Saturday lunchtime 09-01-2021 at Christchurch

A bit of a peekaboo at the Canterbury Aero Club yesterday (Sat 09-01-2021) picked up the following.

Beechcraft B24R Sierra 200 ZK-DVD (c/n MC-292) was on the tie downs near the Club. It has  been with us since October of 1974 and with its latest owner Aviation Claims Ltd of Cromwell since October last year.

I am still trying to get a decent photo of this Airbus MBB BK117 D-2 ZK-IGI (c/n 20223).

On its trolley at the GCH Aviation Ltd's facility.

First time that I have noticed that the Piper PA-28-161 Warrior II ZK-LJD (c/n 2842308) wears full NZ registration marks in red. Its only been here since late 2008.

The Europac XP LTD's Cessna 182T Skylane ZK-PJC (c/n 18281476) arriving in from Wanaka. It returned to Wanaka later in the afternoon.

 

NAC Pancake Breakfast at NZKF 9-1-2021

The Northern Aviators Club held a Pancake Breakfast at Kaipara Flats airfield this morning.  The weather started out foggy but this burnt off just around 8 am in good time for our first arrivals just before 9.  A dozen aircraft from North Shore, Dargaville and Whangarei turned up and the pancakes were great as usual - thanks Erwin!

Andrew Rossaak flew his Maule MXT-7-180A ZK-RLT up from North Shore.  This is the first time I have seen this aircraft at Kaipara Flats.

The weather was pretty good but there was a passing shower just after David Wilkinson arrived in his One Design ZK-EZG2.

The view back to the Rodney Aero Club hangar where the pancakes were cooked.

Then it was time to head off - Rusty and Penny Russell to Dargaville in their MT03 Eagle autogyro ZK-RBG with the traditional wave from Penny.

And David Wilkinson headed off for Pauanui.

Pauanui

Amongst the visitors to Pauanui today were a couple not noted here before,  both coincidentally originally imported new into NZ back in 1974.   Firstly from Nelson there was the Aerial Surveys Ltd Cessna 402B ZK-PVC.   This was originally ZK-DSG becoming PVC in 2000 and joining Aerial Surveys in 2016.

And down from Warkworth the Beech A36 ZK-TRC4 which was originally ZK-DUL.   After repairs from an accident it became ZK-UTE2 in 2004, progressing onto TRC upon sale to its Warkworth owners in July 2019.

 

Gliders at Drury

The Auckland Gliding Club is currently holding a soaring week at its Drury airfield and some of the participants are pictured below. 

Schleicher ASW20 ZK-GBL2 which was imported from the Czech Republic in 2013 and has an Auckland owner.

Schempp Hirth Discus 2T ZK-GHW2 imported from Australia in 2006 and registered to a Pukekohe owner

Schleicher ASW20CL ZK-GRA imported new in 1984 and registered to a Katikati syndicate.

Owned by the Auckland Gliding Club PZL Swidnik PW5 Smyk ZK-GXF,  imported new back in 1995

Schleicher ASH25M ZK-GZF which was imported from the USA in 2008 and is registered to a Christchurch syndicate

And Schleicher ASW27 ZK-GZM which was imported from Germany in 2003, and is registered to an Auckland private owner

 

North Shore

A visit to North Shore airfield today revealed the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX N522EX which had previously visited NZ back in 2019 as a demonstrator.    It arrived here again from Norfolk Is on Xmas Day.

Out for a local flight was Tom Watson's Vans RV6A ZK-TRV which was originally registered back in 2005.

 

Another Day in Paradise!

After a couple of non flying days (for me at least) today dawned brilliantly with light winds forecast so I headed out to Kaipara Flats airfield.  I fuelled up Honey Bebe but then a taxi arrived with some lucky people who were being picked up by helicopter so I turned Honey Bebe into the direction from which the wind of the rotor wash would come and waited until it arrived.

Eurocopter AS 355 NP ZK-ICT arrived and picked up said lucky people who were then whisked off to the Bay of Islands.  The pilot told me that the luggage pod could take 120 Kg so all their bags fitted in easily.

Then I took off and I headed off to Kawau Island again:

En Route to Kawau you pass by Rabbit Island that I never realised before is inhabited with a house and a jetty.  And you can see how clear the water was.  Nice spot!

Then a fly by at 800 feet down North Cove where my 3 grandsons were staying at a holiday camp with their mum and dad.  That is their jetty, the second one above the nose.

Then back to the Tawharanui Peninsula at around 1,000 feet.  That water is so blue!

Back at the airfield Bill Izard arrived with Cliff Bellingham in Bill's Tecnam Sierra RG ZK-ZZT, to check out a possible project.

Next up was Bruce Lynch who has been doing maintenance on his Tiger Moth ZK-ASM for a long time, and today was its first flight after the work which included fitting a new fuel tank.  It sure jumped into the air in quick time.

Then it was lunchtime so back home and then drive to Sandspit to pick up the family from the ferry after their holiday.  All in all a great day.

My week of it.

 Follows are a few photos I have taken during the last week or so.

Parked beside the Canterbury Aero Club hangar on 31-12-2020 was the Sunair Ltd's Piper PA-23-250 Aztec ZK-PIX c/n 27-4738.

At Rangiora on the 29th the Sam Fry Laser 230 ZK-LZR (c/n 31) was caught on the roll.

The remaining photos were taken at Rangiora yesterday 4-1-2021.

Cirrus SR22 ZK-LDY c/n 895 dropping in from Paraparaumu for fuel.

New to the register on 3-12-2020 was the ICP Savannah S ZK-SOX (c/n 18-02-54-0593) of the SOX Syndicate awaiting its CAA inspection.

Also in for fuel was the Beech 35-C33A ZK-MEC (c/n CE-167) of David Morrow which is based on a nearby airfield.

The Fletcher FU24-954 ZK-EUA (c/n 282) of David Evans has been on the tie downs for over a month now. The 'EXPERIMENTAL' is a recent addition.

Westpac Rescue Helicopter at Warkworth 3-1-2021

Unfortunately these guys have been pretty busy over the holiday period and have been called to the Warkworth area several times, the latest being this morning:

Leonardo AW 169 ZK-IZB was the callout machine today.

First in the World Fly In

The 2021 "First in the World Fly In" was hosted by the Feilding Flying Club and attracted a very interesting collection of North Island aircraft.  Included amongst these was the Whanganui based Zenair CH750 ZK-FLN which was registered back in December 2013.

Also Whanganui based is the former RNZAF Airtourer T6/24 ZK-LDG which somehow hasnt appeared on this blog before.  It was registered back in 1993 and has been with its current owner since 2011.

Recently completed by Mark Miller is the unique Superchamp ZK-MMJ,  registered in October 2020.

Also a 2020 registrant is the Kapiti Districts Aero Club Aviat A1C-180 Husky ZK-USK,  imported from the USA

And from Napier the RV7 ZK-WOS which was registered in September 2019.  The registration reflects its owner "Waste of Space Aviation".

 

Happy New Year 2021!

 Happy New Year 2021 to all Our Blog Readers

It was such a lovely morning for the first day of the year that I just had to go for a flight.  This view is as I flew over Bon Accord Harbour at Kawau Island - man there are a lot of boats down there!  (You can click to enlarge the photo).  And I was not alone: