From DCL to TWN and TWI

Following on from the Air Gisborne post (http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/air-gisborne-40-years-old.html) Grayson Ottoway sent me in this piece in particular about Piper Pa34 Seneca ZK-DCL...

Bit late reading your piece but what memories!

I was a kid who lived a block from Gisborne Airport and spent a lot of time there. Andrew Reid and I were primary school mates.

CGF was wrecked in an incident in 1978 when the rear prop and it went through the tail and it was written off. I think it was on an air ambulance flight. The wreck sat by a creek by Bob Torr’s helicopter pad for many years.

I remember when DCL arrived. It ended up many years later in Tauranga privately owned, before being brought by Phill Hooker at Bay Flight. It had the turbos taken off it, but a LOT of pilots who flew with BFI over the years did time in her. Phill sold BFI a couple of years ago, but is back running things under Helipro’s ownership.

ZK-DCL in its purple Mount Aviation scheme taken at Tauranga on 19 January 2000

Re-registered as ZK-TWN with Bay Flight and photographed at Tauranga on  31 August 2010

Its third incarnation - Re-registered as ZK-TWI and photographed at Tauranga on 28 January 2012.  Grayson writes, A Tecnam Twin took the rego, and part of the letter was peeled off!) and only left Tauranga last year. It’s still with Helipro I believe. 

The new ZK-TWN - Tecnam P2006T at Tauranga on 21 November 2011

For May 1999 to November 1999 ZK-DCL was registered to Sunair... does anyone know if this was used on their air service during that time??? Please email me at westland831@gmail.com    Thanks, Steve