Cessna A185F ZK-TLO

Cessna A185F ZK-TLO (c/n 18503658) began its life back in late 1974 as N8332Q moving on quickly to Australia where it became VH-TLO on 01 March 1979  with Stawilton No110 Pty Ltd at Wynyard Tasmania.

By 1999 it was with Wilderness Air of Strahan Tasmania having spent some years as a floatplane in Victoria.

It was ferried out of Coffs Harbour to Lord Howe Island on 27 May 2019 and reached Kerikeri and Mercer on the 28th and then on to Nelson on the 29th.

 Above we see it at Nelson in its Australian registration not long after its arrival.

After due care and attention at Repaircraft it became ZK-TLO on 09 July 2019 with Todd Agri Ltd of Murchison where it replaces their Cessna 172R ZK-JKB which has been re-registered as ZK-NAO2  and now with the Nelson Aviation College at Motueka.

Warrior ZK-EBS

The Piper PA-28-151 Warrior ZK-EBS (c/n 28-7715056) came off the production line in late 1976 as N9645N and was shipped to Airwork (NZ) Ltd at Ardmore who registered it on 19-01-1977.

It went to the South Canterbury Aero Club at Timaru from 22-07-1977 as a replacement for Warrior ZK-EBN which was lost in an accident at Camden on 09-06-1977.

Above we see it at Timaru on 17-09-1977.

From 30-04-1985 it was with the South Otago Aero Club at Balclutha briefly before going to A M McGreevy at Alexandra from 08-07-1985.

The Canterbury Aero Club took it over from 13-04-1988

 Above at Wigram on 20-09-2008.

And below at Timaru on 01-03-2018.

The Club decided that it was more economical to fully refurbish this airframe than it was to purchase another factory new unit.

So. Above we have ZK-EBS being prepared for a repaint at Christchurch on 23-01-2019.

And below we see it completed in the same scheme as the latest new additions to there fleet.

Cessna 172M ZK-DRP

Cessna 172M ZK-DRP update.

Tim Gorman was at Paraparaumu yesterday (03-08-2019) on a surprisingly nice day (compared with Auckland) and he photographedthe Cessna 172M ZK-DRP.

ZK-DRP (c/n 17263519) is unremarkable but it has had an ownership change recently - to Maritime Developments Ltd of Paraparaumu on 10-11-2018. 

It has also had a change of colour scheme.

From that below.

I photographed this 172 at Feilding back on 04-08-2016 and it sure looked different!

This is what I posted back then:

'I thought it was great to see a colourful and distinctive Cessna for a change, although I can see it would not be to I thought it was great to see a colourful and distinctive Cessna for a change, although I can see it would not be to everyone's taste!. everyone's taste!.   '

This Skyhawk II came off the Cessna production line as N5317R and was shipped to New Zealand aboard the MV Austral Endurance and was registered to Rex Aviation (NZ) Ltd at Ardmore on 14-10-1974.

It first flew here on 27-11-1974 and received its NZ CofA the following day.

It went on line with Geyserland Airways (1974) Ltd at Rotorua from early February 1975.

It is seen above in Geyserland Airway markings at Rotorua on 06-09-1979.

It was transferred to Pacific Aviation Ltd of Rotorua and then to M F and D M Robbie of Eketahuna in June of 1984.

Above on 08-06-1989 at Christchurch.

And below at Wanaka on 30-03-2002.

Tecnam P 2008s of New Zealand (2)

Tecnam P 2008s continued to be registered here in 2013 with Izard Pacific Aviation Ltd importing two examples:

ZK-ZZB (c/n 050) was registered to Izard Pacific Aviation Ltd of Taupo on 25/3/13.  On 5/11/13 it was sold to Mark E Williams of Wanaka but on 29/1/15 it was back with Izard Pacific which morphed in to Izard Investments Ltd on 19/4/16.  Most recently, on 17/6/16 ownership changed to the Hawkes Bay and East Coast Aero Club of Hastings.  It is photo'd above at the 2019 Flying New Zealand Championships at North Shore airfield, on 11/2/19.

 And ZK-ZZD (c/n 056) was also registered to Izard Pacific Aviation Ltd of Taupo on 25/3/13.  On 11/11/13 ownership changed to The Renwick and Gallagher Syndicate of Howick, under whose ownership it is photo'd at Pauanui on 18/3/14.  Then on 3/12/16 ownership changed to Trevor R Doig of Hastings, which by my count makes three P 2008s based there.

Next followed two P 2008s that were registered to the Tecnam agents of the time, Tecnam Australasia Ltd of Papakura, and then were sold to Australia.  ZK-TMA2 (c/n 062) was registerd on 17/4/13 and is photo'd above at the 2014 Wings Over Wanaka airshow, on 18/4/14.  It was very short lived here as its registration was cancelled on 9/7/14 as sold abroad.  On 31/7/14 it was registered VH-IBO3 to Tecnam Australasia Ltd of Runaway Bay, Queensland.  On 22/1/15 it was transferred to the Australian Microlight Register as 24-8580.

ZK-WOW2 (c/n 100) was registered to Tecnam Australasia Ltd of Papakura on 7/9/15.  It is photo'd above at Ardmore on 23/1/16.  On 30/6/17 its registration was cancelled and was exported to Australia.

Another New Zealand registered P 2008 to end up in Australia was ZK-ART2 (c/n 115) which was registered to the Excalibur Trust of Ohope on 5/8/16.  It is photo'd above at Ardmore on 12/12/16.  On 21/3/18 its New Zealand registration was cancelled and it is now 23-8822 on the Australian Microlight Register.

ZK-RJN (c/n 122) was John Nicholl's second P 2208 after ZK-MBN, and it was registered to him at Mangonui on 12/7/17.  It is photo'd above at Dargaville on 24/2/18.

ZK-TLT (c/n 123) was registered to Tecnam Australasia Ltd of Papakura on 2/11/17 and it is photo'd above at Ardmore on 18/11/18.  On 12/12/18 ownership transferred to New Zealand Airline Academy Ltd of Oamaru

On 12/12/18 ownership transferred to New Zealand Airline Academy Ltd of Oamaru, and it acquired with their logo on the tail as in this photo taken at Rangiora on 23/5/19.

Then on 19/6/19 it was re-registered as ZK-DDY2 (at the same time as ZK-MBN2 was re-registered as ZK-LBI), again to make way for another P 2008 to use the ZK-TLT registration (and I still wonder why?)

Quite quickly after ZK-MBN2 and ZK-TLT had been re-registered as ZK-LBI and ZK-DDY2 respectively, another two P 2008s were registered to the New Zealand Airline Academy Ltd of Oamaru.  These were new P 2008 Mark II aircraft referred to as P 2008 JC models and I think they have a longer wingspan of 9.00 metres.  They are both registered as certified aircraft with a MAUW of 650 Kg.

The first was ZK-MBN3 (c/n 1146) which was registered on 15/7/19 and is photo'd above at Tauranga on 24/7/19.

And the second was ZK-TLT2 (c/n 1147) which was also registered on 15/7/19 and photo'd at Tauranga on 24/7/19.  I assume they will get the NZAA logo on their tails.

I reckon we will see more P 2008s here in the future, (and also other Tecnam models), as they now have new New Zealand agents in Ruth's Tecnam Sales and Service Ltd, based out of Waiatoto near Haast on the West Coast.

LAK-17B ZK-GFS

A  new addition to the Tauranga Gliding Club is the Sportine Aviacija LAK-17B FES which was registered as ZK-GFS2 on 17-07-2019

The LAK-17B is an all composite glider with a new profile wing giving a higher wing loading than the A model. 

It meets the FAI 15 and 18m class requirements, with I believe 21m wing tips now available.

It carries water ballast in wings and tailplane

This is a first of type for NZ with its type acceptance being gained on 05-07-2019.

The 'FES' in its designation stands for Front Electric Sustainer.
It can be aero towed or winch launched - as per normal - and once airborne can sustain flight using the electric power  unit.

A close look at the above photo from Warwick Hamilton shows the propeller blade folded back beside the nose.

This engine is a brushless DC synchronous permanent magnet FES-LAK-M100 unit with the batteries located in the central fuselage.

Well done the Tauranga Gliding Club.

Cessna 172M ZK-DRP

Tim Gorman was at Paraparaumu today on a surprisingly nice day (compared to Auckland), and he photo'd Cessna 172M ZK-DRP:

ZK-DRP (c/n 17263519) is unremarkable but it has had an ownership change recently - to Maritime Developments Ltd of Paraparaumu on 24/6/19.

and it has also had a change of colour scheme.

I photo'd this 172 at Feilding back on 4/8/16 and it sure looked different!  This is what I posted about it back then:

I thought it was great to see a colourful and distinctive Cessna for a change, although I can see it would not be to everyones taste!.  C 172M ZK-DRP has been around since October 1974 and surprisingly has had only one owner in all that time, being the MF and DM Robbie Syndicate of Eketahuna.

Cessna 172N ZK-LCL

Cessna 172N Skyhawk II ZK-LCL (c/n 70867) was listed initially as N739WP with the Cessna Airplane Company of Wichita, Kansas before joining the NZ civil aircraft register on 19-03-1979.

To the best of my knowledge it has been with I W and A J Lysaght of Whakatane since importation.

The photo above is a recent shot from Warwick Hamilton.

Pic below was taken in 2015 by Tauranga Spotter in the Aero Pacific hangar at Tauranga.

Tecnam P 2008s of New Zealand (1)

In posting my (long running!) series on Sport Aircraft of New Zealand, I originally was not going to include Tecnams as they were all factory built aircraft, but I have posted other factory built sport aircraft such as Siriuss and Alpis.  So now I will include the next type of sport aircraft to be registered here which was the Tecnam P 2008.  I will later on go back and post all of our other Tecnams including the P 92 Echos, P 96 Golfs, P 2002 Sierras and P 2004 Bravos, of which there have been lots.

The Tecnam P 2008 was a new design that was introduced at Aero Friedrichshafen in 2009.  It was a departure for Tecnam as the fuselage is built from composites while the wings and all flying tailplane are all metal.  It has recently had an upgrade to the Mark II JC model.  Specifications for the P 2008 are:  length 6.93 metres (22 feet 9 inches), wingspan 8.80 metres (28 feet 10 inches) and the wing area is 124 square feet.  Empty weight is around 354 Kg (780 pounds) and MAUW is 544 Kg (1,200 pounds) for a Class 2 microlight in New Zealand, but it can also be certified as a Light Sport Aircraft with a MAUW of 600 Kg and as a certified aircraft with a MAUW of 650 Kg.

We have had 17 Tecnam P 2008s in New Zealand to date, and several that have been re-registered.  I am sure that we will see more of them in the future.  Here are the first batch of eight:

Our first Tecnam P 2008 was ZK-JAX3 (c/n 005) was first registered on 17/1/11 to Ardmore Aviation Services Ltd of Papakura.  I photo'd it very early on in its life, on 19/2/11 at a flyin at Parakai.  On 11/3/13 it was sold to Father and Son Aviation of Hamilton.

Next up was ZK-KDW (c/n 036) which was registered to K I Walker of Pukeatua on 24/2/12 and then ownership quickly changed to K I and D P Walker of Pukeatua on 28/2/12.  It is photo'd above at Tokoroa on 21/2/16.

ZK-CJN4 (c/n 041) was the third sport aircraft registered to Colin J Nagel of Masterton (following on from his 2 previous Alpi Pioneer 300s ZK-CJN2 and ZK-CJN3), on 8/5/12.  It is photo'd above at the 2014 RAANZ flyin at Feilding, on 1/3/14.  On 1/6/18 ownership changed to Peter Bannister of Hastings.

ZK-WHZ (c/n 061) was registered to the Waikato Aero Club on 14/8/12.  It was however quite short lived as it was written off in an accident at Hamilton on 24/10/13 when a student pilot on his first solo  take off crashed into a Cessna 172 parked outside the aero club.

The Waikato Aero Club purchased two P 2008s and the second one was ZK-WIP (c/n 060) which was also registered to the club on 14/8/12.  The above photo was taken outside the aero club on 20/12/16.  Shortly after this time the aero club sold their P 2008s to change to Alpha aircraft.

On 22/2/17 the aircraft was sold to the North Shore Aero Club and it is photo'd above at North Shore airfield on 7/10/17.

ZK-MBN2 (c/n 069) was first registered to John R Nicholls of Mangonui on 13/3/13 and he used it for flight training at Kerikeri.  It is photo'd above at North Shore airfield on 13/3/14.

On 26/6/18 the aircraft was sold to the New Zealand Airline Academy of Oamaru where it is also used for flight training of future airline pilots.  It is photo'd above at Rangiora on 3/5/19 with the NZAA logo on the tail.

Then on 19/6/19 it was re-registered as ZK-LBI ( to make way for another Tecnam P 2008 for NZAA with the registration ZK-MBN3 - I wonder why?)

ZK-MSA (c/n 066) was first registered to the Middle Earth Flying School of Otorohanga on 13/3/13, under whose ownership is is photo'd above at Matamata airfield in 2013.  It ha spent its life to date at Matamata with ownership changing to MB Aviation Ltd of Te Aroha on 1/11/14 and to the MBA Tust of Te Aroha on 1/6/15.

And the last of this bunch is ZK-TMA (c/n 071) which was registered to Ardmore Aviation Services Ltd of Papakura on 10/5/13.  It is photo'd above at Ardmore on 15/5/13.

It was quickly sold to the Waikato Aero Club on 6/11/13 to replace their ZK-WHZ which had crashed on 224/10/13.  On 21/11/13 it was re-registerded as ZK-WNZ2.  It is photo'd above as such at Hamilton on 20/12/16.

Then when Waikato Aero Club sold their P 2008s, ownership changed to the A R Jones Family Trust of Ngatea on 23/3/17.  It is photo'd above in their ownership at the Thames Wings and Wheels event at Thames, on 26/1/19.

Family Cruiser ZK-BZL

The Piper PA-14 Family Cruiser was a product of the late 1940's. A development of the PA-12 with a wider fuselage and four seats.

This airframe is c/n 14-132 out of a total of 238 of this model.

We pick it up in South Africa where it was listed as ZS-BZL in 1999.

Interestingly it was offered as a raffle prize in July of 2006.

After an incident at Nelspruit in May of 2015 it was rebuilt to better than new status.

These two shots show it as ZS-BZL after its rebuild and prior to export to NZ.

Purchased by Mark Stagg of Argus Helicopters is was shipped to Motueka and registered as ZK-BZL2 on 09-07-2018.

It first flew from Motueka on 07-09-2019.

ZK-BZL2 as seen on take off from Nelson yesterday (01-089-2019) by Peter Campbell.

Rans S 19 Venterras of New Zealand

The first type of new sport aircraft to be registered in New Zealand in 2011 was the Rans S 19 Venterra, the first of which appeared in January.

The S 19 is Randy Schlitter's 19th aircraft design but it is different from other Rans aircraft in that it has an all metal monocoque fuselage and aluminium skinned wings.  It first flew on 28/6/07.  It can be purchased as a kit or a complete aircraft and can also be registered as a LSA.  For me it is quite similar to the Vans RV 12 but it has not sold in anywhere near the numbers that the RV 12 has.

Specifications for the S 19 are:  length 19 feet 11 inches (6.06 metres), wingspan 28 feet (8.53 metres) and the wing area is 127 square feet.  Empty weight is around 820 pounds (372 Kg) and in New Zealand for a Class 2 microlight the MAUW is 1,200 pounds (544 Kg).  With a 100 HP Rotax cruise speed is around 128 mph and with big flaps the stall speed is around 45 mph.

We have had two S 19 Venterras in New Zealand to date:

ZK-JAD3 (c/n 050900071) was built by Robert D McIntyre of Wanganui and was first registered to him on 11/1/11.  It is photo'd above on take off from the Hawera Aero Club's dawn flyin on 19/8/18.  Thanks for the photo Phil.

The next S 19 to be registered was ZK-MBX (c/n 051100102) which was built by Murray Barrington and registered to the Murray and AJ Barrington Family Trust of Taieri Mouth on 14/2/14.  It is photo'd above at its base at Taieri aerodrome but I do not have a record of who took the photo.  Tragically it was lost in a fatal accident at Welshman's Creek, near Middlemarch, on 26/6/17, killing Murray Barrington while his passenger survived.  It was cancelled from the register on 2/8/17.