Cessna A185F ZK-NWH

As previously blogged http://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2011/05/ardmore-31-may.html, Cessna A185F ZK-NWH (185-04426) has now taken on its full form and was noted flying at Ardmore 29 June.  It has been registered to Phillip and Nicola Seale of Auckland so hopefully it will remain based at Ardmore.

Wayne Grant photo

Question time #131 resolved.

We have a winner.
bobgod identified the flying machine involved.

It is a Hiller UH-12E.
In fact it is ZK-HIK c/n 2063 as seen at the Ferrymead Aeronautical Society Museum in Christchurch.

Well done that Man.

Torque Screwdriver

Here's my new ebargain, a torque screwdriver. Recommend by many RV builders as a way to get into tight spaces that have a bolt that needs the proper torque. It's a Utica TS-30. New sells for $245 at Grainger. How about $18.50?

Aero L29 ZK-SSU

Recently arrived at Ardmore and quickly under a cover was NZL Trustees Aero L29 ZK-SSU which I think is based out of Whangarei.

ZK-HNY destroyed in the Ukraine.

ZK-HNY at Nelson on 05-12-2007 whilst on delivery to Milford Helicopters. Photo by Peter Campbell.

Registration History for ZK-HNY/3

Aerospatiale AS350B2 Ecureuil

c/n 4306

ZK-HNY3 was registered on 29/11/2007 to Milford Helicopters Ltd, Te Anau.
Delivered through Nelson on 05-12-2007.

26/05/2008 Registration cancelled as exported

Became UR-ATOL 00/05/2008 with Atoll Holdings of Kiev, in the Ukraine

On 21/01/2009 it was destroyed by fire near Bogorochani in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast,

Ukraine after it had crashed killing the two occupants on board.

Photo of ZK-HNY3 at Milford Sound on 14-02-2008 by Greybeard.
***************************************

**********************

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 58552

Date:	21-JAN-2009
Time:
Type:	Eurocopter AS 350
Operator:	OAO Atoll
Registration:	UR-ATOL
C/n / msn:	4306
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Airplane damage:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:	Bogorodchani, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast - Ukraine
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Uzhgorod
Destination airport:	Ivano-Frankivsk

Narrative:
Crashed in a field and burned. The helicopter when reg. in the Ukraine was destroyed by fire after it had crashed on 21.01.2009 killing the two occupants on board near Bogorochani in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. It was reported en-route from Uzhgorod to Ivano-Frankivsk.

Below is an article from a Russian newspaper report translated using Bable-Fish translator.

.

On [Ivano]-[Frankovshchine] with the fall of helicopter perished 2 people

22.01.09

On January 21, in The [bogorodchanskiy] region of [Ivano]- Frank region as a result of the fall of this particular helicopter perished two people. At 9:35 the helicopter of Eurocopter AS 350 departed from the airport of the Uzhgorods to airport Ivano Frankovschine. At 12:27 the crew of air vessel did not make contact with the airport Ivano Frankovschine. At 13:30 was set in motion the coordination center of search and rescuing of civil aviation and the search for helicopter along the flight course is immediately organized. About 17:35 helicopter they found - near the populated area Ofbogorodchany of Ivano Frankovschine region - it encountered the earth and caught fire. Aboard were located two crew members, which perished on the spot catastrophe. Commander of air vessel - commercial pilot of the 3rd class Hertz P.O by the age of 46 years; copilot - commercial pilot of the 3rd class Anopko S.V, by the age of 26 years. On the spot catastrophes work the operations groups of MChS (emergency and disaster relief ministry), MVD and procuratorship Ivano Frankovschine. The place for emergency is guarded MVD. The investigation of the reasons for catastrophe conducts the commission of gosaviaadministratsii. State registration sign of helicopter is UR-ATOL, owner joint stock company “Atoll- holding”. The helicopter, which flew along the route Uzhgorod - Ivano Frankovschine, suffered wreck not far from the village of Gorokholino. To complete emergency landing in Ivano Frankovschine airport it they did not permit because of the fog. Helicopter made the first landing for 60 kilometers from the provincial center, then it took off and soon it fell. First in the place of incident the local peasants, who noted clouds of thick smoke, came running. According to the evidence of eyewitnesses, the fragments dispersed to tens of meters. Transport procuratorship explains at the given moment of the circumstance of emergency. The killed pilots lived in the Transcarpathian region, and helicopter belonged to Kiev private company. One of the preliminary versions of consequence - error of pilot. Probably, crew wanted to go around electric power line, but it was hooked on the wires.

Many thanks to Bob Kerr for compiling and forwarding this report, and my regrets that the photographs will not paste over for some reason

Aero L-29 ZK-JRF

 Aero L-29 c/n 892851 served with the Czech military as 2851 until sold directly to private ownership in NZ.
It was registered to Wairakei Holdings Ltd of Christchurch on 30-10-2007 as ZK-JRF and has been siting quietly in the back of its hangar at Christchurch International airport.

 Wheels are now in motion for it to be re-assembled.

All photos taken yesterday (27-06-2011)

Agusta 109 ZK-ITR

Taranaki's new Agusta A109 ZK-ITR was carrying out engine runs at Ardmore 28 June.

Not sure when it is due to be delivered: http://trht.org.nz/agusta-a109-power-due-around-16th-june/

Question time # 131

Nice easy one this time.
I have no doubt about what registration we have this time.
Nor do I have a problem with the make and model.
Do you ?

Gippsland GA200 Fatman ZK-RMU

Visiting Ardmore from Maungaturoto today was Gippsland GA200 Fatman ZK-RMU.  Its the first time I have seen this aircraft with its new markings applied in November 2007 when it changed from ZK-RMW.  The ZK-RMW were taken up by another ag machine, an Air Tractor 402B.

Robinson R66 ZK-ISS

Following on from the post earlier this month on R66 ZK-ISS at Christchurch, http://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2011/06/robinson-r66-zk-iss.html, this smart machine has crossed Cook Strait and arrived at Ardmore where it was photographed today outside Flightline.

Agusta Bell 206B ZK-IBB

Captured under winter sunlight departing from Ardmore 26 June was EDL Equipment Ltd's Agusta AB206B Jetranger ZK-IBB.    This example has just celebrated 6 years on the NZ register.

Midget Mustangs of New Zealand (1)

The Midget Mustang is one of the most admired and enduring homebuilts ever. Its lines are still amazing today, 63 years after it first flew!

The Midget Mustang was designed by Piper Chief Engineer Dave Long as a Goodyear midget racer, and the prototype first competed in the 1948 Cleveland Air Races. There were plans for production by Schwiezer but these never eventuated after Long's untimely death in 1950. All rights and tooling were sold to Robert Bushby in 1959 and he marketed plans and kits until 1992, when he sold the rights to Mustang Aeronautics, who still market the aircraft today. There have been around 400 built worldwide.

All photos are from the Keith Morris collection except as noted.

Our first Midget Mustang was Harold Blair's ZK-CWO (c/n AACA/22/1), which was registered on 7/2/68. Harold Blair of Wellington was a very early member of the AACA (member number 22), and he was a panel beater. I guess this is why he built in metal and ZK-CWO was the earliest metal homebuilt in New Zealand in an era of Turbulents, Taylor Monoplanes and Jodel D 9's. ZK-CWO was completed in late 1972 and assembled at Paraparaumu where I took this unfortunately slightly blurry shot in November 1972. It was painted in a 2 tone metallic blue colour scheme.

As I recall from newspaper articles of the time, Mr Blair invited many of his friends to his first flight in ZK-CWO on 9/12/72, and there was a photo of him with his aircraft in The Evening Post newspaper. Unfortunately he ran through some puddles on the runway on take off, and crashed in the lupins adjacent to the airport. Mr Blair was not hurt but ZK-CWO was badly damaged as shown in the above photo taken in the old CAA hangar at Paraparaumu in early 1973, and it was cancelled on 2/8/76. A sad end to a pioneering homebuilt aircraft. Does anyone else have any other photos of ZK-CWO they would like to share? If you do please contact Blue Bus as above.

Our next Midget Mustang to appear was ZK-DDC (c/n AACA/107/1) which was built by Jack Reeves of Ngahinapouri, near Hamilton and was registered on 24/7/75. Jack was a former NZ aerobatic champion and newspaper articles of the time quote Jack as saying ZK-DDC cost him around $6,000 in material costs to build. It is photo'd here at the 1976 AACA flyin at Kaikohe

ZK-DDC has only had 2 owners as Jack Reeves sold it to Ivan Krippner of Te Awamutu on 6/8/91 and it is photo'd here at the November 2006 Black Sands flyin at Raglan, now with some artwork on the tail.

Ivan krippner moved to Cromwell and took ZK-DDC with him, where it is on the flightline withClassic Flights at Wanaka, where Blue Bus photo'd it in November 2010. It now has a black patch behind the cockpit and #1 on the wing, but it has hardly changed at all in 36 years.

The next Midget Mustang to appear was ZK-DFN (c/n AACA/111/1) which was built by brothers Philip and Jack (?) Keen of Te Kowhai who registered it on 14/1/77. I think it was built using the same jigs as ZK-DDC. It is photo'd here at the 1977 AACA fly in at Masterton

As can be seen in this photo from the 1982 AACA fly in at Taupo, ZK-DFN was painted orange and white. It has had even fewer owners than ZK-DDC as it was cancelled on 18/12/92 and exported to Australia as VH-DFN, where it is still current and is still owned by Philip Keen. It still looks almost exactly the same except for the VH registration.

Shots from NZRT today 25-06-2011

Bargeld01 has provided these shots taken at Rangiora today (25-06-2011).

Holding off, holding off and looking well ahead. Should walk away from this one ok.
Piper PA28-140 ZK-CUH (c/n 28-24496) of Branford Investments (Brendon & Anne Ford)  returning to its home field.

 The CRAC Airborne Windsports Edge X 582 ZK-JOZ (c/n 582-861-02) taxiing back in

 The Peter Dyer Rans S-6S Coyote 11 ZK-MLD (c/n 09991341) out for a fine winters day flight.

The first time I have seen this one airborne. The Paul Godfrey Maxair Sport Drifter XP503 ZK-XPC (c/n MAANZ/392)

Thanks Bargeld01.

Cessna 185D Skywagon ZK-CKP

Since we have been talking about ZK-CKP - I may as well give it a good thrashing with some photographs of it taken over the years.This Cessna 185D ZK-CKP Skywagon (c/n 185D-0796) was built by Cessna with the test registration of N5896T. It was imported by the NZ agents, Rex Aviation (NZ) Ltd of New Plymouth and registered on 12-03-1965 and transferred to Mount Cook Air Services Ltd of Timaru on March the 16th. It went through the Company name changes of Mount Cook Airlines; Mount Cook and Southern Lakes Tourist Co Ltd and Mount Cook Group during which time it had the fleet number "15".

Two views of ZK-CKP at Timaru on 14-03-1966. Mount Cook had their own hangar and maintenance team here.

Below: In July of 1971 it was in this mainly blue scheme.

 On 08-04-1972 it was still the same.

 The two views below. By 31-12-1977 it was in the  blue & white with dayglo bands and fleet number.

On 11-12-1986 I caught it in this scheme at Mount Cook.

 Below. Seen at West Melton during 1996, minus tailwheel - by 17-12-1987 it was in the hands of Hugh Cameron of Otematata Station.

 Below as seen at Christchurch on 24-06-2010.

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 ?

Father's Day

Here's one of the father's day presents I received. This t-shirt is from Austin. Shelby also gave me some much needed shorts and socks. Thanks, kiddos!

Robinson R44 Astro ZK-HAB going !

Robinson R44 Astro ZK-HAB2 (c/n 0630) was built about mid 1999 and registered as N7114A. It came to NZ and was registered on 19-11-2008 to Maruia Springs Thermal Resort (on Highway 7 - Lewis Pass). It was assembled by Heli Maintenance at Christchurch.

Top two pics show it at Heli Maintenance in its NZ scheme on 02-12-2008.

The above graphic appears near the top of its vertical fin and also somwhat larger on the rear of its fuselage pod.

Above as spied on 19-12-2008.

At Rangiora on 22-05-2011with owner aboard.

Yesterday - as seen in the Heli Maintenance hangar about to be dismantled for packing into a 20 foot container bound for Durban SA.

The first allocaton of the ZK-HAB letters went to a Hiller UH-12B which crashed in 1958.

The third allocation of the ZK-HAB letters are destined to be worn on a ???

(well thats for me to know and you to find out in about two months time).

ZK-VSI ready to go.

The Rans S6S Coyote 11 ZK-VSI (c/n 0396949) was damaged at Nelson on 25-03-2011. The above photo, kindly provided by Lord Nelson, was taken at Nelson on 01-04-2011. It was dismantled and trailered to "The Landing Spot" at Rangiora for repairs. It was out in the weak winter sunshine today at Rangiora with its new engine, propeller and nose wheel strut. Ready to commit aviation once more.