Twins of Ardmore

The occasion to celebrate the much anticipated flying activities of the DH Mosquito was highlighted with an incredibly popular air show at Ardmore 29 September drawing a large number of visiting aircraft.  Here is a snap shot of the twins noted on the day:

Piper PA31-310 ZK-NPR

BN2 Islander ZK-FVD

Beech C90 King Air ZK-MKG

DH84 Dragon ZK-AXI

Avro Anson ZK-RRA arriving from Ohakea.

The reason for the show!  DH98 Mosquito ZK-MOS

MU2 ZK-KOH - another recent restoration job

Cheyenne 400LS VH-BUR departing for calibration ops at Auckland Intl

Arriving back from its second of three display flights on the day.

Heavylift stopover

Boeing 737-406 freighter N737WF overnighted Auckland 28 September on its delivery flight from Australia.  The aircraft had been imported by defunct freight operator Heavylift as VH-JWL and it touched down at Brisbane on 28 January 2011 from Honolulu via Nauru as "Heavylift 1".  Sadly the aircraft never entered service and it remained static at Brisbane until 08 June this year when it ferried to Melbourne for a maintenance visit arranged by the leasing company.  It was earlier this month transferred to the FAA register as N737WF with Wells Fargo and arrived at Auckland late 28 September from Melbourne.  It departed the following morning for Apia and Honolulu.

At Auckland 29 September, VJ photo

RNZAF King Air Delivered

The RNZAF took delivery of their third Beech 200 King Air Friday evening when ZK-PHP/NZ7124 arrived at Ohakea from Ardmore at the conclusion of induction work carried out by Hawker Pacific. 
Beech 200 King Air ZK-DHP departed Ardmore the following morning destined for repaint at APS in Hamilton.

Ardmore 28 September 2012

Ardmore 28 September 2012, NZ1994 departs for display practice

Taxiing for departure.

New NZ Resident

Arriving at Auckland direct from Maui just on dusk 27 September was Falcon 2000EX N818BH on delivery to Network Jets. This aircraft numerically replaces Citation Sovereign ZK-JTH which exited the country in May this year.

N818BH follows a number of aircraft operated by the principals of Network Jets/Jet Trader Holdings that has included Falcon 900 N900FH, Global 5000 N818FH along with a Falcon 2000 and Hawker 850XP!

Bizjet boy photo

Odds and Ends from Ardmore

Whilst waiting for the movements of the Mosquito it was pleasing to see a wide variety of aircraft arriving at Ardmore ranging from the DeHavilland collection through to corporate aircraft!  Certainly an interesting mix.

More!

After carrying out a test flight departing from and returning to Auckland Thursday afternoon, the Mosquito returned to Ardmore a little after 5pm to a large crowd of expectant spectators.

Its arrival followed a formation of DH82’s and a DH60 arriving from the Hawkes Bay in company with a DHC1 and joining a DHC2 in town from the Manawatu.

MOSQUITO–FIRST FLIGHT

The culmination of a decade’s work came together 27 September with DH98 Mosquito ZK-MOS alighting from Ardmore’s runway 03 a little after 1030 in company with T6 Trojan ZK-JGS and EC120 ZK-HTV for the aircraft’s first flight.  A little over 45 mins later the Mosquito touched down on Auckland’s runway 05R, a pre-planned operation to utilise the larger runway in the event of any untowards event taking place during the landing phase.  The aircraft and crew were met by a large welcoming party on hand to witness this truly historical first flight.

 

Jetstream Delivery

Wellington based Vincent Aviation took delivery of another BAe Jetstream 32 26 September with the arrival of VH-OTP.  The aircraft has most recently been operating in the Philippines with Mid Sea Express as RP-C863 and was placed back on the VH registered for the delivery flight which staged via Ambon, Darwin, Longreach, Bankstown, The Gold Coast and Norfolk Island.

It is understood the aircraft will be registered ZK-VAI joining the other J32's in the fleet:- ZK-JSH, LFW and VAH.

Michael L photos