A departure from D'Urville Island

In this video, I have the departure from D'Urville Island, where we headed out over the northern part of the island before returning to Wellington.

A Christmas Eve post from D'Urville Island

Last Saturday two of us went out to D'Urville Island on a pre-Christmas fun flight, in Wellington Aero Club's awesome Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE.

D'Urville Island is one of my favourite places to go to - not too far away, somewhat challenging, but quite doable - and I'll always try and get a few circuits in while I'm there.

Anyway, here are two circuits [of 4 or 5 in total] that we did prior to heading back. Thanks to Andrew for the still photos included in the video.



I hope to have another video which shows some of the northern parts of the island and the trip home available in another week or so.

Pacific Jet's Dassault Falcon 2000EX at Wellington

There was a very interesting visitor to Wellington on Saturday - a Dassault Falcon 2000EX, ZK-OCB, which is operated by Pacific Jets of an Auckland address. I'm not certain, but this would be one of the largest business jets on the New Zealand register [please correct me if I'm wrong!].

Dassault Falcon 2000EX, ZK-OCB, operated by Pacific Jets

Dassault Falcon 2000EX, ZK-OCB, operated by Pacific Jets

FML is back in Wellington

ZK-FML, a Piper PA38-112 Tomahawk, is back in Wellington after many years.

This time it has had a full refurb and looks really good! The new paint job looks much better than the previous livery :-) It is owned by the Walsh Aviation Support Society Inc. As the name implies, this aircraft will be a regular at the annual Walsh Flying School in Matamata.

Anyway, I'm hoping this aircraft will be online with Wellington Aero Club shortly, so it's another one to watch the skies for!

Piper PA38-112 Tomahawk, ZK-FML, operated by the Walsh Aviation Support Society Inc

Piper PA38-112 Tomahawk, ZK-FML, operated by the Walsh Aviation Support Society Inc

Fiji Airways departure

Today's picture is a Fiji Airways-operated Boeing 737-8X2, DQ-FJH, departing Wellington for Suva, Fiji.

I'm hopeful that in the next few weeks, we'll see one of their new B737 MAX 8's come through.

Boeing 737-8X2, DQ-FJH, operated by Fiji Airways

Boeing 737-8X2, DQ-FJH, operated by Fiji Airways

Test of ZK-EKE's camera hatch

Last weekend I undertook a brief test of the camera hatch on Wellington Aero Club's Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE.

It works good!

What follows is a video of the flight, up to the north, around the coastline and back into Wellington. It is sped up so you don't die of boredom :-)

I can't wait to play with this on some strips in the Marlborough Sounds or Wairarapa area in the next few weeks!

Owhiro Arrival

Here's a quick video of the Owhiro Arrival into Wellington from a week or so ago. Look [very] carefully and you may see a Singapore Airlines B777 and an Air Nelson DHC8-311 ahead of me :-)

Aircraft for the day was Wellington Aero Club's Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE.



I'm hoping that in the next week or two I'll have some video from a wing-mounted camera hatch to show!

Boeing C17-A Globemaster III at Wellington

Last Sunday was a rather different visitor - a USAF-operated Boeing C17-A Globemaster III, 07-7189! The aircraft arrived and parked up on the RNZAF Air Movements Base apron. It was appeared to be dropping off someone important with a VIP vehicle ready to whisk whoever off on their visit.

Boeing C17-A Globemaster III, 07-7189, operated by the USAF

Boeing C17-A Globemaster III, 07-7189, operated by the USAF

Contrary to rumour, Wellington Aero Club has not acquired this aircraft as its new multi-engine trainer. No idea at all how that rumour started...

NOT the new Wellington Aero Club multi-engine trainer :-)

Bizjets at Wellington

Last Sunday was an exciting day for aircraft spotting, as you'll see in the next couple of posts! The weather was not quite so nice, but that was more than made up for by the arrival of some very interesting aircraft.

In this post, I have a couple of civilian bizjet arrivals. First up is a Dassault Falcon 50, N115MF. This is one of a very limited number of 3-engine aircraft being flown these days and a very nice one at that! This aircraft was in and out fairly quickly.

Dassault Falcon 50, N115MF

Dassault Falcon 50, N115MF

Next up is a Learjet 60, ZK-JAK, which is operated by JAK Air of a Rotorua address. It's a beautiful livery and it's good to see a less familiar, but locally operated, bizjet from time to time!

Learjet 60, ZK-JAK, operated by JAK Air

Learjet 60, ZK-JAK, operated by JAK Air

Last Saturday's wet Singapore departure

Last Saturday was rather wet which made for some interesting arrivals and departures. Here's one of the better pictures I got.

It's a Singapore Airlines-operated Boeing 777-212/ER, 9V-SRO, departing on its flight to Melbourne, Australia.

Boeing 777-212/ER, 9V-SRO, operated by Singapore Airlines

A Fokker last Saturday

Spotted at Wellington in the sunshine last Saturday was this Fokker F27 Mk 50, VH-FKO, which is operated by Alliance Airlines of a Queensland, Australia address. This aircraft is used in New Zealand on behalf of a tour company.

This was the same aircraft that had an engine fire at Auckland Airport recently, so they have repaired it nice and quick. Nice to see an almost vintage aircraft being used in this way :-)

Fokker F27 Mk50, VH-FKO, operated by Alliance Airlines.

Navaid calibration

There was nothing much of note flying around today except a Piper PA42-100 Cheyenne, ZK-FIS. This aircraft is operated by the Airways Corporation of NZ and is engaged in navaid calibration duties.

The flight looks like a bit of fun for the crew, with part of the Flightradar24 trace shown below!

Piper PA42-100 Cheyenne, ZK-FIS, operated by the Airways Corporation of NZ

Partial Flightradar24.com trace of ZK-FIS flight

Gulfstream GV-SP at Wellington

Spotted at Wellington on Sunday afternoon was this Gulfstream GV-SP, N878DB. I'm a little unclear as to the actual ownership [ie: who uses it], although records indicate Thorondor LLC or Apercen Partners LLC, both of the United States.

Either way, it's a nice looking machine!

Gulfstream GV-SP, N878DB

Fijian Boeing 737-7X2 at Wellington

On Sunday afternoon, I saw this Fiji Airways operated Boeing 737-7X2, DQ-FJF, departing Wellington for Suva.

The B737-700 is the smallest version of the Boeing 737 NG series and, along with it's longer -800 series aircraft, is due to the replaced by the B737 MAX 8 series aircraft. It'll be interesting to see these new machines when they come online.

Boeing 737-7X2, DQ-FJF, operated by Fiji Airways

Another flight in ZK-EKE

Saturday afternoon I had a flight to Masterton in Wellington Aero Club's new Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE. I was a passenger there and back but got to do just under an hour of circuits - quite a treat, with uncongested airspace, a choice of runways, and a decent crosswind to contend with.

Fun times!

Anyway, here are a few pictures. First up is ZK-EKE while parked up at Masterton. The second is the panel and finally, on approach back in Wellington.

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

Panel inside Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE

Approach into Wellington

De Havilland DH112 Venom

I'm just going through my photos from the past few weeks when I pulled out these photos of the De Havilland DH112 Venom, ZK-VNM. I think you'll agree that these are well worth showing!

The first is on takeoff, the others later on. It's helpful to have a decent zoom lens on the camera!

De Havilland DH112 Venom, ZK-VNM

De Havilland DH112 Venom, ZK-VNM

De Havilland DH112 Venom, ZK-VNM

ZK-EKE takeoff video on D'Urville

This is a very brief video of ZK-EKE taking off from D'Urville Island airstrip last Sunday afternoon.

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

Charter Boeing and a DC3 at Wellington

In addition to yesterday's US Navy Gulfstream arrival, there has been a charter Boeing parked up for a few days. It's an awesome looking machine. This is a Boeing 737-7HZ BBJ, P4-NGK, and is operated by what appears to be a European charter operator, ABS Jets.

Boeing 737-7HZ, P4-NGK, operated by ABS Jets

A big surprise though was to hear of the arrival of an Air Chathams-operated Douglas DC3, ZK-AWP. I'm not yet sure what the reason for the visit is, but it's good to see this classic aircraft still in operation!

Douglas DC3C-S1C3G, ZK-AWP, operated by Air Chathams

A Kat and a Ghost

Saturday I went on a flight from Wellington to Paraparaumu in Wellington Aero Club's Piper PA28-161, ZK-KAT. I dropped a couple of people off who were collecting another aircraft then headed back.

Coming back I needed to keep my speed up - turns out I was ahead of a US Navy Gulfstream IV/ C-20G, registered 16-5152. Have a look at the two photos of it - on the right-hand side there are fewer windows and a large cargo door.

Gulfstream GIV/ C20G, 16-5152, operated by the US Navy

Gulfstream GIV/ C20G, 16-5152, operated by the US Navy

Finally, my chariot for the day, Piper PA28-161, ZK-KAT.

Piper PA28-161, ZK-KAT, operated by Wellington Aero Club

Flying NZ Cook Region competition at Whanganui

Last weekend was the annual Flying New Zealand Cook Strait Region flying competition. This year it was hosted by Wanganui Aero Club at Whanganui Airport.

Leading up to the event, there were forecasts of strong winds [potentially gale force] which caused a bit of concern, but the preceding Thursday and Friday were good enough for competitors to arrive. Friday was actually a very nice day. Due to forecasts and with competitors having arrived, we went ahead with the formation and aerobatic competitions on Friday evening.

Saturday dawned wet and with low winds, so after the safety briefings, we got into it, knowing the wind would pick up later.

In the end, we got through all events except the PPL Low Flying [postponed due to the wind] which was a good result. In fact, the wind only really started to become difficult around 1/1:30pm, but even then, flyable. The day finished off with a celebration dinner and prizegiving at the Whanganui Function Centre at the racecourse.

As the Event Director, I was busy doing anything but take photos on Saturday, but I did get a few on Thursday and Friday. Here they are.

Various competing aircraft

Various competing aircraft

Various competing aircraft

Various competing aircraft

Judges judging

Other competitors spectating

I won't get into the results here, but the final results will be published on the flyingnz.co.nz website in due course.

Air Chathams Saab 340A

Here are two [pictures of an Air Chathams-operated Saab-Scania SAAB 340A, ZK-KRA, arriving at, then departing Whanganui. Take a look at the pictures and you'll see there was a sizable crosswind, which was well handled by the crew.

Saab-Scania SAAB SF340A, ZK-KRA, operated by Air Chathams

Saab-Scania SAAB SF340A, ZK-KRA, operated by Air Chathams

More testing of my new camera

Last Sunday I took a few more photos with the "new" [to me] Canon EOS 700. I think I have the hang on it now, so here are a few photos.

Boeing 738-838, VH-XZJ, operated by Qantas

Boeing 737-86J, DQ-FJM, operated by Fiji Airways

ATR-GIE ATR72-600, ZK-MVJ, operated by Mount Cook Airline/ Air NZ

Boeing 777-212/ER, 9V-SQN, operated by Singapore Airlines

Bombardier DHC8-311, ZK-NEU, operated by Air Nelson/ Air NZ