Cessna 185 ZK-CEW remembered fifty years on.

John Seager - one of the climbers in the rescue below remembers.

Tomorrow, the 23rd October is the fiftieth anniversary of the crash of the Mt. Cook Air Services aircraft ZK-CEW.

Often over the years my mind wanders back to that day in 1965.

    Below is an article which appeared in the NZ Weekly News.

    There is also a story in the Canterbury Mountaineer, VOL. 10, NO. 35 1965-66, October 1966.

John Seager the third climber on the spot, does his washing.

 The text above mentions that ZK-CEW was red and white, yet in the links below we can clearly see that it was blue and white in its early days ! and also one shot of it in a red scheme.
So presumably repainted later on.

Previous links to ZK-CEW below 

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/zk-cew-revisited_4.html

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/development-from-question-time-130.html

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2011/06/question-time-130-roundup.html

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/more-on-zk-cew-and-other-cessna-185s.html

Question time # 130 roundup.

Following on from the original blog at

http://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2011/06/question-time-130.html

I am still not fully convinced that the nearest aircraft is ZK-CEW and the other is ZK-CKP.

I have a problem in that ZK-CEW was listed to Mount Cook Air Services on 23-05-1963 and crashed on the Albert Glacier on 23-10-1965.
ZK-CKP went to Mount Cook Air Services on 16-03-1965 and remained as a ski plane until late 1987.
So there was roughly a seven month period when both were operated at the same time.

My problem is that I was working offshore between September 1964 and March of 1966 - So CKP was not around when I left and CEW was not around when I returned.

The only positive photograph I have of ZK-CEW comes from my shoe box of misc photos from unknown persons.
Written on the back of this B&W print  is:-
"Cessna 185 ZK-CEW. Crashed on Albert Glacier after severe turbulence stalled the 'down' wing in a steep turn 500 foot above the snow.
Note: two passengers in sleeping bags on the wing in foreground"
The colour scheme looks about right with the original pic re-posted below..

The more distant aircraft (ZK-CKP) is shown below in a shot taken at Timaru on 14-03-1966. (after my return to NZ)
This also fits in pretty well with the original QT 130 shot.

So what do you make of that then ?

ZK-CEW revisited.

In May of 2012 I posted the photograph below.

There followed some discussion about the identity of these two Cessna 185's.

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/search?q=cew

A couple of days ago I received the following details with two attached photographs showing ZK-CEW in the same scheme as in the above pic.

  

    In October 1965 three of us were camped in a snow cave under Mt 

Alack overlooking the Albert Glacier. We had spent a week climbing in the 

area when late on the afternoon of October 23 we were, because of very 

windy conditions, loafing on rocks above our cave when we heard an 

aircraft nearby. As it circled level with us  above the snowfield it was 

banking left when suddenly it appeared to be caught by wind under the 

starboard wing and plunged 500 feet to the snow below.

    I have included two photographs of ZK-CEW taken on the Tasman 

Glacier earlier in 1965. 

This will solve the colour query raised on your 

blog.

NICE.

My next question is :- Whats with the circular panel above the cockpit in the above photo.

Did it do seasonal Ag work ?

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Added 04-06-2015

Added 04-06-2015

Once again Allan Wooller has provided the answer from his photo collection.

Below we see ZK-CEW fitted with hopper and parked at the wind break on the lower Mount Cook strip.

The same spot as the original photo above.

A development from Question time # 130

The original posting for Question time # 130 showed the photo below of two Cessna 185's tied down at the Mount Cook windbreak.We were trying to identify them.
See the original eight comments below.

8 comments:

Ian said...

Have a feeling the closest has the same colour scheme as the one lost in an accident 1963ish...
Other one CKP/KT ?
Not much help I know.

16 June 2011 5:06 AM

Anonymous said...

The closest aircraft is ZK-CEW; I,m still checking the other aircraft.

18 June 2011 11:41 AM

Wildwing said...

Chj and ckp

18 June 2011 2:21 PM

Ian said...

Think CHJ had the latter factory scheme - ZK-CEW was the one that lost in '65 [I was a few years out]

21 June 2011 9:06 PM

Ian said...

         Talking of CHJ...CVG in background Franz Josef G. 1969
         Notice anything unusual about them :-)
         Lousy Polaroid but glad I took it.

23 June 2011 4:58 PM

Blue Bussaid...

No spinners & are the skis up !

What else ??

23 June 2011 7:01 PM

Ian said...

Spinners were off most of the time then but yes the skis are up as the glacier was very smooth and icy so we landed on the wheels and taxied around :-)

24 June 2011 12:07 AM

Wildwing said...

From photos I have CEW and CKP.

24 June 2011 11:15 AM

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Well now -  Ian has sent in a copy of an old post card (below) which shows ZK-CEW in a red, white and bare metal factory scheme.

So where does that leave us for an identity for the blue. white and bare metal 185 in the original pic ?

Below is a "blow up" of the red 185, with ZK-CEW plainly visible !

Nice to see it on the old strip below the Hermitage, along the road to White Horse.

Cessna 185B Skywagon ZK-CEW revisited.

 The Cessna 185B Skywagon ZK-CEW c/n 185B-0528 was imported new from the Cessna Aircraft Company of Wichita, Kansas where it had been test flown as N5228Z.

It was registered to the then NZ Cessna agents Rex Aviation (NZ) Ltd at New Plymouth on 15-03-1963.

It was officially listed to Mount Cook Air Services Ltd on 23-05-1963.

                         Above is the best photograph I have seen of ZK-CEW. Source unknow
                                           Taken between March 1963 and October of 1965.

ZK-CEW crashed on the Albert Glacier on 23-10-1965. Some sixty years ago.

We mentioned this in a previous blog post ten years ago. HERE

More on ZK-CEW and other Cessna 185s.

Continuing the Cessna 185 ZK-CEW story.

 I have received these two photographs, from the David Phillpotts photo collection, showing  it "not long out of its box" at Bell Block, New Plymouth in June of 1963.

It clearly shows part of the hopper outlet beneath the fuselage - but as yet without the hopper fitted.

I also received this interesting note below from Ray Deerness.

At the time of importation of ZK-CEW there would have been restrictions on importing aircraft and they would have got around this by getting a hopper with it and it would/could have also been a replacement for a "crashed" aircraft unless they had a really good reason.

I'm pretty sure by the late sixties, all the Mt Cook 185's could be fitted with hoppers. 

It was 1970 when the restrictions came off. 

The restrictions for Ag aircraft came off in 1965, hence the influx of Beavers and Agwagons etc.

 I would have to check the paint schemes, but some 185s arrived in an earlier paint scheme inferring that they had been stored for a while as Cessna had built too many 185s as floatplane versions, so Rural Aviation took them. 

These ended up with Mt Cook and I remember someone at Mt Cook in the early 1970's saying that most of the skiplanes could be fitted with floats as well. 

As well as the hopper hatches, they had the four lifting rings on the fuselage.

*****

Now that ZK-CBS has had a new hopper fitted of about 12cwt capacity, it will be interesting to see if we get any more Ag versions.

Below is another photo from the David Phillpotts collection showing the upper fuselage hopper inlet more clearly - this one on ZK-CEV.

Ray goes on to say :-

If you look at Cessna 180 photos with hoppers, the hopper box/outlet is offset to one side. 

With the 185, the centre part of the floor was removed and a fibre glass box inset fitted into the "hatchway". (from floor level to bottom of fuselage). Across the centre was a tube that the rudder/elevator wires were inserted. It was quite a major conversion.

All the topdressing aircraft were fitted with Easton hopper boxes.  

Not long after the aircraft were introduced a spreader box was fitted around the hopper box.

The picture of ZK-CEV shows it without the fuselage spreader fitted but with a spreader, sort of a "Swathmaster" without the wings. I think this type of spreader was used for prills.

Most of the Mount Cook aircraft were used for carrots.

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