Corporate Round Up - Updated 30 Nov.

In addition to Wellington's resident Gulfstream 550 ZK-KFB which is closely associated with the Hobbit movie makers, another Gulfstream 550 joined the hangar space with N79RP from Warner Bros arriving at the Capital from Burbank and Honolulu on 27 November.  N79RP flew from Wellington to Auckland and back on the afternoon of 29 November while ZK-KFB departed Wellington late the same direct heading to Tokyo. 

Above and below, N79RP departing Wellington

 

N79RP arriving at Auckland

Gulfstream 4 VH-DBT had arrived at Queenstown from Essendon 24 November and departed on the morning of 28 November for Essendon and later the same day headed to Sydney.  It was joined on the tarmac at Queenstown on 27 November by Marcplan's Embraer E135 Legacy VH-VLT when it arrived mid afternoon from Auckland where it been overnight having arrived from Essendon the previous day.  The Legacy departed Queenstown for Essendon 29 November. 

Continuing the coverage of activity at Queenstown, Falcon 50 VH-FOL arrived from Brisbane around 2000LT on 28 November. 

VH-VLT departing Auckland

On the afternoon of 28 November United States Army Gulfstream C37A 01-0028 arrived at Wellington from Pago Pago as "SPAR35" and this was followed by Royal Australian Air Force Challenger 604 

A37-002 arriving from Canberra as "Ausy 343" before then making the short flight to Ohakea. 

01-0028 resting in the evening light of 28 November. 

A37-002 arriving at Wellington 29 November from Ohakea.

Late morning 29 November Marcplan's Gulfstream 450 VH-MBP arrived at Wellington from Melbourne/Essendon and departed a short time later for Sydney.  

VH-MBP arriving at Wellington. 

And mid afternoon 29 November Gulfstream 550 N501ZK arrived at Queenstown from Papeete while Citationjet CJ4 ZK-PGA flew Auckland-Queenstown-Auckland. 

Global Express N121RS

Arriving at Auckland 30 November from Austin, TX via a techstop at Papeete was this smart looking Global Express N121RS operated by Sunset Aviation using the callsign "Twylight 22".  

This airframe, c/n 9203, was until earlier this year registered N688MC but has replaced a Challenger 604 and taken up its markings as is common practice with US operators. 

RAAF C130H Hercules Retires

Today, 30 November 2012, signals the end of an era for the Royal Australian Air Force as their fleet of Lockheed C130H Hercules is withdrawn from service.

Since 1978, the C130H has provided tactical and strategic airlift for the Australian Defence Force across the globe and was once a spearhead of the transport arm of the RAAF. 

The Hercules legacy however will live on at RAAF base Richmond near Sydney as the latest generation C130J continues to serve with the air force and from 2015 these will be joined by 10 C27J Spartan battlefield airlifters along with the already delivered Globemaster III's.

The C130H Hercules of the RAAF has been a frequent visitor to NZ shores over its 34 years in service and frequently the skies above many smaller towns was abuzz with not one but two of them as they conducted navigation exercises the length and bredth of the nation carrying out instrument approaches and touch and goes.

The most recent visit/s by the H model was in July this year when A97-004 made a couple of visits to the country.  On 09 July 2012 it arrived at Queenstown from Richmond as "Ausy 584" and continued onto Wellington where it then overnighted and the following day headed to Norfolk Island and Richmond.  Then on 16 July the same aircraft arrived at Whenuapai from Richmond and Norfolk Island as "Ausy 587" and then headed to Papeete the next day.  On 18 July A97-004 arrived at Wellington direct from Papeete and headed off to Richmond 19 July.

A97-004 at Wellington on the occasion of the types last visit to NZ. 

The fate of the twelve C130H Hercules and in most part been decided with four of the aircraft "gifted" to the Indonesian Air Force, one is off to a museum (Point Cook?) and one will remain at Richmond as a training aid - no doubt an instructional airframe.  The remaining 6 aircraft will be
decided after a tender process.

Last Flight - article in The Australian 19 November 2012 (includes free wallpaper image).

A97-004 departing Queenstown 25 April 1995

A97-007 at Queenstown 25 April 1995

A97-004 and A97-007 at Queenstown 25 April 1995

A97-008 at Point Cook 28 February 2010

The last flight of the C130E model Hercules took place on 14 November 2000 and below are some images of the E's during NZ visits.

A97-160 at Nelson 18 October 1993

A97-167 at Nelson 30 November 1994 - Ironic date!

A97-178 at Nelson 25 November 1993

A97-189 and A97-002 at Ohakea 28 March 1983

Flyover.......

Air New Zealand's Boeing 777-300ER ZK-OKP, as already well covered on this blog, was back in Hobbit mode Wednesday 28 November and overflew the red carpet celebration event leading up to "The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey" premiere showing at Wellington.

The airliner with just pilots on board was positioned from Auckland and timed to cross over the celebrations at 1000ft which it did with style right on cue at 1730!

Air New Zealand Hobbit themed 777-300 arrives in Wellington

Hobbit Fever!

Air New Zealand's Boeing 777-300ER ZK-OKP has just touched down at Wellington from Auckland as NZ6691 as a key part of the lead up for tomorrow's premiere of the Hobbit movie.  It returned to Auckland after a little over 1 hour on the ground in the Capital and will carry out a flypast of the premiere event at Wellington Wednesday afternoon.

Above photo thanks to O-JET-O

Ex Kiwi Corporate crosses the Pacific

Boeing 737-74U (BBJ) N887LS c/n 29233 crossed the Pacific Ocean 25 November orginating at Phuket and making tech stops at Saipan and Honolulu on its way to San Bernardino, California.  

This airframe was first delivered to Air Shamrock of Van Nuys as N4AS  in December 1999 and flew to NZ a number of times with its owners from the Disney Corporation who had commissioned a NZ boat building firm to construct a racing yacht they christened "PYEWACKET III".   Interesting it was the first civilian variant of the Boeing Business Jet to visit Auckland arriving there from Honolulu on 12 January 2003 and departing three days later.  

In June 2007 the ownership changed to Felham Enterprises/Rank Services operated on behalf of Graeme Hart and its registration became N66ZB with the aircraft arriving at Auckland from Nadi on 07 October of that year replacing a Global Express, N18WZ.   Its time as a NZ resident was relatively short lived and it departed for Honolulu on 11 May 2008 and was subsequently listed for sale, it being replaced with the Felham/Rank team by a temporary Global Express XRS N57LE with this aircraft arriving at Auckland from Teterboro and Honolulu on 19 May 2008.

N66ZB was ultimately sold to the Government of Madagascar and became 5R-MRP (photo here) in January 2009 and remained with them until being sold to casino giants Las Vegas Sands Corporation as N887LS on 21 November 2012.

Below we see N66ZB, featuring the small NZ flag on the tail, departing Auckland for Nadi and Los Angeles  ironically on 27 November 2007!

Looking Back to 2002

22 November 2002 and Eagle Airways of Hamilton took delivery of the last ever Beech (Raytheon) 1900D to be built when ZK-EAP (c/n UE-439) arrived at Hamilton as N50899 from Pago Pago. 

It entered service 05 December 2002 as NZ2210 from Hamilton to Auckland.

"The Hobbit" Boeing 777-300ER ZK-OKP!

The morning of 24 November saw Air New Zealand's latest "logo" jet rolled out of the hangar at Auckland with Boeing 777-300ER ZK-OKP decked out in an outstanding decal to promote the soon to be released, NZ made "The Hobbit - an Unexpected Journey" written by J.R.R.Tolkien and adapted for the movie screen by Sir Peter Jackson.

The decal is nearly 73 metres long and covers 830 square metres making it the largest ever graphic applied to an aircraft.  It has taken 6 days and 400 man hours to install!

A special event was held for some 100 VIPs and invited guests along with a large contingent of media.  The group were entertained in a specially decked out room inside the hangar and when the time came to unveil the aircraft a lighted wall slid away with the sound of a male chorus and orchestra - awesome ambiance!

Congratulations to all those involved in this visual masterpiece!  It will certainly turn heads around the Globe attracting attention to not only the movie but to our country!

Also note the tail has become black during its hangar visit.