Rans Outback ZK-YAW at Rangiora update

At last ! I got a reasonable photograph (albeit still inside) of the Rans S-21 Outbound ZK-YAW c/n 0520018 as captured at Rangiora today 11-05-2024.

This was registered to Paul Brydon of Hamilton on 19-07-2023 and I believe based at Te Kowhai.

Paul is now based out near Oxford and I first noted YAW at Rangiora late last year.

It will receive some vinyls shortly.

Paul has previously operated the Micro Aviation B22J ZK-XAM2, the Best off Skyranger Swift        ZK-JAY, the Zenith CH601 XL ZK-JRL and the Aeroprakt A-22LS ZK-SAJ2.

However John Wagtendonk was on the spot at Rangiora on 06-01-2024 and captured ZK-YAW.

Todays photo (14-05-2024) from Aaron Murphy shows ZK-YAW in action at Rangiora.

Newly Minted Vans RV 7 ZK-MNT at Waipukurau 12-5-2024

The Central Hawkes Bay Aero Club hosted their annual Dawn Raid at Waipukurau on Sunday 12 May and there was a great turnout of around 60 aircraft.  Most have already been covered here but one was wearing a new registration:

ZK-MNT (c/n 70334) was up from Masterton where it is based.  It was damaged in a take off incident in Northland a couple of years ago and was repaired by Northland Aviation at Whangarei.  During its time there it was re-registered as ZK-MNT on 11/9/23.  Thanks for the photo Jordan.

But if it looks familiar it is.  It it the "old" ZK-DES3 which was imported into New Zealand by Des Barry back in November 2010.  It is photo'd above taking off from North Shore on 24/2/13.
 

Hughes 369D ZK-IMT at North Shore Today 13-5-2024

I had reason to be down at North Shore airfield this afternoon when the racy sound of an approaching Hughes 500 got louder until he alighted at the fuel pumps.

It was the Hughes 369D ZK-IMT which has been registered to ZK Leasing Ltd of Auckland since 31/3/23.  While we were both at different fuel pumps, I was getting Avgas and he was in for Jet A1.

A brace of Caravans at Paraparaumu.

 Lord Nelson noted two Cessna 208 Caravans at Paraparaumu today.

The Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster ZK-MLO2 c/n 208B1125 was delivered to Air Pak Express SA, Spain on 11-05-2005 as EC-JHI. From there it went onto the German Register as D-FAAF from April 2009 and spent time with Skydive Flyzone. Its German registration was cancelled in April 2022 for it to become N208FF with Tarco Aircraft Funding LLC of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and then to Merlin Labs of Boston, Massachusetts from 30-11-2022.
Mentioned previously Here.
As such it ferried via Honolulu and Apia on 26-05-2023 and into Auckland on the 28th. 

It became ZK-MLO2 on 07-06-2023 with Merlin Labs NZ Ltd on 07-06-2023.

The Cessna C208 Caravan 1 ZK-EAV2 c/n 20800659 was registered new to Evander Aviation as N874ET on 17-09-2019 and was passed over to Gateway Air Center of Merced, California from 15-10-2019 for ferrying to New Zealand.

This ferry flight departed Eisenhower Field at Wichita, Kansas for Independence on 02-11-2019. Then on to Colorado Springs and Merced on the 13th. The run to Honolulu was on the 21st and then to Faleolo, Samoa on the 23rd and into Auckland on the 24th.

The US ferry registration was cancelled on 27-11-2019 and it became ZK-EAV2 on 03-12-2019 with Evander Aviation Ltd at Wellington.

Helicopters at Mechanics Bay Yesterday 11-5-2024

Yesterday I was instructed to be on taxi duty down to Auckland (and return) for the NZ Ballet matinee so I had a couple of hours to kill.  What to do?  Drive down to Mechanics Bay to see what I could see:

HeliMe's Airbus EC 130 T2 ZK-HIJ5 was parked out.  It is branded as an ACH 130 which is the Aston Martin bespoke model with the leather interior and jazzy colour scheme.

Then the same company's Agusta Bell 206B ZK-IEL2 arrived with passengers and was later pushed into the hangar.   Both helicopters have appeared on the blog previously, but Mechanics Bay is quite photogenic so I thought they were worth another post. 

Beech Super King Air ZK-RSQ

 The Beechcraft 200C Super King Air ZK-RSQ2 /n BL-148 was recorded at Wellington today by 
Allister Jenks.

This aircraft was first noted in August of 2004 listed as N36948 with Raytheon Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas with a change to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest NZ at Salt Lake City, Utah from 28-12-2004.

This was cancelled on 25-04-2005 for it to become F-OIQL with Air Archipels, a subsidiary of Air Tahiti.

Above -  F-OIQL - an Aircraft Com photo.

It ferried into Napier from Nuku'Alofa, Tonga, on 18-03-2023 and became ZK-RSQ2 on 04-05-2023 with Skyline Aviation Ltd.

Above and below. At the Execujet Aero Service facility at Wellington Airport early this afternoon.

Its close cousin ZK-PLK in the left of the shot below and the Falcon 50 N115MF c/n 330 lurks in the hangar.

                                                          On climb out from Wellington.

On the bottom left of the photo is the roof of the 'leaning tower'.

A Deep South Visitation to the North

A group of very slick high performance microlights have recently been touring around the North Island and on Thursday night 9 May they overnighted at Kaipara Flats airfield.  I caught up with them on the Friday morning, two BRM Aero Bristells and three Aerospool Dynamic WT 9s.  They were:

Nigel Forrester's latest aircraft, the lovely red taildragger Bristell ZK-TDN (c/n 174/2016) has not appeared on the blog previously.  Nigel imported it from Australia where it was VH-ZYT and before that 24-8698.  It is based at Alexandra.

Lyall Hopcroft's new Bristell ZK-WLH3 is fitted with a Rotax 915 engine and is based in Cromwell.

Russell Brunel's Dynamic ZK-DYR comes from Winton and is ex ZK-DYK and ZK-FUZ.

Murray Hagen's fixed gear Dynamic ZK-MLC comes along with Murray from Te Anau.

And Michael Blomfield's Dynamic ZK-ZOW is based at Nightcaps.  It ix ex ZK-DYN.

After checking the winds aloft on Friday morning they made the wise decision not to fly that day so they stayed in Warkworth another night.  Then today, Saturday they all headed off to Dargaville for the Aero Clubs famous every Saturday lunch.

A Short Flight up the Waitemata Harbour

Another reason for my flight down the North Shore Transit Lane yesterday was to turn right at North Head and fly up Auckland Harbour.  It seems remarkable that you can do this but you can - just call Harbour Traffic on the Hauraki Gulf frequency 120.4.  Again I flew at 800 feet which gave spectacular views:  (You can click the photos once or twice to enlarge them)

I flew up the Southern shore of the harbour in the spectacular conditions,

Past the container wharves, 

and the CBD with Queens Wharf and the Cloud down there.

Then I turned within the confines of the harbour - that is the Bayswater Marina in the shimmering sea.

and I flew back out on the Northern Shore, again with great views of downtown Auckland.

I tracked just outside the Devonport Naval Base and the Devonport Wharf and on to North Head for my flight back up the transit lane.  I bet you couldn't fly this close to a main Naval Base in many other countries!

Then my camera battery ran out!

Takapuna Then and Now

Yesterday I flew down the North Shore Transit Lane in lovely weather at 800 feet and and I got great views of all of the East Coast Bays. When I reached Takapuna I flew in the wake of Whites Aviation from 65 years ago:

Takapuna in 1959 by Whites Aviation...

And Takapuna yesterday in 2024.  I tried to get the same angle but I didn't quite get it right, I should have been a tad higher.  The same pohutukawa trees are still there but my tide is out.  For those who are familiar with the area, The Promenade runs down to the seaside carpark and Hurstmere Road runs parallel to the beach one block back.  Killarney Street runs parallel with Lake Pupuke at the top and Anzac Street is on the left.  The iconic Mon Desir Hotel has been replaced by lots of apartments and further up The Promenade is the Bruce Mason Theatre.

I hope that is not too much information!

CMM has gone West

 CMM reporting from the West Coast.

Bagged at Karamea in the early morning light on the 5th of May was the Helicopter Charter Karamea (2006) Ltd's Bell 206L-3 LongRanger ZK-HWL3 c/n 51054 which has been on line since March of 2017.         See a previous mention  Here

Down at Buller Health in Westport the GCH Aviation Ltd's and Greymouth based "West Coast ROA Mining Rescue Helicopter" Kawasaki BK117 B2 ZK-HJC3 c/n 1061 waits.