Cessna 180K ZK-DBA

I finally caught up with Skyfarmers Aviation Ltd's Cessna 180K Skywagon ZK-DBA2 (c/n 18053022)  in their hangar, about 8 clicks south of Methven, on Thursday.

Below is what NZ Aviation News Magazine said about it.

It is always nice to see another Cessna 180 come ashore. 

A new listing for February 2017 is the 180K which became ZK-DBA₂ on 08-02-2017 for Skyfarmers Aviation Ltd of Methven where it will join the Air Tractor AT402B ZK-SAT, the AT504 ZK-SKF and the Fletcher FU24-950M ZK-BII. 

This 180 was built by Cessna Aircraft and listed to them as N2641K before shipping out to Australia where it became VH-SAA₃ on 02-07-1979 – I believe with the Salvation Army (Qld) at Longreach, Queensland. 

Other owners include K M Arnott Pty Ltd of Telleraga Station near Moree in NSW; Delmont Dale Pty Ltd with a Singapore address; then Alan Begg of Rushcutters Bay, NSW. 

Allan re-registered it as VH-IMC­₅ on 30-04-1998. 

The photo below shows VH-IMC5 as at 22-04-2007.

Not long after this photo it was sold to William R Mailer of Riddells Creek, Victoria, who re-registered it as VH-WRM_{4 (his initials)} from 09-10-2007. 

It was ferried from Scone to Lord Howe Island on 15-01-2017; into Kerikeri on the 16^th and down to Timaru on the 17^th where it gained its NZ certification with AVTEK. 

The earlier ZK-DBA allocation was to an AESL Airtourer 115.

Its VH registration was canceled on 02-02-2017 

Above we see it at Timaru on 06-02-2017 in full VH-WRM markings

It became ZK-DBA on 08-02-2017.

Below is the insignia as seen on the fin.

Below - by 16-02-2017 it was minus it propeller.

And was pushed (below) into the AVTEK hangar later the same day.

Next day - the 17th - it was almost minus its VH markings.

Below as seen at Methven on Thursday.

Cessna 180 ZK-BGO

 The first Cessna 180 was a modified Cessna 170B with a Squared vertical tail and powered with a Continental -470-A engine. It first flew as N41697 on 26-05-1952.

A steady stream of 180's came on to our register with the first listing being the batch ZK-BDB, ZK-BDC, ZK-BDD, ZK-BDE, ZK-BDF and ZK-BDU on 11-08-1953.

ZK-BGL, ZK-BGM, ZK-BGN and ZK-BGO were all listed on 20-09-1954 to become the 22nd, 23rd, 24tth and 25th Cessna 180 airframes to arrive in NZ.

(To date - by my guess - we have had a total of 120 Cessna 180 airframes listed in NZ).

Construction number 31183 was rolled out at Wichita, Kansas with the Cessna/FAA paper registration reportedly being N3685C.

On arrival at New Plymouth it was assembled and registered as ZK-BGO to Rural Aviation Ltd on 20-09-1954 and delivered to Airlift (NZ) Ltd of Wellington on 05-04-1955.

We have a Nevil Drake photograph of it (below) at Rongotai on 18-04-1955, hopper equipped.

Above we have a photo it at Rongotai in early 1957, minus spinner and with underwing air drop attachments.

It was damaged in a ditch near Martinborough on 17-04-1957

In April 1960 Airlift folded and the aircraft went to Amphibian Airways Ltd from 21-04-1960 in an 'as is' condition. To the best of my knowledge it was never on floats.

Hewitt Aviation of Invercargill had it briefly in early 1961 before it was taken up by Southern Scenic Air Services Ltd of Queenstown by March of 1961.

Above at Queenstown in top dressing or carrot dropping mode.

Ag work being seasonal the hopper could reasonably easily be removed to permit other duties.

Above minus ag gear but still with underwing racks at Invercargill from Des Kelly.

On 11-11-1965 it was damaged in an incident at Bell Hill, North Canterbury, and went to Peter Lacy at Nelson for repairs and was registered to Peter on 01-09-1967 and passed on to the Nelson Aero Club from 03-06-1969, with the Club selling the Piper PA-18-150 ZK-BPG.

Below we see her at Nelson on 02-03-1971 with Nelson Aero Club script on the door.

Then we see it below at Christchurch at about the same time thanks to Des White.

On 21-01-1972 it overturned on landing in the upper Mokihinui River strip and was retrieved by Peter Tait in the Helicopters (NZ) Ltd's Aerospatiale SA.315B Lama helicopter ZK-HDX and underslung, inverted, to Nelson and deposited outside Peter Lacy's hangar.

The Nelson Aero Club Cessna 180 was carried to Nelson on 25-01-1972 after overturning in the headwaters of the Mokihinui.

The above photos shows the Lama ZK-HDX during the recovery with the Tasman Range in the background. Photo by John Reid.

In the photo below it has been lowered to the ground outside Peter Lacy's hangar.

Note the lengths of timber attached to the wing surface to stop the aircraft 'flying' whilst on the strop below the helicopter.

Following repairs it went to Glenny Johnson of Karamea from 09-11-1972, with the Nelson Aero Club acquiring the Cessna U206A ZK-DIB as a replacement in March of 1973.

Glenny sold ZK-BGO to Videosonic Productions of Newmarket from 10-11-1975 and ferried it up to Taupo and collected the Cessna 185 ZK-CAN which he operated under the Karamea Heaphy Air Charter Ltd name.

Photo above from Allan Wooller shows BGO as at September 1977.

From 09-07-1979 ZK-BGO was listed with J W Pyke, A F B Stevenson and T G Gaddum of Gisborne with a change to J W Pyke and T G Gaddum of Wherenga-O-Kuri from 22-04-1980.

Les Sutherland of Pukekohe had it from 10-07-1981 and it is seen below at Wanaka on 08-01-1983.

By 27-09-1983 it was with N B Cooper (aka Hopeful Christian) of Rangiora who operated it alongside the Cessna U206 ZK-DNG.

It was noted at Waimate on 24-06-1987 in bare metal.

I next noted it as being with D B A & S L Hart of Springfield Estate, near Methven from 06-12-1989 until being passed on to Frank Wright of Tauranga from 13-11-1990 for a rebuild to emerge in his signature colour scheme.

The new lucky owner was Graeme Dugdale of North Shore from 11-11-1992 with whom it is still current.

As noted at Ardmore on 02-12-1993.

And then again at Ardmore on 18-03-2000.

It remained in this colour scheme for the next twenty years.

17-09-2008 

13-03-2009

Above as seen at Ardmore on 27-02-2009.

Nick Furmage captured it at Ardmore on 27-03-2010.

And then at Haast.

Caught as a road runner southward bound on the Desert Road in 2013.

Above we see it at Elevate Aviation at Momona on 15-04-2021.

At Elevate Aviation nearing completion on 13-03-2023.

Engine runs at Momoa on in April2023 from Elevate Aviation Ltd.

A couple of strays today.

You never know what you are going to see !

Arriving ito Rangiora today from Queenstown was the Cessna 208 Caravan ZK-MCI (c/n 208B2019) of Milford Sound Flights Ltd. 

Here it is departing for soome air work out to the west - after which it landed at Loburn Abbey for lunch.

It then departed Loburn Abbey back to Rangiora for a couple of circuits before heading back on down home to Queenstown.

Also captured passing through Rangiora was the Skyfarmers Aviation Ltd's Cessna 180K ZK-DBA (c/n 18053022).

Previously mentioned in this link

https://nzcivair.blogspot.com/search?q=zk-dba

Farewell to John Nicholson Byers.

 It is my sad duty to report the passing yesterday of John Nicholson Byers a well known and respected aviator out of Rangiora.

I first met John in the late 1970's when he was tinkering around on a Taylor JT-2 Titch which was registered as ZK-DNH on 26-07-1973 but for some reason was never completed and I believe is still in storage. Its registration was cancelled on 02-03-1994.

He purchased the AESL Airtourer ZK-DBA from Airwork in January of 1975, selling it in February of 1978 after buying a share in the Piper PA-22-108 Colt ZK-BSL in mid-1977. His next purchase was the Jodel DR1051 Sicile ZK-JOD from Jeff Bryant, who was also partner in the Colt ZK-BSL. The Jodel had been flown into New Zealand from Switzerland in January of 1979. John named it 'Lucinda Too' and it became his pride and joy.

I am uncertain when he obtained his next project but I recall him having it in a hangar near the crash fire unit at Christchurch Airport in 1993. He worked away quietly on this aircraft for some years before being evicted from Christchurch Airport. So he acquired a hangar at Rangiora and continued the meticulous rebuild of his BA Swallow II. This had previously been registered in Australia as VH-UUN on 18-11-1935. This registration was cancelled as withdrawn from use on 05-02-1946.

John was very secretive about the history of this aircraft and was very reluctant to have photos of it taken following an earlier write up on the project which was not factual to John's high standards.

It was placed on the New Zealand register on 13-03-2030 as ZK-UUN.

It carries the name 'Lucinda'.

The project was very, very, near completion.

The photo above taken on 15-04-2024 shows it fully assembled in John's hangar. It is a rather large aircraft with a wing span of just over 13 metres.

Note the original wing parts on the wall behind.

A large section of the wing folds forward to allow the wings to be hinged back.

The FOLDED WINGS of JOHN NICHOLSON BYERS.

R.I.P.

A visit to Springfield Estate by CMM

 Roving reporter CMM called in to the Springfield Estate on Sunday the 14th and captured the following aircraft.

ZK-SAT, c/n 402B-0990, is an Air Tractor AT-402B built at Olny, Texas, and test flown as N1010Y before shipping to New Zealand for assembly at Kairanga. It was registered on 05-12-1995 to Don Hart who trades as Skyfarmers Ltd out of the Springfield Estate near Methven.

The original Pratt & Whitney PT6A-15AG engine was replaced with a -34 engine and ownership transferred to Skyfarmers Aviation Ltd on 01-07-2013.

The Cessna 180K Skywagon ZK-DBA2 c/n 18053022 as listed with Skyfarmers Ltd of Methven.

More on ZK-DBS can be seen here  HERE

Fletcher FU24-950M ZK-BII c/n 36 was first registered back on 28-10-1955 and joined Don Hart - trading as Skyfarmers from 04-06-1991.

It spent its early years at the top of the North Island with Northern Aviation and Advanced Aviation before coming under the James Aviation name from February 1968. Between late 1968 and late 1969 it was in West Australia as VH-EOR until returning to NZ with Farmers Aerial Top Dressing of Invercargill (a subsidiary of James). From mid 1971 to mid 1974 it was listed as VP-PAV and operated in Honiara. 

Williams Aerial Work of Mt Maunganui listed it from July 1984 followed by Super Air of Hamilton from October 1988.

It still carries the small letter ' i ' between the 'B' and the first 'L' on its registration markings.

The other side of ZK-SAT following a wash down.

A special thanks to Duncan Hart for the chat and conducted tour.

VH-WRM

Cessna 180K c/n 53022 was built as N2641K and became VH-SAA3 on 02-07-1979.

On 30-04-1998 it was re-registered as VH-IMC5 and then on 09-10-2007 it was registered to W R Mailer of Riddells Creek, Victoria and using his initials became VH-WRM4.

It was ferried from Scone to Lord Howe Island on 15-01-2017 and then on to Kerikeri on the 16th.

It was spied crossing down to the Mainland on the 17th bound for Timaru.

Its Australian registration was cancelled on 02-02-2017.

 I caught up with it outside the AVTEK facility at Timaru on February 6th (above) still in full VH markings and carrying the Narromine Aero Club patch on its fin.

It was allocated the ZK-DBA2 registration on 08-02-2017 for Skyfarmers Aviation Ltd of Methven.

 I caught up with it again on the 16th and it was still on the same tie downs but now minus its propeller.

 Later the same day it was maneuvered into the AVTEK hangar and work began on removing its Australian civil markings.

 Then below - I caught at lunch time on the 17th with the VH markings partially removed.