Aviation Weekend trip #4

 As I put in my last post, plan today was to head to Matamata for the gliding comps and eventually back home.

So, I got to Matamata mid-morning and noticed about a dozen or so gliders out waiting for the comps to start.

So here is what I saw:

Visiting Aircraft:
ZK-BKJ Piper PA-18
ZK-GET Schleicher KA 6E
ZK-GFS Sportine Aviacija LAK-17B FES
ZK-GKR Schempp-Hirth Mini-Nimbus B
ZK-GNM Schempp-Hirth Discus CS
ZK-GSA Glaser-Dirks DG-200
ZK-GSP Schempp-Hirth Ventus bT
ZK-GSW Schempp-Hirth Ventus cT
ZK-GTD Rolladen-Schneider LS8
ZK-GTE PZL-Swidnik PW-5 "smyk"
ZK-GWD DG Flugzeugbau DG-808C
ZK-GXM Schempp-Hirth Discus-2cT
ZK-GYF Schempp-Hirth Discus CS
ZK-TZB Robin DR400/500

Local Aircraft:
ZK-CNC Piper PA-25
ZK-GBA Glaser-Dirks DG-300 Elan
ZK-GDR Schempp-Hirth Ventus-2b
ZK-GJD Glasflugel Hornet
ZK-GNV Glaser-Dirks DG-100G ELAN
ZK-GOP Schempp-Hirth Ventus cT
ZK-GPC PZL-Bielsko SZD-50-3 Puchacz
ZK-GPK DG Flugzeugbau DG-1000S
ZK-GUL TeST TST 14 Bonus M
ZK-GVR Jonker JS1-B
ZK-GXB Jonker JS3
ZK-GXP Schempp-Hirth Discus b
ZK-GYR Centrair ASW 20F
ZK-JRK SkyStar Kitfox IV
ZK-JUS Just Aircraft Highlander
ZK-RBK RAF 2000 GTX
ZK-RVA Vans RV-6A
ZK-SJS Tecnam P2002 Sierra
ZK-TCX Thatcher CX-4

Then a fair few pictures:

Then the only other stop for the day was Taupo, a few more aircraft were noted than what I saw back on Friday.

Here is what I saw that differ from Friday:

Visiting Aircraft:
ZK-CYT Piper PA-24
ZK-EGS NZ Aerospace FU24-950
ZK-HFS Bell 206B
ZK-HLB Aerospatiale AS350
ZK-MHS Lancair 360
ZK-MRV Vans RV-6

Local Aircraft:
ZK-HKC Aerospatiale AS350
ZK-HNL Aerospatiale AS350 (From nearby Strip)
ZK-HZQ Bell 222B

ZK-ILV Bell UH-1H
ZK-JIG Socata TB10
ZK-ORZ Piper PA-46-310P

Then a few pictures:

A very awesome weekend away, been looking forward to it all weekend and was even better with the flight to and from Te Kowhai and then to end it having the Singapore C130 currently basing itself out of Ohakea doing a few circles over me as I was passing between Hunterville and Ohakea on way home today.

Aviation Weekend trip #3

Bit of a change of plan from what I said yesterday and instead of going out to Thames and Matamata, I stayed in the Auckland area.

So firstly, I went off to North Shore where a bit of activity was happening from the Aero Club and a few other locals.

Here is what I saw:

Visiting Aircraft:
ZK-CGD Cessna 182P
ZK-SDE Cessna 208B

Local Aircraft:
ZK-CGW Beech 76
ZK-DMW Cessna 172S
ZK-DSJ Yakovlev Yak-52
ZK-EOH Cessna 180K
ZK-HMQ Aerospatiale AS355
ZK-IIC Aerospatiale AS350
ZK-JQA Cessna 172S
ZK-JRV Vans RV-12
ZK-LEO Cessna 182P
ZK-MDX Cessna 172P
ZK-NAZ Beech A36
ZK-RLT Maule MXT-7-180A
ZK-SRZ TL-Ultralight Tl-3000
ZK-TSP Vans RV-12iS
ZK-TZF Robin R2160
ZK-TZG Robin R2120 U
ZK-TZH Robin R2120 U
ZK-TZI Robin HR200-120B
ZK-TZK Robin R2120 U
ZK-TZL Robin R2120 U
ZK-TZM Alpha R2160
ZK-TZN Alpha R2160
ZK-VAX Robin DR400/500
ZK-WKT Cessna 172S
ZK-WYT Cessna 182T
ZK-ZGR Cessna 152
ZK-ZZB Tecnam P2008

Then a few pics:

A new one for me, nice scheme!

Looking good in the Aero Club colours at last!

First time I've seen the coastguard plane outside of the hangar, usually resides at Kerikeri

Afterwards I went down to Whenuapai as I noticed there was a bit of glider activity. Sadly, by time I got there that looked to have packed up as there was nothing happening. I did see a couple of aircraft though and there was 2 Orions and a 757 from the RNZAF parked up.

The 2 locals I saw were:

ZK-GNW Grob G109
ZK-RDW B&F Technik Vertri FK 9 Mk IV

Last stop of the day was Ardmore

Here is the different aircraft I saw compared to last 2 days:

Visiting Aircraft:
ZK-WIT Piper PA-28

Local Aircraft:
N2WG Cessna 510
N815AR Aerospatiale SA315J
ZK-BOE Boeing-Stearman E75
ZK-CAZ Vans RV-6
ZK-CKH De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
ZK-DAA Piper PA-24
ZK-DGY Pacific Aerospace CT/4 Airtrainer
ZK-DFH Cessna 172L
ZK-ENG North American Harvard
ZK-ENJ North American Harvard
ZK-EVL Piper PA-38
ZK-FRL Piper PA-28
ZK-JJA North American Harvard
ZK-KRM Cessna 180H
ZK-LVA Vans RV-7
ZK-MHS Lancair 360
ZK-OPA Vans RV-6
ZK-SLL Cessna 182T
ZK-TVI North American Harvard

The a few pics:

A new one for me, nice to see!

Finally getting to see this elusive one, coming in from Woodbourne

I always love seeing a Piper Comanche, first time i've seen this one outside of its hangar!

Plan tomorrow is to head home via the Matamata glider comps on for the next week. Other airfields will depend on how long i'm at Matamata, but most likely will just go straight to Taupo for a look and then home.

Aviation Weekend trip #2

Another beautiful day greeted me when I woke up on my second day away up in Auckland. As I said in my blog post yesterday, I was travelling down to Te Kowhai to attend the Black Sands Fly-In happening there. What I didn't mention was I managed to score a flight down in ZK-CAV (Huge thanks to Wayne and Tim for organising this!)

So first stop of the day was to Ardmore to meet up with the crew and get going to Te Kowhai. So shortly after 10am we were airborne and away, quite a bumpy ride due to the high winds, but can handle that! After a 20-minute flight we arrived at Te Kowhai.

There was a decent number of aircraft already arrived and more arrived after we did, 41 visiting aircraft in total, sadly not many of the locals came out to play.

But here is what I saw throughout my time there:

Local Aircraft:

N5JP Cessna 150G
ZK-AZL Douglas DC-3 (Gate Guardian)
ZK-BQV Piper PA-18
ZK-BTC Piper PA-18
ZK-CJP Jabiru UL-T
ZK-CKE Cooke Avian Adventurer
ZK-CUB Light Miniature LM-1U (Unregistered)
ZK-DKC Cessna 172M
ZK-DOL Vans RV-12iS
ZK-DOQ Piper PA-28
ZK-EHA Cessna 172
ZK-FDB Flight Design CTLS
ZK-JAC Jodel D.18
ZK-JCK Rand Kar Xair
ZK-LUX Tecnam P2002 Sierra
ZK-MJK Flylight Airsports Skyranger Swift 2
ZK-MKP Stoddard-Hamilton SH-3R Glasair III
ZK-PXB Aero Designs Pulsar XP
ZK-SRG Tecnam P2002 Sierra RG
ZK-TZA Robin DR400/500
ZK-ZYZ Micro Aviation Bantam

Visiting Aircraft:
ZK-BRV Vans RV-6
ZK-BWX Cessna 150
ZK-CAV Cessna 185
ZK-CJF Bolkow Junior
ZK-DES Vans RV-7
ZK-DFM Jodel D.11
ZK-DMK Alpi Aviation Pioneer 300
ZK-DRQ Cessna 172M
ZK-ESY Zenair CH 701SP
ZK-FGV Cessna 172M
ZK-LDM Vans RV-7
ZK-LED Czech Sportcruiser
ZK-MAL Ultravia Pelican Cub GS
ZK-MBY Thorp S-18
ZK-MEG Tecnam P2002 Sierra RG
ZK-PBH R & B Bearhawk
ZK-PGP Stoddard-Hamilton Glastar
ZK-PHL Vans RV-10
ZK-REX Vans RV-7A
ZK-RMR Pitts S-1 Special
ZK-RWJ Vans RV-7
ZK-SAM BRM Aero NG5
ZK-SCM Vans RV-12
ZK-SHN Vans RV-7
ZK-SJC Vans RV-6
ZK-SRY Progressive Aerodyne Searey
ZK-SST Vans RV-8
ZK-SXR Sonex
ZK-TES Tecnam P92 Echo Super
ZK-TJL Cessna 172N
ZK-TOP Thorp T-18 CW
ZK-VII Vans RV-7A
ZK-VNZ Vans RV-6
ZK-VQM Piper PA-32R
ZK-WER Alpi Aviation Pioneer 200
ZK-WGK Czech Sportcruiser
ZK-WLK Vans RV-8
ZK-WLL Vans RV-7
ZK-YGL Corby CJ-1 Starlet
ZK-ZRV Vans RV-8
ZK-ZXZ Zenair CH 601XL

Then photo highlights for me today:

Don't see many Seareys these days, so nice to see this down from North Shore

A new one for me, down from North Shore!

Also a new one for me! Lovely looking Pitts from Ardmore

My last new one for Black Sands, recently moved to Tokoroa!

Last thing i'll do for this post is what I saw at Ardmore before and after flight that were different from yesterday's trip:

Visiting Aircraft:
ZK-CBC Cessna 182T
ZK-DXG Cessna 185A
ZK-JHS Cessna 185C
ZK-TGF Piper PA-28R

Local Aircraft:
ZK-BLI De Havilland Tiger Moth
ZK-CMM Miles M.38 Messenger
ZK-CPG AESL Airtourer T6
ZK-EVD Piper PA-38
ZK-EWZ Cessna 172S
ZK-HKZ Kawasaki BK117 B-2
ZK-HMJ Bell 206L
ZK-ITC Eurocopter EC 120 B
ZK-IWP Robinson R44
ZK-JPA Piper PA-28
ZK-MDV Cessna 172N
ZK-MXS MX Aircraft MXS
ZK-OAT Cessna 172R
ZK-PSA Dyn'Aero MCR 4S
ZK-RMR Pitts S-1 Special
ZK-ROG Cessna T182
ZK-SAR Cessna 182R
ZK-SAX De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk
ZK-SFK Britten-Norman BN2A
ZK-SXB Beech 77
ZK-VNX Vans RV-14
ZK-VNZ Vans RV-6
ZK-WIW Piper PA-34
ZK-WLK Vans RV-8
ZK-WLL Vans RV-7
ZK-XLT Cessna 182Q
ZK-YGL Corby CJ-1 Starlet
ZK-ZAB Cessna 172R

Plan tomorrow is probably to go to Thames for their local flying day and if that results in not much happening, go have a look at Matamata with the glider comps happening there for next week.

Aviation weekend trip #1

Finally, some decent weather and a road trip preplanned. What a great combination for us plane spotters!

Today was the trip up to Auckland. My mian plan was to get up early and head up to Auckland as quickly as I can. So, I was on the road by 5:30am and managed to get to Auckland by about 1:30pm, so I think I did well!

First stop was Taupo for breakfast, so of course had to stop in at airport to have a look around. Nothing really happening, but suppose it was just after 9am!

Here is what I saw.

Visiting Aircraft:
ZK-HEP MBB MBB-BK117 B-2
ZK-TTL Pacific Aerospace 750XL

Local Aircraft:
ZK-BPT Cessna 172A
ZK-CDF Morane-Saulnier MS 885
ZK-CEN Jabiru SK80
ZK-CSW Cessna 150G
ZK-ELH Cessna 172N
ZK-EWF Cessna 172P
ZK-FPZ De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
ZK-HCX MBB MBB-BK117 B-2
ZK-HZW Robinson R22 Beta
ZK-IEA Aerospatiale AS350
ZK-KCA Vans RV-8
ZK-SKZ Cessna U206F
ZK-SNZ GAF Nomad N22B (Unregistered)
ZK-TTS Cessna 208
ZK-UWE Cessna 172N
ZK-ZSP Partenavia P 68B

And the one photo:

Nice new one for me!

After breakfast it was on the road again, this time the next stop was Hamilton. A bit more activity, but still a bit quiet.

Here is what I saw:

Visiting Aircraft:
N115MF Dassault Falcon 50EX
ZK-APL Beech B300
ZK-CHN Cessna 172F
ZK-EVE Tecnam P2002 Sierra MK II
ZK-FDN Beech C90A
ZK-FER Cirrus SR22
ZK-HJU Eurocopter EC 120 B
ZK-IEA Aerospatiale AS350
ZK-LAL Partenavia P 68B
ZK-MDC Beech B200
ZK-SKL Beech C90A
ZK-STV Cessna 421C
ZK-TAU Cessna 172R
ZK-XLB Pacific Aerospace 750XL

Local Aircraft:
ZK-DRQ Cessna 172M
ZK-EGS NZ Aerospace FU24-950
ZK-EME NZ Aerospace FU24-950 (Unregistered)
ZK-HZU Aerospatiale AS350
ZK-IBF Bell 206B
ZK-IRU Kawasaki BK117 B-2 (From nearby Hospital)
ZK-JFO Cessna 150H
ZK-JGP Cessna 172M
ZK-JLU NZ Aerospace FU24-950 (Unregistered)
ZK-PSR Mitsubishi MU-2B-60
ZK-TSD Piper PA-34
ZK-UFS Piper PA-28
ZK-WCD Alpha R2160
ZK-WIT Piper PA-28
ZK-WKF Cessna 172S

And the one photo again:

Do like a Partenavia, so nice to see this Nelson based one!

Next stop was Ardmore, boy was that busy and plenty of open hangars that people kindly let me have a look in

So here is the big list of everything I saw:

Visiting Aircraft:
ZK-CVI Nanchang CJ-6
ZK-EAT Cessna T206H
ZK-EYT Vans RV-8
ZK-FQY Cessna 207
ZK-HVU Guimbal Cabri G2
ZK-IDU Aerospatiale AS355F1
ZK-IFN Aerospatiale AS350
ZK-IGW Eurocopter EC 130 B4
ZK-LEN Cessna 172P
ZK-LFD Aeroprakt A-22LS

Local Aircraft:

A23-019 Pilatus PC.9A (Unregistered)
ZK-AAC Cessna 162
ZK-AMA De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
ZK-BFK Cessna 120
ZK-BKD Piper PA-18
ZK-BUD Cessna 152
ZK-BWX Cessna 150
ZK-CAH Cessna 182R
ZK-CAM Piper PA-31
ZK-CAV Cessna 185
ZK-CBF Cessna A185F
ZK-COP Piper PA-38
ZK-CUS Piper PA-23
ZK-CXG Cessna 150H
ZK-CZZ Cessna A150L
ZK-DAK Douglas DC3C-S1C3G
ZK-DAY Cessna 172L
ZK-DJN Cessna 182P
ZK-DNE Piper PA-28
ZK-DOD Cessna 180J
ZK-DOT Piper PA-28
ZK-DSY Embraer EMB-820C
ZK-EAN Diamond DA.42
ZK-EBQ Piper PA-28
ZK-EBX Piper PA-28
ZK-EFP Piper PA-28
ZK-ETZ Cessna 152
ZK-EVG Piper PA-38
ZK-FGD Cessna 152
ZK-FLF Cessna A152
ZK-FLH Cessna A152
ZK-FUO Falcomposite Furio LN27 RG
ZK-FVA Grumman American AA-1C
ZK-FWC Cessna 206H
ZK-FXC Cub Crafters CCX-2000
ZK-FYA Cessna O-1G
ZK-HBK Kawasaki BK117 B-2
ZK-HLH Leonardo AW169
ZK-HQG Eurocopter EC 130 T2
ZK-IBJ Robinson R44
ZK-ICG Sikorsky S-76C
ZK-ICT Airbus Helicopter EC 155B1
ZK-IEI Agusta Bell AB206B
ZK-IGD Bell 206L-3
ZK-IHY Aerospatiale AS350
ZK-IJA Robinson R44
ZK-IRR Guimbal Cabri G2
ZK-JBL Cessna A152
ZK-JDB Cessna A152
ZK-JED Beech 76
ZK-JME Diamond DA40
ZK-JMY Cessna 172S
ZK-JPT Vans RV-7
ZK-JRA Cessna 172S
ZK-JRG Cessna 172S
ZK-JSP Cessna 172S
ZK-KAS Cessna 172N
ZK-LKM Cessna 182S
ZK-LLG Falcomposite Furio LN27 RG
ZK-LNU Cessna 172R

ZK-MBK Piper PA-28
ZK-MCN Pilatus PC-6/B2-H4
ZK-MVY Piper Aerostar 600
ZK-MWC Cessna 172M
ZK-NSC Cessna A152
ZK-NTV Piper PA-30
ZK-PGP Stoddard-Hamilton Glastar
ZK-PKR Cessna 177B
ZK-RJD Piper PA-28
ZK-RLG Cessna 182P
ZK-RMM Mooney M20C
ZK-RVS Vans RV-7
ZK-SKC Cessna 162
ZK-SWW Zenair CH601XL
ZK-SWX Cessna 172S
ZK-SWY Alpha R2160
ZK-SWZ Alpha R2160
ZK-TAV Cessna 172R
ZK-TJL Cessna 172N
ZK-TWN Tecnam P2006T
ZK-UAT Cessna 172R
ZK-UPS Piper PA-28
ZK-VRR Beech A36
ZK-WAE Slingsby T67B
ZK-WAG Piper PA-38
ZK-WFS Cessna 172M
ZK-WTF Tecnam P92 Eaglet
ZK-XGO Cessna 560
ZK-XYZ Cessna 172S
ZK-YES Beech 76
ZK-ZAQ Cessna 172S
ZK-ZAT Cessna 172R
ZK-ZGO Cessna 560
ZK-ZTP Gippsland GA8

Then a few pics:

1 of 6 imported from UAE back in July, I have now seen half the fleet!

New one for me!

I like the shiny new scheme!

A new one for me, do like the pointy nose of a Cardinal

Blast from the past! Last time I saw this was in bits at Tokoroa, nice to see up and running again!

Last stop of the day was Auckland International, I won't put up what aircraft were around as most would be Air NZ or international Jets, so here are some pics I got:

Nice Global 6000 N3888B

LATAM CC-BGD arriving from Sydney

China Eastern Airlines B-5943 arriving from Shanghai-Pudong, nice special scheme!

Small surprise! French Marine Falcon 20 "72" arriving from Noumea

Nice to see AirAsia X back into NZ skies again, 9M-XXF arrives from Sydney, another nice special scheme!

Can't beat seeing ZK-OKQ on her All-Black scheme, seen here arriving from Melbourne.

Plan for tomorrow is to head down to Te Kowhai to attend the Black Sands Fly-in, weather is looking good so hope for an excellent attendance!