Question time # 163 resolved

Mit has scored the chockie fish.

 

 It is indeed a De Havilland DH104 Dove (Some may like to call it a Devon).

 It is actually the ex RNZAF Devon NZ1825 (c/n 04419) which had been shipped to NZ and assembled at Wellington by De Havilland NZ Ltd and was taken on charge by the RNZAF on 21-10-1953. I don't believe it did a lot of flying as it was placed into storage in August of 1966 and flown to Wellington (In a RNZAF C-130) for major refurbishment by (the then) Hawker Siddeley NZ Ltd and gifted to the Tentera Udara Diraja Malasia.

Obvious modifications from its RNZAF days include the Mk8 canopy, the oil cooler and the augmented exhaust system.

It is seen here at Wellington in November of 1967. The aircraft departed from Whenuapai  on 17-02-1968 and was officially handed over to the Royal Malaysian Air Force at Kuala Lumpur on 29-02-1968 as FM1057.

Mit - flick me your snail mail address and stand by for fish delivery.

Out of Rangitata Island 07-09-2013.

It was a great day for flying yesterday at Rangitata Island as seen by these photos taken by Ross Brodie.

The Airdrome Aeroplanes Fokker D-VII Replica ZK-FKR is c/n NZ101.

A more in depth blog on this can be seen at :- 

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/search?q=ross+brodie

The Tiger Moth is the good old ZK-BRL (NZ1442) c/n DHNZ123.

 And a closer view of the "Red Head" taken from the other side.

Question time # 163

A long overdue Question time for you to ponder. 

  

What aircraft type have we got here then ?

 

Yes it was photographed in NZ.

ZK-DJE update.

Vince Gardner has kindly sent in some pics of recent events involving himself and the Fletcher FU24-950 Walter powered ZK-DJE (c/n 176).

 An earlier posting from Vince can be seen at :-

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/two-busy-days-at-fox-glacier.html

On this occasion ZK-DJE (as seen below in the early morning) was flown from Fox Glacier :-

for a refuel at Hokitika.

and then on to Nelson for an engine exchange.

Below is a Walter engine as it comes out of its crate.

Did you know that Walter Engines were acquired by GE in 2008 ?

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/ge-to-launch-improved-version-of-walter-m601-225278/

Below - ZK-DJE in the engine test bay at Nelson Airport.

Note the chain to the anchor block.

 

Then over to Motueka for the annual "Good Vibes".

Above is Walter Fletcher ZK-DJE on the left with the Pacific Aerospace 750XL ZK-SDF (c/n 145) down for the event from Skydive Auckland.

Below from a different angle we have the 750XL ZK-SDF, the locally based Pilatus PC-6/B2-H4 Porter ZK-XIT2 ( c/n 653 ) [This was previously ZK-JML], and Walter Fletcher ZK-DJE.

Below : On climb out in ZK-DJE from Motueka we have this view across Tasman Bay to Rabbit Island with Nelson City beyond.
"The new engine is running really well, with a noticeable difference in performance".

Below we see Mel Laird, a student, who one day hopes to fly the 750XL.

For some video footage from "Good Vibes 2013: see:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU2Eh9CPwS0

Above is a view of Fox Glacier over Vince's left shoulder.

And just for a hoot - I have added this photo of ZK-DJE as seen at Wanganui (without the "H") on 02-09-1979. 

Taylor Titches of New Zealand Update

I posted about New Zealand's Taylor Titches in June 2010, but a lot has happened in the Titch realm since, such that I thought it would be good to post an update.  Since my original post I have received colour photos of the original 1970's Titches from Don Noble, and of course we have had John Best's award winning Titch appear, and also we have had another Titch imported and registered to Rhona Calverley.  So I will now post an update incorporating these.

John Taylor's second design was the Taylor JT 2 Titch, which was designed to compete in a design contest run by the Tiger Club in the UK in 1964 (the winner of the contest was the Rollason Beta and the Taylor Titch came second).

The Taylor Titch was sleeker than the Taylor Monoplane and was all wood and featured a tapered wing. The length was 16 feet, 1 and a half inches (4.91 metres) and the wingspan was 18 feet, 9 inches (5.72 metres). The aircraft was designed to accept motors of between 60 to 105 HP, and with 85 HP the cruise was around 160 mph and the rate of climb was over 1000 feet per minute.

The Titch was named after "Titch" Holmes who did most of the test flying on the original Taylor Monoplane. The prototype Titch first flew on 4/1/67 but tragically it crashed on 16/5/67 killing John Taylor. However, plans for both the Taylor Monoplane and the Titch are still available. Around 35 examples have flown worldwide to date.

Three examples of the Taylor Titch were completed and flown in New Zealand in the 1970s, but sadly their story was not a happy one.  However we have now had 2 more Titches on the New Zealand register bringing the total to date to five.

The photos are from the Keith Morris collection or as otherwise credited.

 

 

The first New Zealand Taylor Titch was Reg Browne's ZK-DBH (c/n AACA/91) which was built at Kawerau. ZK-DBH appears to have not been officially registered but was completed as the above photo shows. It did also fly as it was involved in an accident at Kawerau on 8/9/72. Because it was never registered, it also was never cancelled, and the remains were sold to M Bridge of Warkworth. This improved photo of ZK-DBH is from the Don Noble Collection, and is the a clearer copy of same photo I obtained from Reg Browne after I specially travelled to Kawerau in 1974 and tracked him down.

 

 

New Zealand's second Taylor Titch was ZK-DFK (c/n AACA/112) which was built by Robbie Robson of Mt Maunganui and was first registered on 1/4/73.  I have a first flight date for it of 9/12/72 so something doesn't tie up. The construction of this aeroplane was detailed in the Sport Flying magazines of the early 1970's, and it had a Revmaster motor installed (the Revmaster was a modified VW, in this instance of 2100 cc capacity). The above photos were taken at the 1973 AACA fly-in at Omaka.

 

ZK-DFK was pretty active during 1973. The above photo was taken in the old hangar at Tauranga in late 1973, when it featured a larger registration (most likely as a result of officialdom not liking the original small registration letters). Tragically, Robbie Robson was killed in ZK-DFK on 1/12/73, at an airshow at Whitianga. It appeared that Robbie had taken off and pulled into a steep climb, then stalled and spun off the top of the climb. ZK-DFK was cancelled on 6/5/74.

 

New Zealand's third Taylor Titch was ZK-DGB (c/n AACA/113/1) which was built by Stan Andrews at Greenmeadows in Hawkes Bay, and featured a 1600 cc VW motor. ZK-DGB was first registered on 14/11/73 and its first flight was on 8/12/73. The above photos were taken at the 1974 AACA fly-in at Bridge Pa.

ZK-DGB also tragically crashed, on 25/3/79, killing Stan Andrews. The accident was caused by an engine failure on take off which resulted in a collision with a fence. ZK-DGB was cancelled on 25/3/86.

 

Our fourth Taylor Titch is ZK-RMC (c/n PFA 060-10725) which was registered to Rhona Calverley in the UK as G-MOLE in 2005.  It is powered by an O-200 motor.

 

 

Rhona Calverley imported the aircraft to New Zealand and registered it as ZK-RMC on 28/4/11.

 

 

ZK-RMC was assembled at Kerikeri with invaluable help from RAANZ inspectors Kevin Mangnall and Willie Morton.  It is photo'd above taxying for an early New Zealand test flight at Kerikeri in October 2012.  It will be fitted with wheel spats.  Thanks very much to Rhona Calverley for the above photos.

 

Interestingly, Rhona advises that she has 2 more Taylor Titches under construction in the UK, that will be shipped to New Zealand for completion in the near future.  So we can look forward to more New Zealand Taylor Titches appearing.

 

 

And our fifth Taylor Titch is John Best's grand champion award winning ZK-TCH (c/n SP 1027) which he built over many years at Blenhiem, and which was first registered on 4/8/11.  It is photo'd here at the 2013 SAANZ flyin at Ashburton.

 

There has been one other Taylor Titch with a reserved registration in New Zealand, ZK-DNH (c/n AACA/194/1) was registered to John Byers of Christchurch on 26/3/73, but it was not completed and was cancelled on 2/3/94.

 

 

Another Diamond

New Zealand's 14th Diamond DA40 was registered as ZK-DAE with Aeromotive Leasing, Auckland on 22 August this year. It was noted with Flightline at Ardmore a few days later and wears the titles of what will be its future operator, Ardmore based Eagle Flight Training.  

Eagle already operate a the smaller Diamond DA20-C1 ZK-DAB along with three ex Massey Piper PA28's, a couple of Cessna 172s, a Twin Commanche and a Partenavia.

A link to the For Sale listing for the DA40 can be found here

Bell LongRanger ZK-IND

Silver Fern Helicopters of Silverdale, north of Auckland, have recently added Bell 206L-1 LongRanger

ZK-IND to their fleet and it was receiving some attention at Ardmore's Oceania Helicopters at the end of August.

Thanks to Bluebus we now know this helicopter started out as N3186P and it gained its airworthiness certificate on 22 August 1983.  Later operators include Air Logistics LLC of New Iberia, Louisiana from mid 2006 followed by Rotorcraft Leasing/Assets LLC of Broussard, also in the state of Louisiana, from late 2008 and lastly Billings Flying Services Inc of Billings, Montana.

Cessna 172N Skyhawk ZK-EJQ.

Cessna 172N Skyhawk ZK-EJQ (c/n 17268793) of the Canterbury Aero Club was caught at Masterton today by Geoff Lloyd.

It was heading back to Christchurch

An earlier posting on this aircraft can be found at :-

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2009/01/other-canterbury-aero-club-happenings.html

Calling Mel Nelson.

Message for Mel Nelson.

Dave Tan said...

Mel!

So glad I found you again! I helped you fly paradrops in Singapore in 95S 1978. One morning I was flying my RSAF Bell 212 in Changi when you flew in. I met up with you, got checked out by Rudy Frey and the rest is history. I had a blast flying para for you, and I think we did an Air Rally in Malacca one year.

I live in Madison, WI and fly Dassault Falcon 2000s for NetJets. I own a SIAI Marchetti SF.260, my old primary trainer in the RSAF. If you get this, my email is falcon2m@charter.net  

Blue skies and short fields,

Dave Tan

 

P.S. Mel

The Cessna 185 N3395S you mention had the c/n 18502289 so would not have been our ZK-TAl / ZK-NRC.

Regards

Blue Bus.

Ultravia Pelican Club Addendum - ZK-CMA

In my recent series on Ultravia Pelican Clubs of New Zealand, I posted that ZK-JGY had been purchased by Craig Mitchell-Anyon of Wanganui, who had re-registered his new aircraft as ZK-CMA.

Thanks to Craig Mitchell-Anyon we now have a photo of ZK-CMA, taken at Wanganui on 25 August 2013.  I have also gone back and inserted this photo in the original post, for completeness.  It can be seen that it has a new propellor and spinner to the previous photo of ZK-JGY.

Thanks very much for the photo Craig.