Northern Aviators Club Poker Run 2-2-2019

Yesterday the Northern Aviators Club held their fourth successful event of the summer season and again the weather was not a problem.  A weak front went through North Shore an hour or so before the contestants left at 10.30 am and the weather North to Dargaville was quite reasonable.

The crews from the 8 competing aircraft were able to choose between 8 airfields and airstrips to land on and pick up a card in a sealed envelope that had been placed at each location then play with a hand of 6 cards.  We flew from North Shore to Parakai, then across to Kaipara Flats and Omaha Flats and then on to Murray Hargreaves topdressing strip near Maungaturoto and finally on to Leo Johns airstrip at Mata, South of Whangarei before heading upwind of the Tangihuas and across to Dargaville.  An interesting trip.

I was able to fly with Harvey Lockie in his amazing little Dyn Aero MCR 01 Club ZK-WIK which has now been fitted with a Rotax 914 turbocharged engine.  It has an amazing performance range.

Two and a half hours after leaving home, we were back over Warkworth with this view showing the Mahurangi River on its way out to the Hauraki Gulf.

The approach to Omaha Flats over the mudflats.  This is now a one way strip of 600 metres but fortunately it has an slight uphill slope on landing.

ZK-WIK at Omaha Flats.

There are a couple of tent hangars at Omaha Flats and it was pleasing to see them both open.  One of them houses Paul Morrison's Auster J 5G Autocar ZK-BDK which was having a bit of motor work done by the team.

And the other local resident was the Zenair CH 701 ZK-ZAR

Along the way we mainly cruised at around 135 knots with a fuel burn of 22 litres per hour, but with a bit more throttle you can cruise at 150 knots!  The digital readout shows 149 knots while the analogue ASI shows just over 150 knots.

However, along with this high speed cruise it was still comfortable to land on the 500 metre Hargreaves topdressing strip, which again is one way but with a steeper slope.  I have seen the 400 HP Fletcher operating off this strip but I did not imagine I would fly in there.  Cool!

And a couple of shots of the Poker Run aircraft plus some other visitors at Dargaville, where the usual great lunch was eaten, and then we had the poker hand cards reveal.  Actually Harvey and I did all right.

Then back to Parakai.  Another great flying day!

Aerospatiale AS350B2 ZK-IRS

Aerospatiale AS350B2 ZK-IRS was noted outside Oceania Aviation's Ardmore complex 01 February 2019. This machine was imported to NZ during the fourth quarter of 2018 as N349BB

http://mrcaviation.blogspot.com/2018/10/as350-squirrel-n349bb-zk-irs.html

Omaka

Further to the action photos in the separate blog below there were a lot of other aircraft on the airfield and these included the Cub Crafters CCK 1865 ZK-CUB from Balfour which was registered in 2014, and hasn't been on this blog before.

A real Super Cub was PA18-150 ZK-CVC imported from Slovenia in 2016 and registered to a Seddon owner.

The Chipmunk ZK-CVM came across from Nelson displaying its Canadian RCAF colours.

Added to the Patchett Ag-Air fleet in September 2018 was Gippsland GA200C ZK-EMD.

Registered to an Amberley owner is Maule M5-180C ZK-ESP.

And added to the Reid Helicopters Nelson fleet in 2018 was R44 ZK-IAS.

Healthy Bastards at Omaka.

The Healthy Bastards weekend at Omaka is under way and Andy Heap has sent in a wide selection of images.

Here are some of the tail dragger Cessna's on site.

 The Darlington Drilling and Piling Ltd's ZK-BJV (c/n 31452) with Nigel doing his thing.

 ZK-BJX (c/n 31417) of Palms on George Ltd down from way up north.

Above we have ZK-BSP (c/n 31263) locally based with Andrew Meighan.

The HKJ Partnership Ltd's Oamaru based Cessna 180C ZK-BYJ (c/n 50908) retains the basic colour scheme of a previous operator.

 A bit of a stray is the Cessna 185 YJ-CCM (c/n 18503403) which has been in Country since 03-12-2018 (Ex Vanuatu).

Now locally based with Madsen Marine Ltd is the 185A ZK-SME (c/n 1850438).

 Up from inland South Canterbury is the Mike Thomas 185A ZK-VKE (c/n 1850297).

From memory all have been mentioned on these pages previously.

Leonardo AW169 ZK-HLH re-visited

The Auckland Regional Helicopter Trust Leonardo AW169 ZK-HLH is yet to enter service however this must be getting close as the machine is now adorned with sponsorship decals. 

It is understood the rescue helicopter will be based at Ardmore, where it is currently operating from on crew training and was photographed on 31 January 2019. 

A second AW169 is destined for ARHT and is reportedly to be registered ZK-IZB MSN 69083. 

Aerospatiale AS355F1 ZK-ICK

Registered to Airlift Trading Ltd of Auckland in late October 2018, Aerospatiale AS355F1 Twin Squirrel ZK-ICK is seen here at Ardmore on 31 January 2019.

This 1982 edition helicopter has spent most of its life in Italy as I-VRVR.

http://www.dgualdo.it/regs5/ivrvr.htm

GA of Taieri airfield

Taieri Airfield (NZTI) has a fair few GA aircraft that haven't yet featured on this blog, or need some updates. 

Piper PA-28-201R Arrow II ZK-FHP (c/n 28R-7635418) is a new aircraft to Taieri airfield in the last year, which I've only seen 3 times, and only managed to get photos once. 

R&B Bearhawk ZK-FHR (c/n 127-2491250-1249) is one of my favourites at Taieri, owned by Murray Paterson who was kind enough to take myself and one of my friends on the Otago Aero Club flyaway to Kyeburn Station, where this photo was taken. 

Piper J-3C-65 Cub ZK-FRN (14519) is currently a permanent resident in one of Southair's hangars and owned by one of their employees. The aircraft is airworthy (apart from flat tyres), but hasn't flown in a couple of years. I'm hoping to see it back in the sky soon. 

Yet another Piper PA28 at Taieri Airfield is PA-28-201R ZK-JSS (c/n 28R-7837203), a very nice looking machine. 

Kelvin Clark has one of the coolest aircraft on the airfield, this Fokker D-VII replica, although I suspect he will fly this less now he has his new RANS S-6S Coyote II (c/n 06071816-S). 

One of only two Cessna 172s on the airfield is ZK-MKY, a R172K c/n R1723143 seen here getting maintenance in Southair. This aircraft barely flies so this is the only time I've seen it. 

Maule MX-7 ZK-MXM (c/n 20019C) outside its hangar. This awesome STOL aircraft unfortunately is now being repaired after an engine failure after takeoff from a  riverbed,

ZK-NRV, a RV-7 (c/n 71414) is now fully rebuilt inside its hangar. While I haven't seen it flying, I believe it has flown again,

Socata TB-20 Trinidad ZK-SOC (c/n 2053) inside its hangar, which Southair also uses.

ZK-VBM is the only Dunedin based Tomahawk (c/n 38-79A0608), used to train Isaac Scott.

ZK-WNG is the only Taieri Tecnam, a P96 Golf 100 (c/n 145), but not the only Dunedin Tecnam as Mainland Air operate a P2006 ZK-MTW

Another Saturday, Another View of North and South Heads from a Dyn Aero

This Saturday it was from Harvey Lockie's very short wing MCR 01 Club ZK-WIK.  (click the photo to enlarge it and you can see the two Heads).

However this time we flew directly from Dargaville to Parakai, further out into the Kaipara Harbour.  Thanks for the flying today Harvey.

A "new" Beaver

A star attendee at today's Healthy Bastards flying competions at Omaka airfield was the recently imported 1952 vintage DHC2 Beaver ZK-BVA.   Having been completely refurbished in Australia it flew across the Tasman as VH-BVA arriving 9 January,  and was registered to Farmers Air of Gisborne on 28 January.

More photos to follow from Omaka..

Stratford to Thames One Week Ago 27-1-2019

I thought I Would post some photos from my flight North from Stratford to Thames, ending up at the Wings and Wheels event.  I was flying with Alan Warner in his very nice B & F Polaris ZK-RFD.

Outside Alan's hangar ready to load the water bottles.

North of Urenui - big cliffs and not much beach!

You can click on the photos to enlarge them for a better view.

Past Mokau.

Some interesting holes in the rock.

Tirua Point with the Taharoa Iron Sands base up ahead, and you can see Mt Karioi (just South of Raglan) in the distance.  After Taharoa Iron Sands we cut inland across the Kawhia and Aotea Harbours.

Right overhead the Huntly Power Station chimneys and across the Waikato River.  You could get a good view of where the Huntly bypass is going for SH 1.

On finals for Thames after a standard overhead rejoin.