First Timer to the Capital

Much to the delight of many, Air New Zealand operated a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to Wellington for the first time with the uniquely painted ZK-NZE being allocated the task of conducting a charter flight from Auckland as NZ1911 arriving in the predawn light of 29 June and departing late afternoon on its return north as NZ1912. 

Air New Zealand has over the years conducted a number of flights to the Capital utilising wide body aircraft with a Boeing 747-200 visiting a few moons ago and more recently Boeing 777-300's have dropped in to conduct promotional work both for the airline and in conjunction with supporting Lord of the Rings movie releases.

The visit by ZK-NZE is however not the first Dreamliner to grace the Wellington apron with Boeing 787-8BBJ VVIP example A6-PFC having made two visits to the airport in recent times.

Jetstar Drop-in

I don't believe this to be a first, but certainly not often seen. Inclement weather at Auckland which included torrential rain and shifting winds as a front passed through early on the afternoon of 29 June saw one particular Jetstar flight divert to Hamilton for a "gas-n-go". Airbus A320(SL) VH-VFN, operating JQ294 from Queenstown to Auckland, rocked into the Waikato airport having held in the vicinity of Auckland for a period of time and conducted a go-around as a result of the weather. After a refuel the A320 was on its way to the original destination.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/JST294/history/20160628/2335Z/NZQN/NZAA

VH-VFN on the rather damp Hamilton ramp, Matt C photo

Talons Depart

The three United States Air Force Lockheed MC130H Combat Talon II Hercules departed Whenuapai on the morning of 29 June at the conclusion of their New Zealand winter exercise.

88-1803 was first away lifting off at 0818 as SPIN11 followed by 89-0283 as SPIN21 at 0848 and closely followed by 89-0280 as SPIN12 at 0858. All three Herks flew to Amberley and then onto Cairns.

The C130's have been noted at various locations around NZ during day and night with several details conducted under the cover of darkness utilising night vision technology to fly their "missions" including touch and goes at Whenuapai. 

Its fantastic to have these guys come and visit our shores and we look forward to future deployments.

File photo - unfortunately the weather this trip was far from favourable for photography!

Pacific Aerospace 750XL ZK-KDC

Pacific Aerospace 750XL ZK-KDC MSN 202 has departed the region on its delivery flight to a parachute operator in Poland. It embarked from Hamilton 25 June headed for Lord Howe Island and the Gold Coast and flew onto Alice Springs 26 June. From there it headed to Port Headland 27 June from where it launched the next morning for the 9hr+ journey to Cocos Island. This morning the 750XL is due to fly onto Colombo, Sri Lanka. 

As can be seen the photo below the 750XL wore its Polish registration for a short time before having the ZK marks applied for the delivery flight.

Hamilton 07 June 2016. 

SOFIA back in the air

NASA's Boeing 747SP N747NA "SOFIA" is back in the air following her unscheduled number one engine change week before last. Tonight she has ventured out from Christchurch initially heading west over the Tasman Sea before crossing the South Island south of Dunedin and is now well east of the Chatham Islands and at the time of this post was roughly half way through the planned 10 hour mission.

American Sunshine

American Airlines second day of operation through Auckland saw the departure to Los Angeles depart on schedule and during a brief moment of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy, damp day.

King Air 300LW ZK-SMC

Beech Aircraft Corp King Air 300LW ZK-SMC (FA-46) was imported to NZ late April this year as VH-WCN arriving at Auckland on the 28th from Lord Howe Island. It went on to conduct a number of flights under its VH marks before ending up at Fielding where its NZ C of A was conducted and it was registered to Total Entertainment Consultants of Auckland 08 June 2016 with the registration being the initials of the company's owner. 

http://mrcaviation.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/beech-300lw-king-air-vh-wcn.html

The 1985 edition King Air was ferried to Ardmore from Fielding after dark 24 June and is seen here in the pouring rain the next morning prior to a local flight being conducted.

American Airlines 787-8 Dreamliner ✈ Water Salute and Takeof...

As mentioned previously, American Airlines commenced scheduled services to Auckland 25 June using Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners.

Here is coverage of the aircraft's departure under very soggy conditions!

Welcome Back American Airlines!

American Airlines has added Auckland, New Zealand, to extensive network with the introduction of daily Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner services from/to Los Angeles. 

The gargantuan Fort Worth, Texas based carrier is touted as the world's largest by fleet size and revenue and the second largest by number of destinations. It is a founding member of the One World alliance and the introduction of services between Los Angeles and Auckland has been closely aligned with partner airline Qantas. 

http://hub.aa.com/en/nr/american-airlines-adds-new-destination-with-new-service-between-los-angeles-and-auckland

American Airlines fleet currently stands at 946 aircraft with 17 of these being the -8 Dreamliner and another 3 on order with the first aircraft delivered in January 2015 and the most recent example arriving in May 2016. The carrier also has 22 of the larger -9 on order with the first, being built at Boeing's Charleston facility, nearing completion. 

The first flight, AA83, (codeshare flight QF3226) arrived Auckland in the predawn hours from Los Angeles operated by N814AA and the northbound flight, AA82 (QF3225) departed a little late at 1328 making for a convenient 0630 local arrival time into Los Angeles.

N814AA was delivered to American in February this year and is configured with 28 business class, 48 premium economy and 150 economy seats. 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/video.cfm?c_id=1503079&gal_cid=1503079&gallery_id=162152

Thanks to Mark C for the following historical snippets:

This American Airlines service is not an inaugural - its a reintroduction of service. They first commenced flying to New Zealand during the very early 1970's using Boeing 707-320B's then withdrew after a short while. They returned to New Zealand again during mid 1989 flying McDonnell Douglas DC10-30's however withdraw within 9 months. 

The entry to the NZ-USA market by American Airlines is just a over a week ahead of United Airlines reintroducing flights to the region with the airline operating their Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner's between San Francisco and Auckland three times weekly from 03 July (arrival date @ Auckland) in conjunction with Air New Zealand. 

Photos via Auckland International Airport Facebook page

Jetstar commence Queenstown night operations

Qantas budget arm Jetstar have commenced scheduled night operations to Queenstown with Airbus A320 VH-VGF operating the first JQ219 service from Melbourne arriving at 1845 last evening. It departed on the return to Melbourne as JQ210 on schedule at 2020. The flights will operate daily until the end of August when they revert to daylight operations.

The commencement of night operations at Queenstown for Jetstar coincides with the opening of Queenstown's annual Winter Festival and a significant increase in international services from Australia operated by Air New Zealand, Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar.

Jetstar conducted a series of proving flights during last month with the first being flown on 10 May while Air New Zealand has been flying scheduled domestic services from/to Auckland since 23 May. 

http://mrcaviation.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/jetstar-queenstown-night-ops.html

http://mrcaviation.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/air-new-zealand-says-good-evening.html

Postcard from the Cooks

Thank you to Ewan for these shots of two unique visitors to Rarotonga this week.

First we have the De Havilland Canada DHC6 Twin Otter N153QS. This amphibious example has featured on this blog a couple of times as it cycles back and forth across the Pacific Ocean in support of its mother-ship operated on behalf of Google. The Twin Otter first appeared in our region on 10 September 2013 arriving at Papeete from Christmas Island and flew onto Rarotonga 01 October where it overnighted and flew onto Niue and Nadi the following day arriving in Fiji on the 3rd. It spent most of 2014 based around the Fijian Islands and in April 2015 it was operating in Continental Micronesia. In May 2015 it was eastbound across the Pacific staging via Rarotonga where it spent the night 06 May then early the next month it was westward through Rarotonga. In December 2015 it arrived at Brisbane from Noumea on the 19th and continued through Cairns Groote Island and Darwin over the next few days before flying to Ambon, Indonesia on the 22nd. It made its way back to Darwin 12 March 2016 then onto Cairns via Groote Island the next day. It wasn't until 30 May that it was noted on the move again which saw it depart for Mackay and Brisbane, then to Noumea on the 31st and to Nadi on 01 June. It arrived at Rarotonga 21 June (local date) from Niue and departed the next day for Papeete.
http://mrcaviation.blogspot.co.nz/search?q=n153qs

Secondly we have Munich-based Citation X OE-HUB. This jet visited Rarotonga in October 2010 arriving from Papeete on the 20th and departing on the 21st for Honiara and later to Bali. It was to head back to the South Pacific in November that year arriving at Auckland from Phuket via Darwin on the 18th and departing on the 26th for Apia and Hilo. The Citation arrived back at Auckland on 25 February 2011 from Maui and Apia and later visited Queenstown from where it departed 08 March for Darwin and Yangon. This trip it arrived Honiara from Bali 21 June then flew to Rarotonga 22 June (jumping back a day crossing the dateline to arrived on the 21st) then to Papeete the following day.
http://mrcaviation.blogspot.co.nz/search?q=oe-hub

Twin Otters to the Ice on medivac mission - UPDATED

17 June 2016 NZLT.

Two De Havilland Canada Twin Otters from Kenn Borek Air are making their way from Canada to Antarctica over the coming days to conduct a medical evacuation from the South Pole. Whilst not unheard of, it has been over a decade since the last mid winter evacuation from the South Pole was carried out by Twin Otter. 

For associated article go to

http://phys.org/news/2016-06-south-pole-medical-evacuation-flight.html

and for supplemental information check out
http://twinotterspotter.blogspot.co.nz/2016/06/aircraft-update-for-15-jun-2016.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Updated 23 June 2016 NZLT. 

Facebook link including images:
https://www.facebook.com/Division-of-Polar-Programs-National-Science-Foundation-1392901317615113/

New press releases regarding this rare South Pole mercy flight:

http://nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=138999

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/kenn-borek-air-weather-delays-june-20-1.3645013

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/south-pole-landing-challenge-1.3642739

And from a few years ago............

The AC-130 Gunship Inside and Out

US Air Force MC130H 89-0283

The third United States Air Force Lockheed MC130H Combat Talon II has arrived at Whenuapai with 89-0283 touching down on the evening of 21 June from Cairns via Amberley as SPIN21. The special ops Hercules had arrived Cairns 20 June from Kadena via Koror.

89-0283 visited NZ this time last year as TOKEN13 arriving at Whenuapai 18 June 2015 and departed 25 June 2015.

http://fnqskies.blogspot.co.nz/2016/06/usaf-sog-mc-130h-89-0283.html

Boeing 777-300 ZK-OKQ re-livery

Air New Zealand's "All Black" Boeing 777-300 ZK-OKQ has recently returned from a visit to Singapore's Paya Lebar joint civil/military airport touching down at Auckland during the first hour of 14 June as NZ6006. During its maintenance visit in Singapore ZK-OKQ has undergone a refresh of its all black livery to match that now worn by Boeing 787-9 ZK-NZE, A320 ZK-OAB and ATR ZK-MVA.

The airliner has proven difficult to photograph since its return with such short hours of daylight so the shot below was a rather desperate attempt to capture it arriving last weekend after a run from Auckland to Nadi and back.

Boeing 747-400 N356KD departs

Western Global Airlines Boeing 747-400BCF N356KD departed Christchurch late 20 June as WGN9356 destined for Seoul/Incheon, South Korea. The jet had arrived Christchurch during the early hours of 19 June from San Bernardino, California, carrying a replacement JT9 engine for NASA's Boeing 747SP N747NA. 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11660289

On arrival at Christchurch 19 June, M Hayes photo

P-8 Poseidon Surveillance South China Sea

SOFIA looking sharp!

NASA Boeing 747SP N747NA dubbed SOFIA was looking particularly sharp through the lens of Matt Hayes on the evening of 14 June as she prepared for her third star gazing mission across the Southern Hemisphere skies.

Thanks Matt for letting us share these with the wider audience.

Note the poignant illumination of the Airways control tower as a mark of respect to the lives lost in the tragic shooting in Orlando, FL the previous day.

Meanwhile, as mentioned yesterday morning, the 747SP is received some unexpected TLC with a replacement number 1 engine being flown in from the USA so hopefully SOFIA will be back in the air in the next few days. 

Western Global Airlines Boeing 747-400BCF N356KD

Touching down at Christchurch during the early hours of 19 June was Western Global Airlines Boeing 747-400BCF N356KD. The ex Japan Airlines and more recently Atlas Air Boeing converted freighter flew direct from San Bernardino, California as WGN3145 carrying a spare number 1 JT9 engine for NASA's Boeing 747SP N747NA which has been unservicable since the middle of the week. 

Western Global Airlines, established by former Southern Air founder Jim and Sunny Neff, is a recent startup in the air freight industry based out of Florida operating a large fleet of MD11 freighters and recently acquired 747-400's.

https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Western-Global-Airlines

https://worldairlinenews.com/tag/jim-neff/

Jetstar A320(SL) VH-VFU

Jetstar rolled out yet another Airbus A320 logo-jet with VH-VFU sporting "UNI QLO Tokyo to Gold Coast" decals. The sharklet equipped Airbus has in recent days ended up in the New Zealand circuit operating both domestic and international services and is seen here departing Auckland just prior to sunrise 13 June. 

Beech 1900D ZK-EAM exits

Eagle Airways Beech 1900D ZK-EAM MSN UE-436 has flown the coop with the 19 seater departing Hamilton lunchtime 14 June for Norfolk Island and carrying onto the Gold Coast 15 June and to Cairns 16 June.
CAA records show ownership changed to Kampala Executive Aviation on 13 June, showing a British Columbia, Canada address but appears to be Entebbe, Uganda based.

ZK-EAM was delivered to Hamilton on 06 August 2002 arriving from Pago Pago as N5016C. It was placed on the ZK register 13 August and after a test flight on 16 August positioned to Auckland from where it conducted its first passenger service to Gisborne as NZ2147.

ZK-EAM flew her last flights on 24 April 2015 flying from Hamilton to Auckland as NZ2204, back to Hamilton as NZ2205, then to Palmerston North as NZ2105 returning to Hamilton as NZ2106.  The Beech was subsequently noted carrying out a Hamilton-Hamilton flight on 18 March 2016.

Storage at Hamilton 24 December 2015. 

US Air Force MC130H 88-1803

The second United States Air Force Lockheed MC130H Combat Talon II has arrived at Whenuapai with 88-1803 touching down on the evening of 14 June from Cairns and Amberley as SPIN11. The special ops Hercules had arrived Cairns 13 June from Koror, Palau. 

88-1803 joins 89-0280 for the next couple of weeks on training exercises based out of Whenuapai and like previous visits will probably entail parachute operations and countrywide flying activities. 

File photo - 88-1803 leads the way during its 2015 visit to NZ. 

Up Close with God of The Seas

The visiting United States Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon 168437 to Auckland has attracted a significant amount of attention - as can be anticipated with such an amazing piece of military kit visiting our small corner of the world.

At approximately USD $250 million per aircraft one can hardly expect to see an example with RNZAF markings in the furture however the RAAF has eight of the type on order with the first recently flying from Boeing's Renton plant.

http://australianaviation.com.au/2016/05/first-flight-for-raafs-first-p-8-poseidon/