75 Years of Aerowork (sort of) Celebration at Wanganui

As I have previously posted, Ravensdown Aerowork held a large private gathering at Wanganui on 7 December to celebrate 75 years of the Aerowork brand.  It involved a flying display comprising the original Wanganui Aero Work Tiger Moth ZK-AUZ followed by the 400 HP Fletcher 950 ZK-EGK with the Cresco ZK-LTJ bringing up the rear.  Despite being busy with commentary duties, Ray Deerness managed to take a few photos in the lead up to the celebration:

A procession of the oldest to the newest Aerowork topdressing aircraft - Tiger Moth ZK-AUZ, Fletcher FU24-950 ZK-EGK and PAC Cresco ZK-LTJ.  This photo was taken the day before during practice for the flypast.

Then on the day there was this impressive lineup of Ravensdown Aero Work aircraft.  The Crescos on this side of the lineup were ZK-LTY in the front with ZK-LTW, LTV and LTG.

And the other side comprised of ZK-LTN in the front with ZK-LTL, LTJ and LTH.

While in the middle was the dual control Fletcher ZK-EGK.

Of the rest of the fleet, ZK-LTB was in the South Island still fighting the Castle Hill fire, and ZK-LTS and ZK-LTZ are currently dismantled.

As for the 75 years, Wally Harding carried out his first topdressing at Blinkbonnie on 27 April 1950 and from there requests for spreading superphosphate flowed in.  Later in 1950 he ordered two Tiger Moths from the UK, quickly followed by four more.  Wanganui Aero Work Ltd was registered on 13 November 1950 and that month Wally Harding employed Doug Holloway and Wally Green to fly Tiger Moths ZK-AUY and ZK-AUZ, with the latter being the first to be signed out on 4 December 1950.  

So the 75th was not quite historically accurate but it still a great achievement.

Meanwhile at Wanganui on 7-12-2024 - 750XL-II ZK-EPQ

Ravensdown Aerowork held a large private gathering at Wanganui Airport yesterday to celebrate 75 years of the Aerowork brand.  There were about 600 Ravensdown clients and current and former staff going as far back as 1959.  Due to the busy day there were only 3 air displays, flown by the Wanganui Aerowork Tiger Moth ZK-AUZ, FU 24-950 ZK-EGK and Cresco ZK-LTJ.  Ray Deerness was there and was doing the commentary for the day.  Because of his commitments he couldn't take photos but did manage to take one of a surprise visitor:

The latest NZ Skydive 750XL-II ZK-EPQ (c/n XL502) flew down from Hamilton with top management of NZ Aero and this was fitting given the long association of Aerowork with aircraft built in Hamilton by NZ Skydive's predecessors over many years.  This is the first time for ZK-EPQ on the blog.

Thanks very much for the photo Ray.

Nelson this morning from Bill Mannix.

 Bill Mannix captured these two helicopters during his morning walk around Nelson Airport.

The McDonnell Douglas 500N NOTAR ZK-IDL3 c/n LN051 is a recent addition to the NZ civil register, being listed to a Private Owner on 30-10-2024. 

It carries Nelson Helicopters titles and I believe it replaces their on sold Squirrel ZK-HQN.

Also on the Nelson Helicopters pad was the Aerospatiale AS 350 BA (with FX2 mods) ZK-IOS c/n 1646. This has been in NZ since1986 when it served as ZK-HZR, becoming ZK-HST2 in mid 1993 and then ZK-HWF3 in mid 2009. It took up its current ZK-IOR marks from 03-11-2014.

Lancair 320 ZK-KWK at Springhill 7-12-2024

Just as we were packing up the BBQ stuff at Springhill yesterday, a couple of exotic aircraft appeared overhead and landed.  They were Brent Hempel in his Yak 52 ZK-RUS2 and Rob Fry in his Nieco Lancair 320 ZK-KWK:

ZK-KWK (c/n 360-001) was imported as N817S by Rob Fry and was registered to him in New Zealand on 4/10/19.  A smooth machine.  Rob parked his Lancair to allow for a photo with a nice rural backdrop (John King would approve I am sure).  For whatever reason it has not appeared on the blog previously.

Northern Aviators Club Christmas BBQ at Springhill Today 7-12-2024

The Northern Aviators Club held their Christmas BBQ at Springhill today, in conjunction with the Auckland Chapter of the Sport Aircraft Association of NZ.  There was a good turnout of about 25 planes including 4 gyrocopters:

Rusty Russell taking off for a photo sortie seen over the turtle deck of RV 7 ZK-LVA

And this is the photo he took, there are 16 different aircraft types on the field.  Thanks Rusty

Mark Biddle took off in his Tandem Dominator ZK-RCE2 headed for lunch at Dargaville,

Followed by Rusty with passenger Luke Dixon in Rusty's trusty MT 03 Eagle ZK-RBG.  That is a hand held camera that Luke is holding so I guess I will be in a video somewhere.

A Helicopter in Heartland Suburbia

Simon Hills spotted this helicopter on a front lawn in John F Kennedy Drive in Palmerston North recently:

Simon has identified it as the MBB BK 117A-3 ex ZK-IED (c/n 7059) of Precision Helicopters which ditched in the Pauatahanui Inlet after loss of control on 2 May 2017 and was cancelled from the register on 19 October 2018.  It is promoting the Grassroots Trust Rescue Helicopter as well as being an attraction for the street's Christmas lights.  I don't think it has been on the blog previously so it is a good "catch".

Thanks for the photo Simon.

Christchurch visitors on Monday the 2nd and Wednesday 4th.

 These two visitors were noted at Christchurch International on Monday the 2nd.

Thanks to Tony McFarlin.

The return of Cathay Pacific to Christchurch on Monday the 2nd of December was carried out by their Airbus A350-1041 B-LXC c/n 188 in a direct flight from Hong Kong.

This was first flown by Airbus Industries on 15-06-2018 as F-WZGS for delivery to Cathay Pacific on 19-07-2018.

Terminating its Monday's oceanic patrol at Christchurch was the RNZAF Boeing P-8A Poseidon NZ4802 c/n 67018.

Listed as test flown as N788DS by Boeing as a model 737-8FV(ER) it was delivered into Ohakea on 20-03-2023.

Today December 4th 2024 saw the arrival of the corporate Airbus A319-153NCJ VP-CRR c/n 10339.

First flown by Airbus Industries on 05-01-2021 as D-AVWH for delivery on 27-01-2021.

Another Query

I got a good response to by Labour Weekend Query, which turned out to be a Curtis Flyer replica that was built by Chris Henry and Warwick Vaile in Cambridge in 1977.  It was never registered.  Thanks very much to all those blog readers who provided comments.

Now here is another one that I am seeking information on.  I know that it is a microlight built by Richard Brett at Raglan in the late 1970s(?), and it was powered by two Briggs and Stratton 2 stroke engines.  It was also unregistered but registration wasn't required for microlights between the late 1970s when the first ones appeared, and 1982 when they flooded the register.

What can blog readers tell me about it?  Did it ever fly?  And what eventually happened to it?

And while I am at it, do any blog readers know of any other unregistered microlights during the period 1977 to 1982? (or unregistered homebuilt aircraft from any period)  The problem is that we don't know what we don't know!

Nelson on December 1st

 Bill Mannix was out on his morning walk at Nelson Airport and snapped these for us.

The Mooney M20C Mk21 ZK-CKF c/n 20C-2802 arrived in NZ on 14-10-1964 for the Southern Districts Aero Club. It has been with its current Nelson owner Thomas Ashton of Nelson since March 2019.

The ex Austrian Air Force Agusta Bell AB206A ZK-HMU c/n 8127 has been Masterton based with Mike Ross since 2014.

Lloyd Heslop had his RAF 2000 GTX SE ZK-RAE2 c/n H2-97-8-283 was about to do some circuits on the western grass.

And out getting some sunshine was the Ross Stratford's Alpi Aviation Pioneer 200 ZK-SML2 c/n 249-09. Prior to March 2020 this was registered ZK-KPD1.

A Stranger at NZPP - Australian Aircraft Hornet ZK-DLV/2

Jordan Elvy was on hand at Paraparaumu airport this afternoon to catch this unusual visitor:

Australia Aircraft Hornet STOL ZK-DLV2 (c/n 64) was registered to DL Van Reenen of Upper Moutere on 9/11/22 and has been elusive for photographers until now.  It arrived at Paraparaumu after being blocked by weather both North and South.

Thanks very much for the photo Jordan.