Monday, November 12, 2018

A new Cessna and strip flying at D'Urville!

Last weekend was an exciting time for Wellington Aero Club with the delivery of our "new" Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE!

The aircraft has undergone a refurbishment, which included a repaint and new livery, a new intercom, radio and transponder [an ADS-B model] and tail leading edge protection for the strip flying :-) It looks really flash! The aircraft has a 180hp engine and a STOL kit, so it performs really well also.

Sunday was my first opportunity to fly it and the club's CFI, myself and another club member headed out to D'Urville Island for some strip flying. What a lot of fun that was! On the way out we passed another of the club's aircraft - a Piper PA38-112, ZK-WAC, which also has a new livery applied. Hopefully more of the fleet will get this livery at some stage.

First up are three photos of ZK-EKE. I hope you'll agree it's a fantastic looking aircraft!

Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE, operated by Wellington Aero Club

Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE, operated by Wellington Aero Club

Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE, operated by Wellington Aero Club

Next up are three photos of D'Urville Island airstrip. The first is from the south-west with the strip in the middle. Big thanks to Andrew M for the photos!

D'Urville Island Airstrip
Short final approach for the north-western runway.

D'Urville Island Airstrip

A general view of the airstrip of the airstrip and the beach from the west.

D'Urville Island Airstrip
Lastly, here's a photo of our Piper PA38-112 Tomahawk, ZK-WAC. Another nice livery!

Piper PA38-112 Tomahawk, ZK-WAC, operated by Wellington Aero Club

2 comments:

flyernzl said...

That Tomahawk used to be my favorite, back in the days when it was on-line at Waitemamta Aero Club as ZK-WAG.
I always much preferred it to the other two they then had, ZK-WAG and ZK-WNB.

AndrewM said...

Hi Rodney

Thanks very much for having me along for the ride, and giving me chance to get D'Urville in my log book. I'd also flown EKE earlier in the day and agree it's a really nice aircraft to fly. Fantastic to have this available in the club.

Only one problem, though; EKE will become so popular it'll be difficult to get a booking! I wonder if EKE has a sister ...