ZK-ARJ

I’ve had a few days off work for the school holidays and the boys & I ended up out at the airport two days in a row. Not a bad thing.

There are 30 new photos on the photostream, a selection of which are included below.

As seen on Rodney’s blog, this is the only Cessna 320 registered in New Zealand.

Also seen on Rodney’s site is RNZAF Iroquois NZ3805, seen here shortly after arrival.

I had seen Air2There‘s Cessna Caravan ZK-MYH briefly before I boarded my Auckland-bound flight in March, but had forgotten that it now sported a bright green tail, matching (to some extent) their Piper Navajo.

Once again noted by Rodney (who is obviously a lot quicker getting his photos online!) was visitor ZK-JGP from the Waikato Aero Club.

Another visitor was “KiwiAir” Reims/Cessna 406 ZK-XLF. I can’t find any online references to this operator, though they are listed on the CAA register.

And finally in the visitor stakes, Air Manawatu air ambulance ZK-TRC – a Cessna 421 Golden Eagle. A nice looking aircraft that (in my opinion) used to look good in RNZAF colours.

This is my final post of photos from my recent Auckland trip. These are from a two and a half hour stint at Auckland Airport prior to heading home, and a couple from the airport and the plane.

There was a typical selection of airliners including this Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER.

There were some slightly more interesting types such as this Air Pacific Boeing 737-700, clearly illustrating its shortened fuselage.

Of course, there was the star of the show. In fact, the aircraft I had planned to be there to watch. The magnificent Emirates Airbus A380. Wow!

Having checked in nice and early, I got a chance to snap the boarding process for Pacific Blue (this being a flight prior to mine). Two doors!

And finally, en-route to Wellington I snapped a few pics of the scenery including this, perhaps clichéd, shot of the wing of the aircraft.

More photos on the photostream starting here.

It is time for more photos from my Auckland trip in March. On the Sunday, before meeting up with friends, I took the time to pop down to Ardmore to see what was going on. Predictably there was a lot of GA traffic buzzing around the circuit and the ever-present helicopter training. Also as usual, there was a varied selection of GA types on the ground plus a few warbirds. What just struck me about the below 4 photos is that they are almost like the family album.

Papa, a venerable Cessna 150.

Junior, a Stoddard-Hamilton SH-2 Glasair RG.

Two of the cousins, an Airtrainer (left) and Airtourer (right). (And an uncle Chipmunk in the rear.)

And a feisty grandpa in the hospital being ‘fixed up’ – namely what I believe to be a Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk under restoration.

There are 18 photos from Ardmore. As they are just in the photostream, I suggest you start from this picture and click through.

There are 11 new shots that I took the day before the Whenuapai air show. They’re not part of any set and will soon slide off the front page of my photo stream, but you can click on one of the photos below and then move back and forth from there.

The first shot is of Air National’s new BAe 146-200. Well, not new as such, but new to them. I’ve read several reports from people who have seen it in operation but alas it sat in the hangar the entire 4 days I was up there.

This shot, to me, sums up Auckland International Airport nicely. Car parking building, pedestrian bridge, Air New Zealand terminal, control tower and Air New Zealand Boeing 777 ZK-OKC crossing the threshold of RWY23L.

More photos will follow soon, from the Monday after the airshow, when I spent a good few hours and managed to capture an A380 arriving.

Last weekend Wellington Aero Club had its annual open day on the western apron of Wellington airport. For such a ‘small affair’, there was quite an impressive array of aircraft present including even a few warbirds. On the negative side, it was disappointing that the 737 only showed up in the afternoon. I generally always go to these things early to beat some of the crowds, so missed out. The PA system was suggesting we might hang around until 3pm for a prize draw but good as the selection of aircraft was, it could not hold my attention for 5 hours!

Anyway, here are four of the sixteen photos now on my Flickr photostream.

This Helipro Robinson R44 was making plenty of flights with paying sightseers.

One of the two warbirds was the beautiful Corsair. Behind can be seen the tail of the other warbird, a Nanchang CJ6 (see also on photostream).

I can’t remember the last time I used my wide angle lens to photograph an operational aircraft. Sounds Air brought over their newest Caravan ZK-TZR.

And finally, many of the photos I took on the day were of aircraft not actually participating in the open day. Here is one of two yellow Cessna 172s that departed the apron while we were there.

Yes, I finally managed to get my pics processed and uploaded. I’ve been busy! The only reason I got them done today was because an appointment was cancelled.

Anyway, here are 10 photos that give a flavour of the day, including the typical (i.e. variable) Auckland weather. The photography was challenging in that many photos have very deep shadows and blown highlights.  In some, the entire sky was blown. I shot 799 photos on the day and have uploaded 146 for you to view.

First of all, yes, a 757 showed up.  Two of them! (Yes, the entire fleet.)

The day’s programme was somewhat odd in that the RNZAF displayed both in the morning and afternoon.  The morning displays were reasonably short, (especially the 757′s!) and were followed by a selection of warbirds.

I’d not previously seen ZK-AKU in this scheme.  Very nice!

The usual Corsair and Mustang were present and as brilliant as ever.  Check out that low pass from the Mustang!

The 757′s morning display was curtailed due to a technical fault, but in the afternoon it was put through its paces.

One of the main aircraft I was hoping to see was the USAF C-17 Globemaster III.  What an aircraft! This somewhat distant shot shows you the sort of display we were treated to.

The day was also livened up by three interesting formations, two of which I had never seen or even heard of before.

The “Thunder formation” of the heavies I had seen.

Completely new to me were a combined ‘trainer’ formation of a King Air and some Airtrainers, and the most surprising civil/military formation of Roaring Forties Harvards with Airtrainers.

The final display of the day was the most spectacular.  An RAAF F/A-18 Hornet is seen here ‘pulling g’ with vapour streaming off the airframe.  A very tight display and rather ear-splitting.  Perfect!

Check out the rest of the shots in the set on Flickr.

A small selection of photos taken on Wellington anniversary day – a less common day of the week for me to visit Wellington airport (being a Monday).

First, a pair of shots of RNZAF Boeing 757 NZ7571 taxying for RWY16, showing the versatility of my new lens.  The two shots are at 230mm and 62.5mm respectively, well inside the 55-300mm range available.  Both shots are slightly cropped from the as-shot frame but by similar amounts.

An interesting and slightly rare general aviation type is this Cessna 185, seen tucked in a corner by Wellington Aero Club (making the lighting a bit of a pain).

Air New Zealand (and former Freedom Air) Boeing 737 ZK-SJE was apparently in need of an urgent bit of attention.  This is the same (Air National) hangar that the recently afflicted ATR-72 was nosed into following its post take-off mishap.

Finally, something that may have been so for a while, but it was the first time I had noted it.  One of Wellington Flight Centre‘s aircraft has an interesting name.  I’ve heard of a beached whale, but a “Beech kipper”?