Boeing 737 MAX 8 BBJ at Wellington on 29-12-2024

On our way back home to Auckland with Air New Zealand on 29 December, there was a very substantial business jet parked on the control tower side of the airport.  Given its dark blue and white colours and the fact that it was a long way away from the terminal and having to shoot through glass it was challenging to get a good photo.  Here are a couple I managed:

Boeing 737 MAX 8 BBJ N3E was reported to have bought the co-founder of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel to the capital.  The registration is just behind and above the last window (if you could see it!)

And here are the contrasting winglet shapes from Boeing and Airbus.

Happy New Year for 2025!

 

Piper J 3C Cub ZK-AHD at Masterton on 29-12-2024

Also while I was at Masterton Aerodrome a couple of days ago, Bevan Dewes pulled the J 3C-50 Cub out of the Legend Aviation hangar and prepared to head off for a picnic on the coast.  It was a great day for it with the weather being blue skies, a light wind and it was hot!

ZK-AHD was first registered in New Zealand in April on 1939 and it was stored during the war thus keeping its original registration.  After many years with the Sport and Vintage Aircraft Society its ownership transferred to Legend Aviation Ltd of Masterton on 3/7/24.

Taxying out with the doors open for ventilation, from old to "new".

Then a leisurely take off and climb out, but not too bad for 50 HP with 2 up!

Rutan Long Eze ZK-LEZ at Masterton on 29-12-2024

Lapo Ancillotti was at Masterton yesterday getting re-acquainted with his Long Eze.  He told me he hadn't flown it for a year having been based in Auckland working on the design of the Aviation Composites AC-2 composite cargo aircraft (the same company that produces the Furio kits).  Lapo pulled his Long Eze out from the shade for a photo (it was 28 degrees) and started it up and taxied across the aerodrome to wash it.  He had flown it in the morning.

First wind the nosewheel up and then jump in.

ZK-LEZ Was built by Chris Hoskins at Tauranga and was first registered in June 1986.

But it still looks very futuristic.  Thanks very much Lapo.

Todays Nelson pics.

Two executive jets were noted at Nelson today, the 30th, by Lord Nelson.

Bombardier BD-100-1A10 N300NZ c/n 20397 arriving in from Queenstown.
I believe it retains the same owner/operator as previously listed. 
See a previous post on N300NZ HERE

Cessna 680 Sovereign ZK-ZEK c/n 680-0012 arrived in from Auckland yesterday.

It was first listed in New Zealand to Airlift New Zealand Ltd of Auckland on 23-08-2023. 

It was transferred over to Air OPs Jet Ltd, Wellington from 18-04-2024.

For earlier history on ZK-ZEK . See HERE

Squirecraft Cavalier SA 102 ZK-JJF at Masterton on 29-12-2024

There were a few aircraft flying at Masterton when I visited, one of which was the very nice looking Squirecraft Cavalier ZK-JJF2:

ZK-JJF2 was built over an extended period by John Fraser of Wellington and it was registered to him on 11/9/13.  Ownership transferred to R A Fraser of Wellington on 14/7/22, keeping it in the family, and it has been based in Masterton for all of its life.

(H)another Hood Hangar

 While I was in hangar observational mode at Hood aerodrome, another example caught my attention:

A tidy little number and I was impressed by the caricature above the door.

I reckon it is a great idea to have an image of the aircraft residing inside, especially as you can't typically see through the door seals of modern hangars.  In this case it is the second iteration of the Just SuperSTOL ZK-DKL3 (I assume).

A Humungous Hangar at Hood!

I was fortunate to be able to travel over to the Wairarapa today, and I wanted to see the huge new hangar that The Vintage Aviator (Peter Jackson) is building at Hood aerodrome.  I was not disappointed:

Here is the hangar with Tiger Moth ZK-BEW taxying past (in the foreground!).  I was told it is 50 metres by 50 metres and it has no windows or light panels in the roof to better protect the Irish linen of TVAL's aircraft.  I was also told that it will eventually house a WW 1 reproduction bomber!

Zenair Monno-Z CH-100 UL ZK-RTI

 Before we get to ZK-RTI we must start with the amateur built Zenair CH-100 Mono-Z ZK-FSH1 c/n AACA/609 which was built by Neville Read and Hans Nagelkerke of Christchurch and registered on 16-02-1989.

ZK-FSH at Christchurch on 03-08-1991 From Bob Kerr

We see it above at a Rangiora fly in on 19-02-1993.
Below it was at Ashburton on 07-02-1997. Note it has a small letter 'I" inserted between the registration letters.

Note also the Rolls Royce badge on the forward fuselage

ZK-FSH was cancelled as stored on 07-05-1999.

 Dave McDonald was the next owner but it remained in storage.

It was purchased in December 2014 by Stewart Bufton, Peter Collins, Doug Anderson, Roger Read and Tony Hanson with the intent to convert it to a glider tug for Youth Glide New Zealand.

Work began on it immediately at Rangiora in the Peter Collins hangar and below we see it in a new paint scheme and the unofficial "DME" registration letters applied.

By November 2017 (below) it had acquired a new engine mount and nosewheel undercarriage.

The RR O-200 engine was replaced with a Honda Jazz L15A turbo from a damaged motor vehicle. 

It has been tweaked to run on 100LL petrol and puts out north of 150hp to a Autoflight 3G gearbox onto a specially built Bolly propeller.

It had its first engine run on 27-10-2018.

On 16-01-2019 it was registered as ZK-RTI to Peter Collins.

A week later we see it above with Peter Collins in his trademark cap and gaiters tinkering about.

ZK-RTI's first flight was carried out by Stew Bufton on 28-05-2020. 

Above we see Peter Collins giving the engine a run on 14-08-2020.

Below wing mods include the addition of slats (to make slots) and wool tassels to study airflow at different airspeeds.

It was parked out during an open Day at Rangiora on 01-04-2023 and carried the info sheet below on its fuselage side.

I believe engine cooling and associated drag has been an ongoing issue with various solutions tried.

Aaron Murphy captured it out in the fresh air doing static engine runs on Tuesday the 24th of December.

As you can see above it has manually retractable steps at the trailing edge.

Jason's question to you.

 Hi Dave,

My name is Jason and I just came across your blog post regarding the P-40N Kittyhawk 

ZK-CAG.   See HERE

My father took me to the 2000 and 2001 Whenuapai air shows when I was a kid. 

He had a friend called Mike (he can't remember his last name) who knew someone at Ardmore/involved with the P-40, who allowed us to sit in the cockpit while it was on display.

I recall the Whenuapai air show being around a week later in 2001. 

This was the first cockpit I ever sat in so it holds a special place.   

I always thought it was a Spitfire we sat in, mainly because we also purchased a copy of this Spitfire drawing by Kelvin? Andrews on the day - https://i.imgur.com/SI5lFcU.jpg 

My father is adamant it was a P-40 (his memory is likely better than mine as I was only about 10 years old, however unfortunately its not as good as it once was). 

From what I've read, the only Spitfire around in NZ in 2000/2001 was TB863 (the Spitfire in that drawing), and it apparently wasn't at Ardmore at the time and therefore didn't perform at Whenuapai's airshows (it wouldn't make sense for a Spitfire to be at Ardmore and not perform at Whenuapai).  

Based on your photos it looks like you were around those airshows and open days during that time. I was hoping you might be able to confirm:

1. Ardmore didn't have a Spitfire at its open day's in 2000/2001, and therefore:

2. It only had ZK-CAG on display.

This would confirm that it was ZK-CAG we sat in. 

If that's the case, and its probably not likely as they aren't in your post, but did you have any photos of ZK-CAG from Ardmore's open day in 2001, or know of any floating around on the net?

Apologies for the long email. Any additional info would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Jason