Staggerwing NC80316

Beechcraft G17S Staggerwing NC80316 has featured several times on this blog (click here).

The aircraft is still registered Kiwi Lion LLC, a company formed by the late Eric Hertz and his wife who were tragically killed over Easter weekend 2013 when the Beech Baron they were in crashed off the Waikato coast.

The Staggerwing has remained static at Ardmore since the loss of its owners however earlier this week it was noted undergoing some tender loving care before taking flight today, 31 May, on a brief local sortie.  Sadly anti-cyclonic gloom dictated grey skies across the region, far from deserving of such a beautiful aeroplane. 

Long Shot........

Bargeld01 was on location at Christchurch early this afternoon and spied, at a distance,  Air NZ's domestic Airbus A320 ZK-OJQ sporting the airline's new livery featuring the revised font and a black tail as it was under tow from the paint shop back to the main maintenance hangar.

The first sharklet equipped A320, ZK-OXA, also for dedicated domestic operations, is set to arrive into Auckland on 21 June having first attended the Paris Air Show before its delivery flight via the Middle East and Asia.

Christchurch 30 May 2013

In the "old" colours at Auckland 31 March 2011. 

Airbus A330-200 DQ-FJU

Air Pacific/Fiji Airways introduced their second of three brand new Airbus A330-200's to passenger service 29 May when DQ-FJU flew from Nadi to Auckland and back as FJI411/410.

DQ-FJU (1416), wearing the name "Island of Namukalau, touched down at Nadi on 23 May as FJI3301 from Los Angeles where it had overnighted having flown in from Toulouse the previous day.

A video of its arrival at Nadi can be found here 

On arrival, J Mounce photo

And on departure, C Hunter photo

Airwork Boeing 737-300 freighter ZK-TLE

Airwork Flight Operations/Toll Boeing 737-300 freighter ZK-TLE touched down at Auckland 29 May arriving direct from Brisbane as "Airwork 733".  Soon after its arrival NZ based Boeing 737-300 freighter ZK-FXT was noted conducting instrument approaches and circuits at Auckland before embarking mid afternoon on a flight from Auckland to Brisbane and it also used the callsign "Airwork 733".

Boeing 737-300 freighter ZK-TLA was also noted the same day carrying out engine runs at Auckland and it has obviously been deployed on the twice nightly NZ Post contract flights between Auckland and Christchurch while ZK-FXT was in maintenance and now while it is in Australia to cover ZK-TLE.

http://mrcaviation.blogspot.co.nz/2013/05/boeing-737-300f-zk-tla-12-months-on.html

Arriving at Auckland, J Mounce photo

Air Pacific/Fiji Airways Rebranding

The first existing Air Pacific aircraft to undergo rebranding to the carrier's new name, Fiji Airways, was Boeing 737-800 DQ-FJG with the jet having the repaint carried out in Hong Kong.  It returned to Nadi via Guam 25 May and flew from Nadi to Christchurch and back 26 May in its new colours replacing Boeing 737-700 DQ-FJF which would normally operate this weekly service but this aircraft has since headed to Hong Kong via Guam for the same treatment.

On another note, the airline took delivery of their second Airbus A330-200 DQ-FJU at Nadi 23 May with the aircraft arriving from Los Angeles as FJI3301.

National Airlines Boeing 747-400BCF N919CA

Florida based National Airlines Boeing 747-428 (BCF) N919CA touched down at Auckland mid morning 24 May from Bagram via Bangkok and Brisbane as ENB393 carrying NZ Defence Force equipment returning from theatre in Afghanistan.  It is understood this will be the first of three such flights that had originally planned to operate earlier this month however the tragic loss of their 747 freighter N949CA at Bagram on 29 April saw the entire operation rejigged and significantly delayed.

Overseas Kiwi Update

A couple of Kiwi airliners are domiciled overseas at present.  Vincent Aviation's BAe 146-200 ZK-ECO departed Wellington for Auckland, Norfolk Island and Brisbane back on 05 April and has since been based out of the Queensland capital with sightings at Sydney, Armidale, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and Roma. 

File photo - departing Wellington April 2012 for the first time in its new livery. 

Airwork Flight Operations deployed Boeing 737-400 ZK-JTQ to Australia in February 2012 with the ex Jetconnect/Qantas aircraft flying from Auckland to Brisbane on the 12th then to Perth via Adelaide and Kalgoorlie on the 13th.  It has since been employed on fly in/fly out (FIFO) operations on behalf of Alliance Airlines and based predominately out of Perth flying twice daily flights to Karratha.  It did return to NZ briefly arriving at Auckland from Perth via Brisbane on 12 September 2012 and then returned to Perth via Melbourne on 09 November 2012 at the conclusion of a maintenance visit.   It was to then head east again mid March 2013 and was employed flying on behalf of Solomon Airlines while their Airbus A320 was on planned maintenance.   It has since returned to Western Australia operations flying its regular Karratha run from Perth but broke from routine today, 21 May, flying from Perth to Melbourne, Brisbane and Darwin on a charter operation.

Arriving at Melbourne 21 May 2013

Air Pacific Boeing 747-400 - 10 years in service

As the Fijian national carrier prepares to retire the first of their two Boeing 747-400's it is interesting to note that it is ten years since Air Pacific introduced the Boeing 747-400 series to their fleet.

14 April 2003 saw DQ-FJK arrive at Nadi from Singapore via Brisbane as FJI001.  The aircraft was ex Singapore Airlines where it flew as 9V-SMD and it entered service the next day flying from Nadi to Sydney and back as FJI911/910.   It didn't make its first NZ visit until 30 May 2003 when it flew from Nadi to Auckland and back as FJI411/410 in lieu of the airline's Boeing 767-300 DQ-FJC which was used on the Jumbo's regular Nadi-Sydney service where the 767 then went into maintenance.

The second 747-400 for Air Pacific arrived at Nadi 26 June 2003 when DQ-FJL arrived direct from Singapore as FJI001 and it entered service the following day with a trip to Sydney and back and then onto Los Angeles. 

Boeing 757 - 10 years in RNZAF Service

Its 10 years ago this month that the Royal New Zealand Air Force took delivery of its two Boeing 757 strategic airlift aircraft. 

Boeing 757-2K2 NZ7571 (26633) arrived at Wellington on Wednesday 07 May 2003 concluding its protracted delivery flight from Europe where it had been flying with Transavia as PH-TKA.  It first flew on 22 January 1993 and was delivered to the Dutch passenger airline one month later.  It was then noted at Lasham, UK, on 08 March 2003 in full RNZAF colours and subsequently cancelled from the PH register on 07 April.  It was then noted as NZ7571 at Edinburgh 11 April.  

The last two legs of the delivery flight are recorded as flying from Honolulu to Rarotonga on 05 May and then to Wellington as Kiwi 244 07 May.  The aircraft had been stationary at St Johns, Newfoundland, for three weeks after damage was incurred during ground operations on the night of 14 April when a snow plough backed into it.  The aircraft suffered a gash to the skin on the lower starboard fuselage below the cockpit.  After repairs the 757 was flown to Seattle for repainting.

After a welcoming ceremony at Wellington the 757 headed to Whenuapai, 40 squadron's base, via a low pass at Ohakea.  The aircraft then underwent training and evaluation before being fully operational in early June.   One of its first overseas duty trips was a flight to Tonga with dignitaries to celebrate the Tongan King's 85th birthday and a trip to Europe where it was displayed at RIAT, Fairford, in July 2003. 

NZ7572 (26634) was delivered to Whenuapai from Honolulu via Rarotonga on 30 June 2003 and it also came from the Transavia fleet where it flew as PH-TKB.

During its 10 years of service the 757 has reached all corners of the globe in its role as a utility transport including a number of trips to Antarctica and it has become a very popular feature of airshows with its spirited display routine.

At Auckland 30 March 2005

On display at Ohakea 31 March 2012 with 75th anniversary decals. 

Postcard from Japan - part five

The fifth and final postcard from Japan is a couple of shots of a UPS McDonnell Douglas MD11 freighter reaching for the skies on departure from Tokyo/Narita last weekend as seen by Bargeld01.

Jetstar A330-232 VH-EBC

Jetstar's Airbus A330-202 VH-EBC was captured under sunny conditions 16 May departing Auckland destined for Singapore.  The airliner was initially delivered to Qantas in March 2003 and transferred to Jetstar from December 2006.

Airbus A320 ZK-OXA takes flight

Postcard from Japan - part four

The Airbus A340 variants are a popular platform for long haul flights and a frequent visitor to Tokyo/Narita.  Photos with thanks to Bargeld01 as taken last weekend.

Mt Cook announces the arrival of.......

Air NZ Link carrier Mount Cook Airline welcomed their third ATR 72-600 series when ZK-MVC touched down at Christchurch this afternoon concluding its delivery flight from Toulouse as outlined in a previous blog post here.

The aircraft will undergo induction work before entering service in a few days time across the Mt Cook (NZ5xxx series flight numbers) network.

Departing Brisbane

And arriving Christchurch

The Irony..........

Qantas Boeing 747-400ER VH-OEH has just landed at Christchurch having diverted while enroute from Santiago, Chile to Sydney as QFA28 due to a medical emergency.

Ironically the exact same aircraft arrived at Christchurch pretty much at the same time of day on 16 May 2012 (!!) as it operated QFA27 from Sydney to Santiago.

File photo from 16 May 2012, VH-OEH arriving at Christchurch. 

Postcard from Japan - part three

Part three of our Postcard from Japan series covers off the twins from both the Boeing and Airbus stable of aircraft as seen by Bargeld01 at Tokyo/Narita over the weekend.

This 767 freighter is now a daily sight at Sydney.