Today in History- 30 September 1968

Thanks again to Grayson for providing this little snippet from 45 years ago today!

45 years ago today, the Boeing 747-121 (N7470) is rolled out and shown to the public for the first time at the Boeing Everett Factory.  It took until 09 February 1969 before she underwent her first flight. 

http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/747family/pf/pf_milestones.page

Some YouTube bits:
http://youtu.be/aHbpTahG7x4
http://youtu.be/xrDv4jX_MUs
http://youtu.be/th5gyTvuxE0

A lineup of the cabin crew of the airlines that ordered it – most all of the airlines are no longer with us!!!

And she’s still in one piece – at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

King Air 250GT N175EU

2013 edition Beechcraft King Air 250GT N175EU touched down at Auckland direct from the Gold Coast 29 September on a demonstration visit.  New Zealand's population of King Air's has ballooned in recent years and Beechcraft are seizing the opportunity to show off the latest version of this very popular twin.

http://www.beechcraft.com/beechcraft/king_air_250/

N175EU had arrived at Singapore/Seletar from Bangkok 22 September, then flew onto Bali and some point where it then embarked for Darwin and Mount Isa 27 September.  Onto the Gold Coast 28 September. 

ZK-OXB revisited

The re-entry to service by Air New Zealand's Airbus A320 ZK-OXB wearing the carrier's latest livery has provided a number of photographic opportunities, so it is with pleasure we share these images obtained by Lanzi as OXB made her first visit to Wellington in the revised colours as NZ451 from Auckland on 26 September.

Bizjets here and there

Falcon 2000 M-RONE arrived at Christchurch lunchtime 24 September from Queenstown and remained in the Garden City until just prior to midnight 27 September when it departed for Papeete.

Falcon 2000 VH-KRW arrived at Napier from Auckland 25 September while Gulfstream 550 VH-PFL arrived at Queenstown from Auckland the same day.

Citationjet CJ4 ZK-PGA spent several hours at Invercargill 27 September, arriving from and returning to Auckland. 

Busy Times in the Pacific

A myriad of European based light aircraft have dotted the Pacific region these past few days on what appears to be an around the world adventure.

Rocking into Honiara, Solomon Islands from Tokua, PNG on 26 September were the following aircraft:
Piper PA46T D-EXRE
Socota TBM850 D-FHBG
Beech 200GT King Air D-IBSH
Pilatus PC12 HB-FVM
Piper PA31 Cheyenne N191MA
Socota TBM700 N850KK
Cessna P210N Silver Eagle N6593W

The flotilla then made their way to Nadi, Fiji 27 September with most flying direct however the PA46 D-EXRE and P210N N6593W made a stop on the island of Santo, Vanuatu.

A google search has revealed German based N6593W has a blog:
http://www.worldflight2013.blogspot.com

If the gaggle continue on the same path as the Silver Eagle then Australia can expect to see them visit the Gold Coast (by the looks of the map) ex Noumea, then Cairns, Ayres Rock and Broome before exiting to Indonesia.

In addition to the above, Pilatus PC12 D-FAPC arrived at Cairns 26 September from Daru, PNG along with Mooney N231WG.

Looking Back - Mosquito First Flight 2012

It was just after 1030 on 27 September 2012 when the world's only airworthy De Havilland Mosquito made its first flight post restoration and lifted off Ardmore's runway 03.  The 45 minute flight was in formation with Trojan ZK-JGS acting as a cameraship and observation platform, and it was just as well it did as the Mosquito suffered a failure of the air speed indicator requiring the Trojan to provide this essential information. 

The team involved with the restoration had planned for the aircraft's first landing to be made at Auckland International Airport, and a large gathering of interested folk descended on the airport to greet it along with Helitranz EC120 ZK-HTV used to film the event for the owner, restoration team and local news agencies.

After landing the Mosquito taxied to the Air NZ jet base and was enthusiastically meet by hundreds of people.  The ASI failure saw the aircraft briefly "grounded" while the fault was rectified and after a few hours delay it was airborne again on another test flight under the guidance of a second pilot before returning to Auckland where the pilots swapped over again and it was flown back to a rapturous welcome at Ardmore.

All photos copyright MRC Aviation

Arriving at Auckland

Arriving at Auckland

Smiles all round!

Air NZ jet base

Air NZ jet base

First landing back at Ardmore

Time to reflect.....

Forty Years Ago - 26 September 1973

Today in Flying History 26 September 1973

thanks to Grayson O

Concorde slashes Atlantic flight time!

The supersonic airliner makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time.

Concorde 02 (F-WTSA) flew from the US capital, Washington, to Orly airport in Paris in three hours 32 minutes.

Concorde 02 F-WTSA was fourth aircraft to be manufactured, and the second of preproduction aircraft.

For many years during testing Concorde 02 was painted in British Airways colours on one side and Air France's 1970's livery on the other, though was still a French aircraft. Today it has an Air France colour scheme.

It was test aircraft that aided development of new engines, and more than 130 rolling runway tests for things like certification of carbon brakes, water deflectors, thrust reversers and other system.

Her final flight was between Toulouse and Paris Orly on May 20, 1976 and was gifted to the owner of Orly airport to replace a full sized replica that was on show at the airport, but had been lost in a fire. Engines and many parts were removed as spares for the Air France fleet and part of a cabin installed as the aircraft was going on public display.

In 1988 the Orly airport operator decided that Concorde 02 was no longer a priority and condemned it for scrap and to be cut out of pieces. 

It was saved by enthusiasts and is on display at the Delta Museum Athis Paray Aviation, just outside the airport, along with a number of other French aircraft.

At the time of its retirement F-WTSA had flown a total of 656 hours 37 minutes with 314 cycles. It had flown 189 supersonic cycles for a total time of 280 hours 49 minutes supersonic hours, including the 1973 trans-Atlantic record in 3 hours 33 min, with a total block time of 3 hours 47 mins. 

MMMmmmmm.............

Unfortunate news on the wires today signalling the liquidation of Nelson based Golden Wings,  owned by Michael Towarek.

The expectation that King Air 350 ZK-MMM was to soon be sold as a trade-in on a jet aircraft are now obviously stalled.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/9208016/Liquidators-to-talk-to-high-flyer

ZK-OXB re-enters service

Air NZ's Airbus A320 ZK-OXB sporting the carrier's newest livery has entered service today and flew as NZ516 from Christchurch to Auckland.  It is pictured here departing Auckland for Queenstown as NZ647 and will return to Auckland as NZ648 before heading back to Christchurch as NZ549 where it will then overnight.

More revealed!

As earlier blogged, Air NZ Airbus A320 ZK-OXB has been rolled out in the airlines revised livery.  It undertook a Christchurch to Christchurch flight at lunchtime 24 September for air to air photography using Helitranz EC120 ZK-HTV as the cameraship.

The A320 will be a regular feature on NZ domestic flights from later today. 

Revealed!

Air New Zealand's most recently introduced Airbus A320, ZK-OXB, has rolled out of the paint shop at Christchurch today wearing the airline's latest livery design providing a more dynamic look to the previously applied black tail.

Comings and Goings

A few movements to mention from 23 September.

The day started with the arrival of Singapore/Seletar based Gulfstream 550 VH-PFL.  It arrived at Auckland direct from Beijing (ZBAA) with a plan to techstop at Brisbane cancelled.

VH-PFL last visit NZ at the end of 2012 when it arrived at Invercargill 28 December from Singapore/Changi via Sydney and Dunedin, and departed the next day direct to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (WMSA).

Pacific Jets Citationjet CJ4 ZK-PGA made a round trip from Auckland to Wellington and back.

Falcon 2000EX VH-KRW, as mentioned in an earlier post, arrived at Auckland late afternoon from Kaitaia.

Cessna 404 Titan VH-ZUI arrived into Ardmore mid afternoon, presumably from New Plymouth.  This aircraft is ex ZK-NDY and interesting still wears Coastair titles.  After the fitment of an HF radio system the Titan will cross the pond.  Also at Ardmore 23 September was Pilatus PC12 VH-OOI.  It had arrived at Kerikeri from Norfolk Island 22 September.

Postcard from Kadena - XI

The final postcard in our series of photos taken at Kadena, Japan on 03 September as seen through the lens by Bargeld01.

Lockheed's P3 Orion has been, and continues to be, a popular platform for naval aviation around the globe.  Herewith is a selection of those seen at Kadena.  Most were circuit training using the callsigns "TRIDENT" and "EAGLE", one departed for Thailand as "NAVY LK07" and another arrived from overseas as "NAVY JO457".  This December will see the first deployment to Kadena of the Boeing P8 Poseidon's to partly replace the current P3s.