Now an Aussie

 

Golden Bay Air's ex-Piper Pa34-220T Seneca III, ZK-ZAG (c/n 34-8333002) is now on the Australian register. Ir was registered to Golden Bay Air Ltd on the 17th of February 2011 having arrived into New Zealand by a ship. It was prepared for service at Ardmore and was delivered to the airline's Takaka base on the 8th of June 2011.

Golden Bay Air's Piper Pa34 Seneca ZK-ZAG at Takaka on 22 January 2014.

Looking very sharp is Golden Bay Air's Piper Seneca ZK-ZAG awaiting take-off clearance at Wellington on 27 October 2014.

ZK-ZAG ended service with Golden Bay Air on the 28th of August 2023 flying Takaka to Wellington as GBY121 and the return service GBY211. 

On the 3rd of November 2023 ZK-ZAG headed across the Tasman flying Nelson-Motueka-Ardmore-Kerikeri-Norfolk Island and on the 4th of November from Norfolk Island to Lord Howe Island and on to the Gold Coast and Goulburn.

It was cancelled from New Zealand register on 9 November 2023 and placed on the Australian register as VH-AF2 on 16 November 2023 being registered to Canis Loopus Pty Ltd of Darwin.  

OKU enters service

Entering service with Air New Zealand today was Boeing 777-367ER ZK-OKU. The airliner is on a three year lease to Air New Zealand from Air Lease Corporation. It had previously been in service with Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airlines as B-KPJ. 

It arrived into Auckland on the 15th of October 2023 as T7-SON and was registered as ZK-OKU on 16 October 2023.

It entered service today, 17 November 2023, flying Auckland to Melbourne as NZ121 and the return service NZ124.

 

Boeing 777-300 ZK-OKU arriving back into Auckland on NZ124 on its first day of service with Air New Zealand

North Shore on the 13th

North Shore airport on 13 November 2023

Hughes 369D "500D" ZK-IMT

Socata TB10 Tobago ZK-JIE

Island Aviation's Britten-Norman BN2A-26 Islander ZK-PIZ

Cessna 182Q Skylane ZK-RDJ

Vans RV-8, ZK-SST

North Shore on the 12th

North Shore airport on 12 November 2023

Cessna 150 ZK-CXK

A couple of shots of Cessna A150M ZK-DOF

McDonnell Douglas 500N

Spotting the plane spotter

Cessna 150M ZK-LRD

Piper PA-28-161 Archer ZK-MBK

Cessna 182R ZK-NPC

Maule MXT-7-180A ZK-RLT

Island Aviation's Cessna 172N ZK-RNX 

Progressive Aerodyne Searey LSA ZK-SWM

Vans RV-9A ZK-VNS

 

Thames on Saturday

On Saturday I visited Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield in Thames... The airfield is named for a son of the town who, having been promoted to Air Vice-Marshal in April 1940. He was given command of No. 11 Group, responsible for the defence of London and south-east England throughout the Battle of Britain. He developed a reputation as a ‘hands-on’ leader, often flying his personal Hurricane, designated OK-1, to embattled airfields to inspire his hard-pressed pilots.

The replica of Keith Park's Hawker Hurricane at Thames on 11 November 2023

On the 31st of December 2009 Keith Park's statue was in Trafalgar Square with Lord Nelson who saved Britain from the Spanish Armada. I think they should have left him there...

Tecnam P96 Golf ZK-JAN at Thames on 11 November 2023

Aeroprakt A-22LS ZK-LAX at Thames on 11 November 2023

Ultravia Pelican Club GS ZK-MAL at Thames on 11 November 2023

Vans RV-3 ZK-XRD at Thames on 11 November 2023

Wellington last week

Just the opportunity for one photo at Wellington on 9 November 2023... Sounds Air's Pilatus PC12 ZK-PLV arriving from Westport

 

Still Missing

Over sixty years on de Havilland DH90 Dragonfly ZK-AFB is still missing... Operated by Brian Chadwick's company Air Charter it disappeared on a flight between Christchurch and Milford Sound. There have been many attempts to find out... This is a report on the latest search... https://www.waikatotimes.co.nz/a/nz-news/350107998/mystery-dragonfly-rainbow

My history of this company can be found here... https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2022/01/brian-chadwicks-air-charter.html

Bay of Plenty Air Services - The Eastern Bay of Plenty's Auster Airline

 

Bay of Plenty Air Services should not be confused with Bay of Plenty Airways.

Opotiki-based Bay of Plenty Air Services Ltd was inspired by a local, John Dicker who was the Engineer-Manager of the Bay of Plenty Power Board in Opotiki and Taranaki-man Harold Newton in the early 1950s. After the Second World War Opotiki wanted its air service restored and, at this time, Whakatane did not have an aerodrome. An air service briefly operated by the Tauranga Aero Club, on behalf of the Opotiki Aero Club, didn't met the town's expectations let alone the Eastern Bay of Plenty region's expectation.  A partnership between a local businessman and a pilot seemed a good option.

The pilot, Harold Newton, was born in Waitara in 1916 and grew up on the family farm near Urenui. Joining the RNZAF during World War II he did flying training in Canada before joining the RAF flying Wellingtons, Mosquitos and Beaufighters. 

On the 19th of February 1943 the Waikato Times reported that Pilot-Officer Harold B. Newton, of Urenui, was piloting a Beaufighter that shot down a Dornier near the South Wales coast on February 16. He sighted four enemy planes, the first one disappearing with two large fires burning near the engine. Pilot-Officer Newton then encountered two planes flying together. One escaped but the other he sent down in flames. Later another raider dived with smoke pouring from the starboard engine after being attacked, but it was not seen to crash. Pilot-Officer Newton was interned in Portugal in 1941, when he made a forced landing while going to Gibraltar, but returned to England in January of last year. He received the DFC for shooting down the two Dornier bombers and damaging a third. 

After the war he flew for the RAF’s Berlin Air Command, transporting food and other supplies to the West-Berlin enclave in the middle of Soviet-controlled eastern Germany. He is also renowned for, in the face of a failed prospective romance, buying and flying an Erco Ercoupe 415D from Belgium to New Zealand where it was registered ZK-AQX. The 19,000 kilometre journey took 3 weeks. The Ercoupe was later sold to the Auckland Aero Club.

Recognising the possibility of operating a non-scheduled air service from Opotiki to Whakatane  Auckland John Dicker and Harold Newton formed Bay of Plenty Air Services Ltd in late 1951. The company commenced operations from Opotiki in November 1951 using Auster J/5B Autocar ZK-AYN which had been registered to Harold Newton on the 15th of November 1951. 

An early photo of Auster Autocar ZK-AYN at Whenuapai

Harold Newton was later replaced by William Sutton as the new pilot but Harold was still available as the relief pilot. The company engaged with charter work and local joyriding from Opotiki. By August 1952 the company had flown 251 passengers on 118 charter flights as far away as Auckland and Wellington and it had flown 255 passengers on 90 local joyriding flights. The Opotiki News of the 9th of September 1952 reported that the plane was used considerably for carrying of hospital patients to and from Opotiki.  Whakatane residents also made use of the service, travelling by car to and from Whakatane to Opotiki to travel by air.

In August 1952 the company applied to operate a non-scheduled passenger and freight service from Opotiki to any aerodrome in New Zealand. They company also applied to operate two scheduled passenger and freight services, the first from Opotiki and Whakatane to Auckland stopping as needed at intermediate aerodromes as and when they become available and the second from Whakatane and Opotiki to Gisborne via To Araroa stopping as needed at intermediate airstrips around the East Cape as and when they were developed. The Auckland service was going to operate thrice weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays leaving Opotiki in the morning at 7.00am during the summer months and 8.00am during the winter months. The return flight was planned to leave at 4.30pm during the summer months and 2.45pm during the winter months with a flight time (including stops) of about 2½ hours. The Gisborne service was expected to operate twice weekly. The company planned to use a de Havilland Canada Beaver for the scheduled services. The Beaver was, at this time, a relatively new aircraft having only gone into production in April 1948 and the first examples having arrived in New Zealand in 1951. In the event the application for the Beaver-operated scheduled service was withdrawn at the start of the hearing. 

Instead the company was given a licence to operate non-scheduled (including air taxi and charter) passenger and freight services from licensed aerodromes at Opotiki and  Whakatane to any licensed aerodrome in New Zealand. No regular service was flown. 

Bay of Plenty Air Services' initial impetus didn't continue. A letter to the Bay of Plenty Air Services' Managing Director, Mr J. D. Dicker, indicated that the Civil Aviation Branch of Air Department had made inquiries about the operation of the company and these seemed to indicate that flying operations ceased on the 29th December of 1952. 

On the 4th of March 1954 the Auster was registered to the New Plymouth Aero Club. The company's licence lapsed and was revoked on the 7th of April 1954, the Auster having been registered to the New Plymouth Aero Club on the 4th of March 1954. Bay of Plenty Air Services Ltd was struck off the Companies Register on the 15th of January 1958.

As a couple of personal postscripts, I had the opportunity to go for a fly in the Auster ZK-AYN many years later when it was owned by topdressing pilots Colin Sutherland and Barry Cowley. Colin was down from the North Island and based at my home town of Hokitika doing some topdressing and wanted to check out the topdressing strips beforehand and I was invited for a flight. The Auster was finally withdrawn from the civil aircraft register on the 19th of July 2010. 

Auster ZK-AYN at Hokitika in February 1979

The other postscript is that Harold Newton's Erco Ercoupe 415D ZK-AQX is owned by his son and now lives in Hokitika. 

Erco Ercoupe 415D ZK-AQX at Hokitika on 5 February 2024.

This post marks the end of my series on air service operators to Opotiki. The profiles of the other operators may be found at https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2022/06/air-services-to-opotiki-index-of-posts.html

Makarora Last Week

The only photo I took through the Haast Pass, both ways, last week was Wanaka Helicopters Aerospatiale Squirrel ZK-HFF at Makarora on 30 October 2023. There was nothing to be seen at Haast

 

Texel Movements

Crossing the Tasman today are both Texel Air's local Boeing 737-800 freighters. 

ZK-TXA is operating to Brisbane as TEXEL 44. I have been led to understand that it will be operating freighter services in Australia.

ZK-TXE is also operating to Brisbane as TEXEL 42. It will return to Auckland later today as TEXEL 41.

 

Cromwell last week

It has been years since I visited Cromwell and I was amazed at the number of hangars and even more delighted to get 3 new photos as I headed to Queenstown for my flight home...

The biggest surprise was Diamond DA62 ZK-DIA at Cromwell on 4 November 2023

Zenith Zodiac CH 601-XL ZK-FLD at Cromwell on 4 November 2023

Vans RV-6 ZK-XTC at Cromwell on 4 November 2023

Originair Update

Originair has loaded their 2024 schedule on to their website. They've increased daily services between Nelson and Wellington to 13 flights per week. The airline continues to offer 8 flights per week between Nelson and Palmerston North and thrice weekly direct services between Hamilton and Palmerston North and services between Nelson and Hamilton with just a short stopover in Palmerston North.