Air New Zealand B747-200s

As Air New Zealand prepares to retire the Queen of the Skies from service over the next few months its timely to look back on the introduction of the type this time 33 years ago when their first Boeing 747-219B, ZK-NZV "Aotea", was delivered to Auckland from the factory via Honolulu on 29 May 1981 and it entered service a couple of weeks later flying between Auckland and Sydney.
After retirement in 1999, ZK-NZV took on a new life with Virgin Atlantic Airways and became G-VZZZ "Morning Glory" departing Auckland for Los Angeles 08 July that year as VSA742.  She was retired from their service in 2002 and stored at Mohave.  She then took on the marks N702TA prior to being registered in the Bermudas as VP-BQE and entering service with Russian airline Transaero.  Last reported in May 2012 as stored/withdrawn from service at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=VP-BQE

Air New Zealand 1st 787-9 @KPAE- May,2014

ZK-NZE / N1012N returning to Paine Field yesterday making a visual circuit to land runway 16 right.  Interesting to hear the ram air turbine (RAT) at work!

Boeing 787-9 ZK-NZE Updated late 29May

Air New Zealand's Boeing 787-9 ZK-NZE ZB003, and wearing Boeing test registration N1012N, made its B1 first flight from Seattle's Paine Field this morning NZ time lifting off runway 34L at 1944UTC/1344 local time as "Boeing 003".  After an intermediate stop at low level and cruise southbound the 787-9 climbed and headed east to Grant County Airport, Moses Lake where it made approaches from both the north and south before making its way back for a landing on Paine's runway 16R 3hrs 11min after departure.

For a link to photos of the 789 arriving back at Paine, please click http://kpae.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/paine-field-may-28.html
Engine start a couple of days ago : https://www.flickr.com/photos/microvolt/14204595096/sizes/l

Ex RNZAF King Air 200 Exported

Ex Royal New Zealand Air Force Beech 200 King Air NZ1884, registered to Aeromotive Leasing of Hamilton on 17 February this year as ZK-LRJ, test flew from Hamilton on the afternoon of 28 May using the callsign "Hinterland 200" clearly signalling its ultimate destination as Hinterland Aviation based out of Cairns, Far North Queensland.  The aircraft positioned after dark to Auckland where it overnighted and is this morning due to fly out to Norfolk Island.

NZ1884 was delivered to NZ in 2002 arriving at Hamilton from Pago Pago as N96GA on 21 March.  It went on to be registered ZK-KAF with Aeromotive Limited on 28 March albeit for just the one day and then became NZ1884 for its delivery to Ohakea the same day where it entered service with 42 Squadron.  

The aircraft was withdrawn from service after the RNZAF took delivery of four newer Beech King Air 200's during 2012/2013 leased from Hawker Pacific and NZ1884 has been in storage at Hamilton awaiting sale.

Listing for NZ1884/ZKLRJ here : http://www.oceania-aviation.com/Home.aspx?AircraftId=140

With the departure of '84 this now leaves NZ1885 awaiting disposal. 

http://www.oceania-aviation.com/Home.aspx?AircraftId=141

Vincent Aviation (Australia) in receivership

News on the wire tonight announcing Darwin based Vincent Aviation (Australia) has been placed in the hands of receivers and all flights by the airline have been cancelled.

More from local media outlets can be found at Northern Territory News and Sydney Morning Herald.

http://australianaviation.com.au/2014/05/receivers-ground-vincent-aviation/

Vincent Aviation in New Zealand continues to trade and interestingly their BAe 146-200 ZK-ECO returned to Wellington this evening from Brisbane where it has been based for the last 12+ months or so on fly-in/fly-out mining contracts.  It was most recently back in New Zealand from 26 February through 10 March this year for maintenance.

http://www.vincentaviation.com.au/

File photo.  ZK-ECO departs Wellington April 2012 wearing the company's Australian themed livery for the first time. 

Gee Wizz!

An airshow held at Budapest, Hungary on May 1st drew tens of thousands to the banks of the Danube River to enjoy an array of aircraft displays ranging from a DC3, Pilatus Porter, Cessna 337 and some helicopters.
It would appear however that the Wizz Air Airbus A320 flyby was the highlight of the show for many so check out the attached YouTube video.

Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, took part in the airshow for the very first time.  Wizz Air Captain David Morgan and Captain Andras Arday performed two flights above the Danube with one of the airline's brand new sharklet equipped A320 HA-LYA, delivered to the carried on 17 April 2014.  The first low level flight was performed at a speed of 140kts and down to 200ft above river level.  The second pass was carried out "clean" with the gear retracted and flaps up at 240kts.

Also be sure to go inside the cockpit by clicking http://youtu.be/3zj4GA1zkqg

Recent Shots from the Cooks

Thanks to Ewan for these recent shots of two Air New Zealand birds visiting Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

The 747-400, set to bow out of Air New Zealand service in the coming months, was making its second to last scheduled visit to Rarotonga operation from/to Auckland and providing necessary extra capacity during a school holiday break.  

The 767-300 is a regular sight at Rarotonga providing an airlink with Auckland and a once weekly flight to Sydney and back plus a once per week flight to Los Angeles and back.  The arrangement between the airline and the Cook Island Government to provide the flights to Sydney and Los Angeles was recently renewed : http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2014/03/long-haul-cook-islands-services-renewed/

Air New Zealand also provide a number of services from/to Auckland utilising their fleet of Airbus A320's. 

Kasumigaura Airshow - Part IV

The fourth and final part of Bargeld01's coverage from Kasumigaura reviews some of the helicopters and other items on static display.

Kasumigaura Airshow - Part III

Part III of the Kasumigaura Airshow from 18 May details the 2 Chinooks with both helicopters kept busy conducting 10 minute local flights with lucky winners.

Boeing 777-300ER ZK-OKR update

Air New Zealand's sixth -300 series 777, ZK-OKR, has returned to Seattle's Paine Field this morning NZ time (Friday afternoon local time) from Acadiana Regional Airport, New Iberia in the state of Louisiana having received the carrier's new livery during its time in the south.  As "Boeing 56", the 777 made its way from Paine to New Iberia on 14 May, just one day after its first flight.

ZK-OKR is set to arrive into Auckland on the morning of 08 June and enter service a couple of weeks later.

Royal S King was on location for her arrival back into Paine, a great shot can be found here

Stagger(wingless) prepares to exit the country

 

Beech G17S Staggerwing NC80316 c/n B-15 (http://beech17.net/?page_id=1282) was first noted at Auckland's Ardmore airport in January 2013 (Link here)  having been imported by its American owner, Eric Hertz,  who had settled in NZ.  Tragically the owner and his wife perished when their Beech G58 Baron, N254F, crashed into the Tasman Sea on 30 March 2013 while enroute from Ardmore to Timaru.  This saw the Staggerwing's future, along with a Hawker Tempest restoration project, placed into an uncertain phase.  The Staggerwing continued to be flown by locally based pilots at Ardmore who had been associated with the owners, while the Hawker Tempest is still looking for new ownership.

 http://www.pioneeraero.co.nz/project/hawker-tempest-mkii/

NC80316 was spied yesterday in its current disassembled state as it was prepared to be slid into the accompanying container for its journey to a new life in Canada.

The departure of this Staggerwing leaves NZ with just one example remaining, VH-UXP, and this is also set to head off shore with its Australian owners at some point in the future.

Shots of NC80316 under restoration prior to its arrival in NZ: http://www.hoaircraft.com/Staggerwing-G17S.html

Prepared to depart, Ardmore 23 May 2014.

Demo Departs - updated

Parked at Christchurch 22 May. 

Beechcraft's King Air 350GTi N871EU has departed New Zealand this morning concluding its demonstration duties in our part of the world.  It flew from Wellington to Christchurch on the morning of 22 May and then made its way onto Queenstown arriving around lunchtime. 

This morning it had departed Queenstown for Hobart and was planned to continue onto Sydney's Bankstown Airport. However after crossing the Fiordland coast the King Air has made a 90 degree right turn and headed north to Auckland. 

Another effectively new King Air has turned up in the region with 200GT N5020U arriving at Cairns last evening from Bali via Darwin.

Resting at Wellington 22 May.

Kasumigaura Airshow - Part II

Continuing our coverage of the recent airshow 18 May held at the Japanese Army base near Narita, Bargeld01 provides these images of the AH64 Apache "Apache 504" which conducted a spirited display including hovering at 50 feet in front of the crowd line playing with its impressive gun, swinging it around towards the crowd drawing considerable excitement!

Royal Flying Doctor Service become launch customer for the Pilatus PC24

Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service will become launch customer for the yet to fly Pilatus PC24 versatile light jet.  The annoucment was made at this week's EBACE event in Switzerland with the local manufacturer delighted to mark the event with an order for 3 aircraft and option on 1 to be operated by the RFDS Western Operations.

The RFDS have a long history of operating Pilatus aircraft and currently have 31 PC12 across the country.
1 of the older PC12's is slated for delivery to New Plymouth's air ambulance provider.

Grahame Marshall, CEO of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS Western Operations), eagerly looks forward to the PC-24 joining

the fleet:

“When transporting patients requiring emergency medical care, time is always of the essence. With the vast distances we service across

Western Australia, covering some 2.5 million square kilometres, the challenge for us has been how to combine a turboprop’s strengths like

its dependability and its ability to operate from short and unimproved surfaces, with a jet’s speed – and that is exactly what the PC-24 will now

deliver. The other great benefit the PC-24 will bring is enhanced accessibility for our stretcher patients and staff because of its huge aft

cargo door. There has been a close ongoing co-operation between RFDS and Pilatus in the definition phase of the PC-24, and we are now very

excited to take the next step and become a Launch Customer for the new Super Versatile Jet.”

Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (Western Operations): 3 PC-24s, incl. option for 1 additional aircraft

Kasumigaura Airshow - Part I

Bargeld01 attended the 18 May airshow at Kasumigaura, a Japanese Army base close to Narita.  The base held their annual open house and by Japanese standards is a very small show with only 20 or so helicopters on the base both static and flying with the event geared more for the community with interactive displays. 

Again, as per last year, a draw was held for people to win rides in a Chinook during the afternoon, rides on the back of some sophisticated tanks and a host of other events.  The show starts with a drive by of various vehicles on the base, including the amusing forklift formation!  Then a fly by of some of the helicopters on base as "Tsukuba Formation", named after a local mountain.