The last hurrah!

Arriving at Wellington today were three Bell UH-1H Iroquois helicopters from the RNZAF! These helicopters are on their farewell tour of New Zealand. The Iroquois is being replaced by the NH90 after about 50 years of service with the RNZAF.

The official RNZAF press release is here...

The helicopters arriving into Wellington were NZ3807, NZ3809, NZ3816.

Bell UH-1H Iroquois, NZ3807, NZ3809, NZ3816, operated by the RNZAF

Bell UH-1H Iroquois, NZ3807, operated by the RNZAF

Bell UH-1H Iroquois, NZ3809, operated by the RNZAF

Bell UH-1H Iroquois, NZ3816, operated by the RNZAF

Cessna A152

Today's photo is of a Cessna A152, ZK-NPL, which is operated by Tauranga Aero Club.

The "A152" means that it is an aerobatic model. If you look closely at the front of the door, you can see the emergency door release cable. I understand that the aircraft is here on a short visit for some maintenance [and certainly needing something given the state of the nose wheel oleo...].

In other news, I had time for another quick flight today in a Club Cessna 172S, ZK-CEO. It was just a quick flight around the local area since I hadn't flown for about 3 weeks [since my night cross country flight test to Palmerston North and back].

Cessna A152, ZK-NPL, operated by New Plymouth Aero Club

Cigna Healthcare Falcon 7X at Wellington

Today's "pleasant surprise" was a Dassault Falcon 7X, N173CN, which was parked outside of the Execujet hanger after arriving in Wellington [from Jakarta via Auckland] yesterday.

The aircraft is registered to Cigna Healthcare, so what it's doing here is anybody's guess!

Anyway, there are not too many tri-jets operating these days, so it's good to see one now and then.

Dassault Falcon 7X, N173CN, operated by Cigna Healthcare

Dassault Falcon 7X, N173CN, operated by Cigna Healthcare

Ridge Air, Mount Cook Airline and Jetstar

It was somewhat dull and a wee bit breezy to go flying today... but it's looking like tomorrow will be better.

Pictures I did get include the following three examples. First up is a Piper PA34-220T, ZK-BJM, which is operated by Ridge Air.

Piper PA34-220T, ZK-BJM, operated by Ridge Air

 Next up is one of Mount Cook Airline/ Air NZ's older ATR-GIE ATR72-212A aircraft, ZK-MCO. It looks like this aircraft has been registered to Mount Cook since December 1999, so I guess this will make it one of Air NZ's older aircraft.

ATR-GIE ATR72-212A, ZK-MCO, operated by Mount Cook Airline/ Air NZ

 Last up are two Airbus A320-232's, both operated by Jetstar Airways.

Airbus A320-232, VH-VFF, operated by Jetstar Airways

Airbus A320-232, VH-VGF, operated by Jetstar Airways

Today's photoshoot

Ok, "photoshoot" might be overstating it somewhat, and even if it was one, they were not particularly good looking models... but I was asked to take a few photos of two Aero Club Piper PA38-112 Tomahawks today.

They were mostly exterior photos of ZK-WAC, but some interior panel photos of another aircraft were also taken. These are/ will be used by the Aero Club as part of their training materials.

There's just one to publish for now. ZK-WAC was repainted last year and it's still looking fresh. I was just about to take a close-up when I saw Raytheon B1900D, ZK-EAI, operated by Eagle Airways departing in the background. A quick zoom out, and I managed to capture it at exactly the right time.

Piper PA38-112, ZK-WAC of Wellington Aero Club and Raytheon B1900D, ZK-EAI of Eagle Airways

Prince Harry arriving in Wellington today

The big event for today was Prince Harry arriving in Wellington from Australia on board an RNZAF operated Boeing 757-2K2, NZ7572.

Boeing 757-2K2, NZ7572, operated by the RNZAF

Boeing 757-2K2, NZ7572, operated by the RNZAF. Note the flag out the window

Welcoming committee for Prince Harry, including the PM and the Mayor

Soon after the formalities, the B757 was pulled forward to make room for another RNZAF aircraft, a Lockheed C130H Hercules, NZ7005. The B757 was then pushed back into the position shown in the final photo.

Lockheed C130H Hercules, NZ7005, operated by the RNZAF.

Boeing 757-2K2, NZ7572 and Lockheed C130H Hercules, NZ7005, both operated by the RNZAF.

Air NZ Airbus A320 "Star Alliance" livery

Here's a picture of an Air NZ Airbus A320-232, ZK-OJH, landing at Wellington earlier today.

Airbus A320-232, ZK-OJH, operated by Air NZ

Wellington Aero Club information and blog

Wellington Aero Club has just started putting up more member information and other interesting articles on their [relatively] new blog.

This will be a great way to keep in touch with what is happening at the Club and for the Club, it's a much easier and effective way to get information out to members and other interested people.

The blog link is www.flywellington.co.nz/blog/.

Wellington Aero Club screenshot - www.flywellington.co.nz/blog/

Of course, you can get to the rest of our website from there, accessing information about flight training, purchasing trial flights and finding out a bit more about ourselves and what we do!

Beech B200GT and a couple of Airbus'

A different visitor for today was a Beech B200GT, ZK-VMF, pictured here waiting to depart Wellington. It had arrived about 10 minutes earlier, so it was a very quick stop! This aircraft is registered to Tasman Aviation of a Motueka address. This aircraft has only been on the NZ register since August 2014, so is a fairly recent arrival.

Beech B200GT, ZK-VMF, operated by Tasman Aviation

Beech B200GT, ZK-VMF, operated by Tasman Aviation

Next up are a couple of Airbus A320 arrivals. Nothing to special about that I suppose although I particularly liked how the photos clearly show the jet exhaust out the back of the engines... very obvious, and clearly very hot!

Airbus A320-232, ZK-OXF, operated by Air New Zealand

Airbus A320-232, VH-VGV, operated by Jetstar Airways

OWN at Wellington

Today's picture is a Cessna 172P, ZK-OWN, which was visiting from the Hawkes Bay region. The "P" model is a relatively uncommon model in NZ with only 16 on the aircraft register.

Cessna 172P, ZK-OWN