Stationair ZK-SUY at Christchurch on Thursday 11th.

On Thursday morning the 11th the Cessna TU206G Stationair ZK-SUY c/n U20605696 arrived into Christchurch direct from Wanaka.

Around lunchtime, as seen here, it headed off to do some survey work on the Lower Rakaia River before returning to Christchurch.

Below we have an updated earlier post on this aircraft.

 The Cessna TU206G VH-KPG2 c/n U20605696 arrived into Nelson from Ardmore and points west on 13-11-2024.

As N5380X it arrived in Australia to become VH-AWR3 from 01-08-1980 and was re-registered to 

VH-KPG2 on 07-12-1998. 

It has spent much of its later life in the aerial survey role with FUGRO. 

It was registered privately to Gerald Lappin of Morwell, Victoria on 17-05-2024.

It ferried from Brisbane to Coolangatta, to Lord Howe Island and to Auckland on 12-11-2024.

Next day it did Ardmore and then on to Nelson.

It was photographed above at long range at Nelson by Lord Nelson on the 15th - the same date as it was registered in NZ as ZK-SUY to Landpro Ltd of Cromwell - I believe certified by Aero Solutions NZ Ltd of Nelson.

Karatoo trio.

Three of a kind at Rangiora today 11-9-2025.

Three Australian Aviation Works Karatoo J6 hangar mates getting some UV's today.

Facing us is Ian McPhail's ZK-KTI c/n J6-676P. This is the latest to join the register - as from 18-02-2025.

In the background on the left is ZK-KTW c/n 004MS as listed to the Flying Road Cone Syndicate since 26-06-2020.

On the right - tail towards us - is the Mike Small ZK-KTO c/n J6 673P, the Karatoo matriarch in NZ. First registered on 28-08-2001.

Also Rangiora based is Michael Godfrey's ZK-KTN2 c/n J6 661P, with Dave McPherson's ZK-KTP c/n J6 675P nearby.

I believe two other examples are under construction.

Two of a kind - plus DUV at Rangiora.

Karatoo ZK-KTO and ZK-KTI on final at Rangiora.

On Saturday afternoon the 6th of September at Rangiora I snapped the Karatoo's ZK-KTI and         ZK-KTO landing.

Also - Doug gives us a big smile from his ICP Savannah ZK-DUV2 c/n 22-10-54-0896 as he heads back to his hangar.

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - the Formation of MAANZ

With increasing microlight activity across the country there was a need for some sort of oversight and the impetus for this came from the Waikato area, with the placing of a notice in newspapers around New Zealand of a meeting to be held at Te Kowhai airfield on 22 August 1981:

This notice was from The Press in Christchurch on 8 August 1981.

I understand that at this meeting the Microlight Aircraft Association of New Zealand (MAANZ) was formed and that at least some of the committee were Ken Asplin, Marty Waller, Ian Todd (from Rotorua), Laurie Weake, Stu Rogerson and Arch Haddow (who was an English guy from Tauranga who had the agency for Vector microlights).

After MAANZ was formed as an Incorporated Society, another meeting was held at Te Kowhai on 12 December 1981 where several microlights flew and others were on the ground 

Somewhere along the line the first Microlight Rules were promulgated by the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport as follows:

In case you have difficulty with reading this, the bones of the regulations were 

(a) an empty weight of 150 Kg or less, 

(b) a lifting area of 10 square metres or more, and 

(c) a wing loading of 10 Kg per square metre or less at empty weight that is designed to carry not more than 2 persons.  

Microlight aircraft were also divided into 2 classes:  

(a) Class 1 for single seaters with a maximum fuel capacity of 35 litres, and 

(b) Class 2 for two seaters, which required a Permit to Fly.  

An exemption was also given that the registration marks only had to be displayed under either wing (which is why many microlight photos were taken from low down!).

And so legal microlight flying in New Zealand was underway!

Here are a couple of photos from Murray Kirkus from the MAANZ flyin at Te Kowhai on 12/12/81:

In this photo we have a Quicksilver MX and a Mirage.  Murray has also advised that Tommy Namais is the guy in front of the Quicksilver with the beard and shorts and Ken Asplin is standing in front of the Mirage.  Tommy Namais was an American hang glider pilot who came to New Zealand with Marty Waller and together they formed Pacific Kites 1981 Ltd who were the agents for Quicksilver microlights.  You can see that there was a lot of interest in the microlights and also that there was no registration under the wing of the Quicksilver.

In this nice photo of a Mirage in flight taken by Murray on the day you can see that there is a control column and the spoiler is activated on the top of the port wing.

It did not take long for the newly released microlight flying community to spread their wings - in January 1982 four microlights flew from Te Kowhai to the AACA flyin at Taupo, where I took the photo below:

In the photo you can see a Quicksilver MX (with the spoilers that you can see the silhouette of in the wing) and 3 Mirages.  The support van is painted up as Skyflight Waikato which was Ken Asplin's company that was the agent for the Mirage.  There obviously was quite a bit of interest in the aircraft.

Murray also was at the 1982 AACA flyin at Taupo (where I also was, but we did not meet up).  His photo of the Quicksilver MX and three Mirages is from a different perspective from my photo.  Again, you can see that there was a lot of interest in the new types of flying machines.

Again, I did not take much notice of this new flying phenomenon, but I am advised by Murray that none of the microlights there had registration letters applied under their wings.

Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Early Unregistered Microlights - Ken Asplin's Quicksilver M

Following the public introduction of microlights at the Aviation Showcase 80 at Hamilton Airport in November 1980 as I detailed in my previous post, there were at least 4 microlight aircraft in the Waikato area and a bunch of would be microlight pilots who were keen to fly them.  And there was the private airstrip at Max Clear's family farm at Te Kowhai, so Te Kowhai became the base for microlight activity in the North, even though it was not strictly within the regulations to fly them.

One of the first microlight pilots was Ken Asplin of Hamilton who came from a hang gliding background and flew one of the original Quicksilver M models which was a weight shift machine without any spoilers.  He and others were having discussions with the Civil Aviation Division of the MOT and to help with this Peter Karl video'd Ken flying at Te Kowhai and Ken took the video up to CAD in Auckland as part of discussions on how microlight pilots could be trained (as all the early microlights were single seaters).  Here is that video:  (you can double click on it to enlarge it)

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xzwz0zxef0uyef6gw3vl7/kenasplin.mp4?rlkey=jyytoq9vrqed1vcl6oxax79tz&st=rmrz4e3g&dl=0

And here are some screenshots from the video (sorry about the quality). This would have been in 1981.

You can see why early microlights had so much drag!  In the hangar appears to be Max Clear's Pitts Special.

Taxying out for a demonstration.

And about to touch down.  You can see that there is no registration letters under the wing as this was before they were required.  

Peter Karl remembers that some of these early microlights flew cross country as far as Papamoa in the Bay of Plenty.  Thanks very much for the video Peter.

Ken Asplin later owned a Mirage and was an agent for the type, but that is another story.

Vans RV 12 ZK-VSH at Feilding Today 8-9-2025

 

Jordan Elvy and Simon Hills were at Feilding today when the owner of Vans RV 12 ZK-VSH pulled his aircraft out for a flight.  It hasn't been very active since arriving at Feilding in 2024.  This RV 12 was of course previously registered ZK-DOL2 before being registered to V Poonan of Upper Hutt on 22/5/24.

Thanks for the photo Jordan.

Cessna Stationair 6 ZK-JDV at Christchurch.

 Cessna U206G Stationair 6 ZK-JDV c/n U20604775 on the tie down wire at Christchurch today.

It has been mentioned several times before on this site.

It was listed to Souther Alps Air Ltd of Wanaka on 11-06-2024 and carries these titles on its doors.

To view the previous posts - enter the aircraft registration in the search box -

either in the top left of the header photo screen, or just below the bottom right of the header photo.

The HAAST Eagle at Neils Beach.

Back on the 31st of August Graeme Stratton was on the airstrip in the lovely small village of Neils Beach in Jackson Bay - about as far south as you can go by road on the South Island West Coast.

On site was the modified Piper PA-22-150 Tri-Pacer ZK-SJG. 

Built by Piper Aircraft at their Lock Haven factory in Pennsylvania with the c/n of 22-3292 and registered as N3536P on 27-09-1955.

It spent its entire US career in the eastern USA with its final owner being Doug Francisco of Pensacola, Florida from August 1985 until its cancellation from the US register on 07-06-2012.

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Below we have an earlier blog post on the HAAST Eagle.

Wearing the initials of its owners - Stephen and Joanne Galway of Karamea - this Piper PA-22-150 Tri-Pacer came on the register as ZK-SJG2 (c/n 22-3292) on 10-12-2014.

As you can see it is no ordinary Tri-Pacer but has a tail wheel conversion and with a Lycoming O-360  engine up front and somewhat larger main wheels.

It also carries the "HAAST Eagle" script and emblem on its tail.

Photos taken in the Soundsair hangar at Omaka on 11-02-2015 where it was awaiting its CAA inspection.

A product of 1955 it has had at least ten owners in the States before it came out to NZ.

Rans S 7 Courier ZK-NJG

 

A new resident at Matamata is Nick Gambarazzi's newly re-registered Rans S 7 ZK-NJG, photo'd recently at Taupo by Mark Pattenden.

This aircraft was of course previously registered ZK-CAB3 and first appeared on the register on 2 July 2008 for the Craig Miller and Bill Parks Partnership of Mosgiel, and it is photo'd below at the 2009 SAANZ flyin at Ashburton where it can be seen that it hasn't changed much over the last 17 years.

Zlin Savage Cub ZK-LAP

 

The Zlin Savage Cub ZK-LAP is now named Scoota and has been owned by Kynan Yu since 19/8/22, based at Cromwell airfield.  Kynan has used it to video his flights around the South Island high country which he posts on Youtube.  It has recently been for sale on Trade Me, from where I got the photo..