guimbal Cabri G2 ZK-IJK3 which was exported to the USA.

And test flying at Salus Aviation was the latest Grassroots Trust Palmerston North based rescue helicopter ZK-IIX replacing ZK-IPT.   Since importation from Papua New Guinea in 2018 IIX has been operated as a rescue helicopter in Hamilton, Taranaki, Bay of Plenty and more recently Gisborne.