Two departures

Here are photos of two aircraft departing Wellington today. The first is the Cessna 510 Citation Mustang, ZK-MUS, registered to Acermus Aero Ltd of a Wellington address.

The second is British Aerospace Jetstream 31, ZK-JSH, registered to Vincent Aviation Ltd. This aircraft conducted several flights today on navaid calibration tests for the Airways Corporation.

In the back of a C182

I got the chance to go along for a few circuits in the back of a Cessna T182T, ZK-MRH, today as a club instructor [K-Dog the extraordinary instructor :-)] was was doing some circuits. Not a good day for scenery, so just a couple of OK pictures.

Top to bottom are a picture of the avionics stack of the C182. The second is a Mount Cook Airline Aerospatiale ATR72, ZK-MCJ. The last is another picture of the Bombardier BD700-1A10 Global Express, N2T.

Up to Foxpine today

I got to go on a flight today, this time up to Foxpine [ICAO: NZFP] with Andrew [another club pilot]. Andrew flew up to Foxpine and did a couple of circuits. I then flew a couple of circuits and back to Wellington. What's more, it was a great day to do it with ideal weather hardly traffic around until we go back to Wellington. Awesome!

Our aircraft was the club's Cessna 172N, ZK-FLT. Anyway, here are a few photos from the trip. The last two images are from Andrew's GPS track of the flight.

Top to bottom are:

Lined up on runway 16 at Wellington

Aerial picture of Wellington Aero Club

Cessna 172N, ZK-FLT, at Foxpine

Short final approach to Foxpine runway 27

On the way home, passing west of Mount Wainui

Petone foreshore in the Wellington Control Zone

GPS track of the trip

GPS profile track of the trip

Enjoy!

Visitors

I've seen a couple of interesting aircraft at Wellington recently. The first of these is a Grumman American AA-5A Cheetah, ZK-MRR, registered to Air Gisborne Ltd. The aircraft was here overnight on a trip around the South Island with Ben and Marcus, a couple of lads I know from my Auckland Aero Club days [nice to see them wearing the AAC jackets also!].

Second is a Socata TB20 Trinadad, ZK-CCA, registered to an Auckland address. Apparently the aircraft is for sale if anyone is interested in buying it for me? :-)

Lastly is a Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global Express, N2T, registered to a Hillsboro, Oregon, USA address. I last saw this aircraft here at Wellington in 2007, although I had heard rumour of it visiting recently.

Helipro @ Queens Wharf

Apart of a walk around the Wellington waterfront, I walked around Queens Wharf, part of which includes a Helipro base. In passing, I took this picture of a Helipro Aerospatiale AS 355 F1, ZK-HYJ.

Wellington to Paraparaumu return today :-)

Finally! I got to go flying again!

The weather has been less than ideal over the past few weeks and today started much nicer. After arriving at the Club around midday, plans were made for a quick flight to Paraparaumu [NZPP] in the Club's Cessna 172, ZK-FLT, to drop off the CFI who would bring another aircraft back.

As it turns out, four of us went up to NZPP, two hopped out and two of us flew back in the C172. The weather was not great [no surprise there!] with a period of moderate rain cutting down the visibility for a few minutes and a lumpy final approach into Wellington. Still, an enjoyable flight!

The two pictures are of the newly painted Piper PA28-181, ZK-TDJ. The first picture is the shiny new paint job, the second is an older photo of the previous paint job for comparison. Click on the images for more detail.

Other visitors to Wellington today

I spent most of today at the Aero Club, but unfortunately, due to the weather, it wasn't much good for flying... However, I did get to see a number of visitors [including the RNZAF B757 - previous post] coming and going.

The first two images are of a Kawasaki BK117 B2, ZK-IBK, registered to Skyline Aviation Ltd of a Napier address and used as a rescue helicopter/ air ambulance.

The next three are of a CTC Diamond DA42 Twinstar [also known as the "Death Star" in some circles...], ZK-CTM. This is pictured tied up for the evening and included my first opportunity to photograph the cockpit of one of these aircraft. The final picture is of an Aerospatiale AS350 BA, ZK-HZN, registered to Search and Rescue Services Ltd of a Taupo address. This is also used as a rescue helicopter/ air ambulance.

Enjoy the pictures!

RNZAF Boeing 757 visits Wellington

Today's largest visitor was an RNZAF Boeing 757-200, NZ7571. The aircraft was only here briefly to pick up several people [mostly service personnel from what I could see]. This will likely be in conjunction with the recent death of Lt Tim O'Donnell and injuries to two others in Afghanistan recently. For the NZ Army media releases click here.

More unsettled weather

More unsettled weather this weekend, so yesterday's planned C172 flight didn't happen.

A couple of pictures from today. The first is Kawasaki BK117 B-2, ZK-IWE, registered to Otago Helicopters Ltd in Mosgiel. This was being backed in to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter hanger, so I assume it is covering maintenance for the usual helicopter [can anyone confirm this?].

The second picture is just to how wet and gloomy it is today. The aircraft is an Air New Zealand Boeing 737-300, ZK-SJB. Just a pity that I didn't capture more of the "rooster tail" out the back.

Today's other visitors

Another half-day of being at the aero club meant a few more aircraft and people to photograph. Top to bottom are:

Cessna 150H, ZK-DTQ, registered to a Wellington address

Cessna 510 Mustang, ZK-MUS, registered to Acernus Aero also of a Wellington address

Cessna 680 Sovereign, ZK-JTH, registered to Pacific Jets of Christchurch

and lastly, a picture of the aero club hanger being packed up for the night.

Fokker F27 Friendship engine run

Following on from my previous post, it seems that Fokker F27 Friendship, ZK-PAX, had an engine problem a couple of nights ago, hence the maintenance.

After a day or so in the Vincent hanger, it was towed out this evening for an initial engine run. I had forgotten how noisy and smelly [in other words, awesome!] these old Rolls Royce engines are, but it didn't take long to remember :-)

Apologies for the image quality - it was starting to get dark when I took these. Note that it is only the left engine being tested. Enjoy!

A Fokker and a Cessna

Just a quick visit to the club today before heading out to pretend to be a computer geek for a couple of hours...

The most interesting sighting was this Fokker F27-500 Friendship, ZK-PAX. This is registered to Airwork Flight Operations and is commonly used to carry the mail around New Zealand overnight. In this case, it is being towed into a Vincent Aviation maintenance hanger [I'm not sure what the reason is]. I vaguely recall flying on one of these from Wanganui to Taupo and Auckland many, many years ago.

The second aircraft is an Air2There Cessna 208 Caravan, ZK-MYH. This was parked up outside the aero club for a while.

More Cessnas and a Beechcraft

There was no flying for me today [I still need to pay for the last lot!], but there were a number of visitors to be seen as I was hanging around the club.

The first is a Cessna 182S, ZK-LKM, registered to a Wanganui address. I understand that this aircraft has been doing a bit of touring around. The second and third aircraft are Cessna 172's, ZK-RWC [a C172B registered to a Mahia address] and ZK-EFF [a C172N registered to Motueka Aero Club].

The final Cessna is a C510 Mustang, ZK-PGA. This is registered to NZ Jet Charters Ltd/ Pacific Jets at a North Shore City address.

The last aircraft in today's line-up is Beechcraft BE76 Duchess, ZK-JED, registered to Ardmore Flying School.

Kerosene-powered Spitfire??!? Almost!

Ok, you'll need a bit of an imagination for this one, but I found a kerosene-powered Spitfire last week! Pictures below :-)

Another 2.7 hours flying - the aircraft: 2 of 2

Ok, here are the final aircraft I got photos of, from Masterton aerodrome earlier today.

When I arrived, the Tecnam was conducting circuit training [dual then solo]. The Tomahawk is one of Wellington Aero Club's leased aircraft which is being parked at Masterton.

Enjoy!

Top to bottom are:

Tecnam P2002 Sierra, ZK-MVT, registered to Wairarapa & Ruahine Aero Club

Piper PA38-112, ZK-FML, registered to Wellington Aero Club

Cessna 180H, ZK-DBX, registered to Dairy Air Ltd

Piper PA18, ZK-BKV, registered to Ace Aviation Ltd