First up, we took a break from driving north at Taupo Airport where we spotted this rather strikingly coloured PAC 750XL.

Out at the Lake Rotorua lakefront were to be found a pair of hard-working floatplanes. A Cessna U206G…

…and this unique (to New Zealand) De Havilland DHC-3 Otter.

Over at Rotorua Airport, on the other side of the lake, can be found a variety of GA aircraft such as this Eurocopter AS350 B3 Squirrel.

Aside from quite a number of ATR-72, DHC-8 and the occasional B1900D, the most impressive arrival had to be this Air New Zealand Airbus A320, which arrived from and departed to Sydney.

There are a few more shots of these and other aircraft on the photostream but they will be well spread out so you can find them in the Aviation (Other) set or, if you’re into scenery, check out the whole Rotorua set.

A total of 17 photos have been added to the photostream. Here are just a sampling of those.

This is a sight that will gradually become less and less common as, over the next 6 years, Air New Zealand phases out their Boeing 737-300 fleet in favour of new-buy Airbus A320s. Pictured is one of the newest 737-300 airframes in the world, ZK-NGH. The only two newer are ZK-NGI and ZK-NGJ.

A type set to become slightly more common is the 737-800 which has been the sole type in the Pacific Blue fleet and will begin replacing 737-400 aircraft in the local Qantas fleet. Pictured is ZK-PBL heading into the sun on a late morning departure from Wellington’s RWY34.

Air2There seem to be thriving in the local market. Cessna 208B Grand Caravan ZK-MYH – “Mike Yankee Hotel” – can often be seen in and out of NZWN and also scooting along at 1500ft between NZWN and home base, NZPP.

Staying on the small side, but back to full jet power is NZWN-based Cessna Mustang ZK-MUS.

Some nice clear blue Wellington sky and sun gave some beautiful pics of some of the regulars like Sounds Air Cessna 208 Caravan ZK-PDM…

…Air New Zealand (formerly Freedom Air) Boeing 737-300 ZK-SJE…

…and Mount Cook Airline ATR-72 500 ZK-MCB.

Ever so slightly more exciting was Skyline Aviation Cessna 421 ZK-MFT.

This final photo illustrates (as best as I could) a new feature of the Air Nelson (Air New Zealand Link) DHC-8 Q300 aircraft such as ZK-NEB seen here. The landing lights pulse in an alternating pattern during approach. I thought I was seeing things at first but confirmed it through my camera lens. In the photo you can see that the port light is brighter than the starboard one. The lights never extinguish in this process. They go from a “park light” brightness, still visible to the unaided eye, to a “full beam” brightness.

Click on the photo to go to the Flickr page and then click “All sizes” to see it larger.

There are some more photos on the stream or in the Wellington Airport set.

Despite a long run of good weather in these parts, I’ve not spent more than a few minutes at the airport until yesterday. Nothing unusual to be seen, but I did capture a few good Jetstar shots. Something I have been lacking in my collection to date.

There are more photos on the stream or in the WIAL set.

Rock band AC/DC arrived for their Wellington concert in style in this Airbus Corporate Jet based on the A318 model. It’s similar to Air New Zealand’s and Jetstar’s A320s but over 6 metres shorter. (It’s not just the wide angle – check out some other shots on my photostream.)

Pacific Jets’ Cessna Citation CJ3 has been around for many years, though I’ve not often seen it in Wellington.

And once again, the US military are paying a visit (for reasons unknown to me). In this case, on a US Navy C-37 – better known as a Gulfstream 550.

For the fourth jet, you’re going to have to pop on over to Rodney’s Aviation Ramblings, where he has a nice pic of a British Falcon 2000EX. I know I was only out there for a short time today, but I’m a bit miffed at missing that one. Last time there was a large Falcon model at Wellington, I arrived just as it was taking off – too late for a photo.

I was sitting at the airport today listening to the scanner and hearing aircraft being sent to various reporting points including WETTA and Ohura. When I got home I set about finding out where these points are. The CAA web site provided the answer in purely numeric form, so I took it one step (in fact lots of steps) further and plotted them on Google Earth.

You can take a look for yourself by downloading the KML file and opening it in Google Earth. You can also import directly into “My Maps” on Google Maps, however the display on Google Maps does not automatically show the labels (the reporting point names) and there are a LOT of points.

I noted several interesting layouts of the points. There is a series of points on a 40nm radius circle around Christchurch International Airport. Another circle around Auckland International Airport sits at 200nm. Then there is the ‘Tasman wall’ – a near-vertical line of points in the Tasman sea, and the stepping stone line of points down to Antarctica. There are also many points out in the Pacific Ocean, up to 2390nm away.

Screen capture of data from Google Earth (click picture to download)

Pacific Blue’s ‘cousin’, Polynesian Blue is a regular visitor to Wellington, but I see it rarely. A shame, as I far prefer the palm tree on the tail than the ugly writing. ZK-PBF climbs out from RWY34 on a stiff and gusty nor-wester.

Another relatively frequent, though unscheduled visitor to Wellington is Air National’s Gulfstream G-IV, ZK-KFB. Gulfstreams are such beautiful aircraft from just about any angle.

Speaking of angles, here’s how you get a G-IV off the ground in a gusty nor-wester. The pilot fair yanked back on the controls as ZK-KFB literally leapt off the runway.

Finally, mid-November saw New Zealand’s national Association Football team – the All Whites – take on that of the nation of Bahrain at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium in a World Cup qualifying match. The latter team arrived on a Gulf Air Airbus 340. Here, A9C-LI frames RNZAF Boeing 757, NZ7572. After sitting on the tarmac at Wellington for a few days, the Airbus whisked away the disappointed Bahrain team. (Yes, we won.)

There are more shots of A9C-LI (and ZK-KFB) on the Photostream.

First up, November 1st saw the celebration of 50 years of Wellington Airport. Well, technically so. The day was rather tame in comparison to the opening ceremony in 1959. I showed up just after lunch and appeared to have missed anything going on. Apart from witnessing an RNZAF Iroquois departing, the biggest excitement was finding RNZAF Historic Flight Harvard NZ1015 sitting outside Wellington Aero Club.

This shot nicely encapsulates domestic airline operations at Wellington. The clean lines of the domestic terminal and its “Wild at Heart” slogan form the backdrop for Pacific Blue’s ZK-PBM, as seen through the heat haze from the western apron.

And on the western apron, Life Flight Trust’s (latest) BK117 ZK-HLF touches down directly on the trailer for easy hangaring.

Here’s a shot that could only be at Wellington. Mount Cook Airline’s ATR-72 ZK-MCW, superimposed on Mount Victoria, gets caught by a gust just before touch down on RWY 16 in a stiff southerly. The white aircraft is reflecting the blue-green hues of the sea and hills.

ZK-PBM again, on another day, moments from touch down on RWY 16.

And finally a sight that, although very common today, will become rarer in the next couple of years as Air New Zealand’s Boeing 737-300 fleet is retired in favour of standardising on the Airbus A320 for both domestic and international shorthaul routes.

Check out the Wellington Airport set on Flickr for the other new additions.