From the Convair stable, the CV-240 begat the CV-340 begat the CV-580 which you see here. The original design having heaved into the air in 1947. Although production ceased by 1956, these aircraft – in all their variants – can still be found hauling freight and, in this case, passengers on non-prime routes.
Unfortunately in New Zealand, a couple of this type have come to an untimely end on freight runs. One off the end of Auckland airport on takeoff in 1989 (3 dead) and another mid-flight near Kapiti Island in 2003 (2 dead) in stormy weather.
I’m not sure you’d get me on one of those things!
Nice photos! Thanks for the links to the accident reports.
What camera do you have? Megapixels and optical zoom?
Cheers!
Rodney
I have a Pentax K10D – which is 10 Mpix – with a Sigma 100-300mm f4.5-6.7 zoom. The camera is pretty new but the lens was purchased almost 10 years ago with a Pentax MZ-50 – the camera responsible for most of the content on the old site. Whilst the long lens does most of the work for aviation subjects, I also use the kit lens that came with the K10D, a Pentax 18-55mm f3.5-5.6
Nice gear