Yesterday, after an unexpected change in plans, I had some spare time and the skies were sunny, so I headed out to NZWN just to see what was going on.

I’ve uploaded 9 photos from the visit, a taster of which is included here.

Piper PA-31 Navajo, ZK-MJF here illustrates that not all gear retraction goes the same way, as the nose gear is fully stowed by the time the main gear begins.

Shooting between fence palings above the pedestrian subway entrance affords a more frontal view of aircraft departing on RWY34. Here are two such studies, featuring Qantas 737-800 ZK-ZQC and Jetstar A320, VH-VQE.

This interesting visitor is the first biz jet I’ve seen parked outside the brand new Execujet hangar. It’s IAI Gulfstream G200 Galaxy, N533GA seems to be a private aircraft and has been seen around New Zealand before.

And finally, Wellington Aero Club stalwart, Cessna 172 ZK-FLT gleams in the sun with it’s ‘snow job’ paint scheme.

Don’t forget to check out all 9 photos on Flickr.

In case you hadn’t noticed, another year has passed! Happy New Year to all.

Of course this means it is time for a roundup of favourites from my aviation photos again. 2011 didn’t produce many photos, but there was the Classic Fighters show down in Omaka over Easter and, predictably, a fair number of the dozen photos I selected came from that.

2012 also brings with it a new site design. I spent some time with Rodney earlier this month and we talked about lots of things aviation related including photography. During that discussion I decided it was probably time to spruce up the site a bit. The previous design owed a lot to the then default WordPress theme and looked a little, well, basic.

The new look, somewhat ironically, is also based on the default WordPress theme, but in the years between starting this blog and now, the default theme has improved a LOT! I’ve done a small amount of tweaking (11 CSS rules for those in the know) to get things looking just right for me, but for the most part it’s out of the box. I’ve re-imagined the header photos for the new, large display space they now occupy. The new theme makes it a doddle to add new ones, too, so expect more to appear soon.

One of the key differences to the design is the increased width which allows me to include larger versions of my photos. I’ve updated the previous post with the 42% larger photos and you’ll also see some below.

So, back to the favourites for 2011. Rather than include all 12 photos in the blog post, I’ll whet your appetite with a few examples and you can head on over to the Flickr set to get a look at the rest.

This photo is unusual in that I was not at an airport when I took it. I was at home! Normally, a southerly wind means standard 10 mile ILS approaches are flown almost directly over our house. However some days there are either visual or shorter ILS approaches which involve tracks either side of the house. One fine January day, RNZAF Boeing 757, NZ7571 gave me this opportunity.

One of the more interesting events in Wellington in 2011 was the arrival – for show – of Air New Zealand‘s first Boeing 777-300ER. That’s quite a large aircraft for Wellington’s short runway! It should be noted that ZK-OKM was neither the first nor the last 777 to visit Wellington but it is the biggest.

Finally for this post, no air show is complete without a low, fast pass by something with one seat, a big engine and an awesome sound. It’s hard to beat The Old Stick And Rudder Company‘s FG-1D Corsair for this, and it did not disappoint at Classic Fighters 2011.

That’s all for the post. Be sure to check out the set on Flickr for the full 12 shots I have selected as my favourites of 2011.

I finally had the chance to just head out to the airport with my camera and see what turned up. Nothing out of the ordinary turned up but it’s been so long I fired off a bunch of shots anyway. Seeing as I’ve only published 7 shots to Flickr, I thought I may as well include them all right here.

Qantas (JetConnect) Boeing 737-800 ZK-ZQB has everything committed to stopping. Slats, flaps, spoilers, reverse thrust and, I would assume, brakes. Also visible in this shot is one of the relatively new runway/taxiway markers.

Here are a couple of studies of Air New Zealand Link (Mount Cook Airline) ATR-72 ZK-MCF. This type is currently the least numerous in Air New Zealand’s extended fleet (including the Link-branded airlines) with a fleet of 11. However, Air New Zealand has confirmed a new order for 7 more aircraft which will bring the fleet strength level with the Beechcraft 1900D fleet operated by Eagle Airways.

Another Qantas (JetConnect) Boeing 737-800 ZK-ZQC hangs it all out at the end of a flight from Melbourne. I was watching this flight, amongst others, on my iPhone using the FlightRadar24 app and it appeared to execute an orbit near the Titahi Bay beacon. It also disappeared off the map for a little, so it may just have been bad data through the system. Intriguing, nonetheless.

ZK-ZQB and ZK-ZQC present a matched pair at the International Terminal. Check out all the fins, winglets and blade aerials!

Adding to the list of heavy metal arriving, Air New Zealand Airbus A320 ZK-OJB does the stopping thing that’s always pretty intense on Wellington’s short runway.

And finally, Pacific Jets’ Cessna Citation 510 Mustang ZK-PGA makes a sprightly leap off runway 16 into the stiff southerly.

…me again.

Yeah, it’s been that long. Over four months since I last posted! I blame generally rubbish weather and generally busy me. Busy with what, I’m not sure. I suppose for one month of those four my boss was away and muggins here took the all the flak. Anyway!

Herewith a selection of photos I’ve published on Flickr since last we spoke.

Being Canadian and not a Gulfstream, this Cessna Citation X, C-FNRG, is one of the rarer and therefore more interesting biz jets to visit recently – snapped at Wellington on October 2nd.

With the troubles of Air National, BAe 146 ZK-ECO is now operated by Vincent Aviation, though it still carries the former carrier’s logo.

While poking around the airport today for the first time in ages, I was invited airside by Rodney and a colleague. I took the opportunity to get some shots neither over nor through any fences including Wellington Aero Club‘s Nanchang CJ-6, ZK-MAO…

…Cirrus SR22, ZK-YUG…

…and visiting USAF C-37A (Gulfstream V) 97-0401.

You can check out all the new photos since the last post on Flickr.

It’s been a while since I posted – almost 3 months! Blame it on the winter weather we’ve been having. Anyway, I’ve just uploaded a bunch of photos from two recent trips out to Wellington Airport.

Two of the most interesting aircraft included are aero-medical aircraft.

ZK-PLK is a Beechcraft B200C King Air operated by Skyline Aviation.

ZK-KBF is a Cessna 421B operated by the New Zealand Flying Doctor Service (though it appears to be owned by Garden City Helicopters).

And finally, here’s a shot of a couple of fairly ordinary aircraft for Wellington but the situation and timing demanded a caption.

OK, so today you’ll be learning about crosswind components. Do you know how a crosswind affects the aircraft?

You can find the rest of the new additions on Flickr.

Today was the last day of daylight saving and a very pleasant 20 degrees or so with plenty of sun. As such days are becoming rarer at this time of year, I took the opportunity to head out of the house for a few hours with my camera. First stop was Wellington Airport.

Here’s a small selection from the 17 shots now on Flickr.

I’m not sure of the registration or provenance of what I believe to be Vincent Aviation’s Saab 340, but it, err, needs a little work!

Jetstar’s Airbus A320 VH-VQC is moments from touchdown on RWY16. Once again, the fuselage ribbing and consequent skin contours are visible in this light.

I have seen Qantas 737-800s at Wellington before, but ever since JetConnect (who operate the NZ-based aircraft for the Tasman routes) began replacing their fleet of -400s I have never managed to catch one. Until today.

Well that will do for this selection. As mentioned above, there are 17 shots uploaded on Flickr.

In addition to getting around to processing a lot of photos, I also spent a bit of time out at the airport today. The first decent stay in many months.

The photos don’t show anything new or exciting but I was interested to see how my new camera would perform in familiar settings. On the whole, I’m quite pleased with the results, although some of the shots I took weren’t too sharp. I suspect camera shake and dealing with a fence are at least partly to blame, as many of the shots that didn’t have to deal with either of those factors have come out nicely.

First up is a flying doctor. This Palmerston North registered Beechcraft Bonanza, ZK-EDS, is marked for “Dr. Ralph” and helpfully includes his phone number.

Next up this capture of another Beechcraft — Eagle Air’s 1900D, ZK-EAQ — reminded me of a recent event. So, I’d like to call this configuration “doing the dash.”

Third, and final for the blog post, is this shot of what I thought were two Wellington Aero Club Piper Tomahawks. Except when checking Rodney’s blog for info on the recently added ZK-TAW, I note that this aircraft replaced ZK-JFE — which you can see in the background. Hmmmm.

You can see all of today’s photos on Flickr.

It has taken me a while to get the time for processing photos, and then to get past some serious issues with memory card readers. But finally, here are my 777 pictures from Wellington. Yes, Wellington!

Air New Zealand‘s first Boeing 777-319ER, ZK-OKM has been popping around the country to show off its interior to some dignitaries and frequent flyers. What makes the interior worth showing off is Air New Zealand’s unique seating fit-out, including a first-in-world “cuddle class” economy “sky couch” which allows three economy seats to be used as a lie flat bed for two people. (The third seat is covered by a surcharge and is otherwise unoccupied.)

One of its visits was to lil’ ol’ Welly. So little, that the aircraft arrived with only 20 persons on board in order to deal with Wellington’s relatively short runway. There is no way a fully laden 777 could operate from Wellington. Many, MANY people turned out to watch the arrival around 10:45 on February 9th, including myself. I’m sure there were quite a few at around 16:00 when it departed, too. I’ve see photos of an impressively short take-off roll and epic climbout.

Anyway, enough rambling. The photos! Three are shown here. You can find all eight shots on Flickr.

First, on late finals over Evans Bay with Mounts Victoria and Kaukau in the background.

The moment of touchdown on RWY16.

A picture I took for the purposes of scale. This beastie is HUGE for Wellington! It has been said this is the longest aircraft ever to have landed here.

I’ve barely been out at the airport recently. Aside from being rather busy with other things, the weather really hasn’t been the greatest lately. At least, not when I’m not working!

But over a couple of visits I’ve been able to capture some new schemes and new aircraft.

First up, this Piper PA-28-181 Archer II. I thought I had seen this aircraft around before so didn’t pay too much attention to capturing the registration, but analysing what I can see, I’d pick it to be ZK-LJF from the Canterbury Aero Club. Indeed the colour scheme ties in with photos on Rodney’s blog of LJC, LJD and LJE, so I am fairly confident in my assessment.

Edit: Thanks to a comment from Scott, this aircraft has been identified as being Archer III ZK-LJE.

Moving up market, just a wee bit, we find movie director Peter Jackson’s little runabout. A rather fetching Gulfstream 550.

Possibly better looking than even the G550 is this Heletranz Eurocopter EC120B. I recall seeing this machine many years ago, I think when I lived in Auckland in 2003/2004. According to Rodney, it was here filming the arrival of the ocean racing yachts.

And finally we have Piper PA-32R Saratoga ZK-ZIG which, after nearly 5 years with Capital Air, has now been sold to Golden Bay Air of Takaka. But that’s not all that’s new about this photo. It is also the first aircraft photo taken with my brand new Pentax K-5 camera. I picked it up from the shop on Thursday and apart from a brief walk to the Wellington waterfront at lunchtime on Friday, the weather has been steadfastly miserable. This shot was taken with my back to the incessant drizzle and after waiting about a minute for the wind to die down enough that I wasn’t going to get severe camera shake (which ruined two other shots).