Register Update Service

The New Zealand connection continues with sixteen aircraft joining the register from across the Tasman. Probably the most interesting is Lloyd Helicopters Bell 212 HVX which was originally delivered to Helibuss of Norway in 1973. It was to go to England as G-BHAG in 1979 but this sale did not eventuate and the big twin stayed in Norway until early 1988 when it was sold to Lloyds. It was shipped to New Zealand for a new operation based at New Plymouth but this did not progress as the Adelaide company had hoped and so the aircraft has been shipped to Australia where it can be better utilized in Lloyd’s large Australian fleet. Two hundred and two Harvards were bought on charge by the RNZAF during WW2 and NZ1060 was one of 54 of the type that survived. After 38 years of service all but one of the remaining aircraft were sold off by the RNZAF and NZ1060 found its way to the RAAF Point Cook Museum for static exhibition with a view to restoration to flying condition. The aircraft is now flying again in pristine condition as SFY but painted to represent a much earlier aircraft, NZ934. Mr Keirle’s Cessna Chancellor GKB was operated in New Zealand by Taranaki Motors and Sungold’s Chieftain HSI by Nationwide Aviation both of New Plymouth while J Hick’s twelve year old Aztec ICY was owned by retired Formula 1 racing driver Chris Amon and based at Christchurch.

Grumman Tiger DSY has spent the last seven years in England where its last owner was Moyniham Motor Engineering of Elstree near London but now enjoys the slightly improved climate of the Gold Coast. The NSCA have been looking at acquiring a bizjet for some time to complement their fleet and were rumoured to be looking at a Cessna Citation at one point, however they have settled for the Falcon 100 demonstrator N100H which is now registered JDW. Eight Grob G115 powered gliders arrived in Adelaide from West Germany during early September for the Australian Aviation College. The aircraft, now registered TGE, TGK, TGL, TGM, TGN, TGT, TGV and TGW are the first of this type in Australia and will supplement the College’s already large fleet of Tobagos and Trinidads engaged in pilot training.

Helicopters again make up a large portion of the new allocations but this issue Bell have a slight edge on numbers with ten aircraft registered as opposed to Robinson with eight. Two Aerospatiales, three Hughes and two Sikorskys make up the rest. As is usual at this time of year the NSCA’s Bell 2058 are returning from their annual sojourn to Canada for the northern bush fire fighting season but in order to keep the NS block of registrations for Bell 212 and 412 types the 2058 have been registered in the NG block. Examples of this are NSI, NSJ and NSH which have returned as NGI, NGJ and NGK while Bell 412 N9104F has become NSI. The military version of the 205 is of course the UH-1 Iroquois which is used extensively by the Australian Armed Forces but we have never seen this version on the civil register before.

This has changed now with the edition of UHE which was built as part of a 1977 contract for the US Army. It was delivered during 1978 but soon went to the Argentine Army as AE-424 and saw active service during the Falkland Island invasion in April 1982. When the British recaptured the islands during June, the Iroquois was one of about ten airworthy aircraft that fell into British hands. While most were shipped back to England to be displayed in museums, AE-424 was handed over to the Falkland Islands Government Air Service which had been trying to run an airline linking the islands before the war. After only a couple of flights as VP-FBD, the helicopter was found to be unsuitable and, a Beaver floatplane was acquired whereby the Iroquois was shipped to England. It was put on the British register in January 1986 but almost a year later was badly damaged when a hangar collapsed onto it at Headcom on 14th January 1987. Autair Helicopters of Panshanger then rebuilt it and once again it took to the sea, this time for Brisbane. In a bold move Helicopter Developments will use the aircraft to test and demonstrate an update package planned to be offered to the Government for use on the Iroquois presently in service.

Reregistrations figure prominently in the deletions section with the HCF sponsored Careflight rescue helicopter HCF becoming HQO to enable their new Dauphin to use the sponsor’s name as a registration. Cessna Stationair OBK was registered to the South Australian Government Environment and Planning Department on the 6th September but only two days later changed to OBD and if Mitsubishi MU-2B MUT was changed to stop people referring to the aircraft as a dog, I certainly hope that its new registration MUG does not become a label for the pilot.

Three aircraft recently bought by Amman Aviation have also been changed to bring them into line with the rest of the fleet which are all registered in the NY block. Several aircraft have been exported including Sea Fury HFA which is a great loss to the warbird scene and although Squirrel HXZ has been withdrawn from use, I suspect that it will find its way back to New Zealand from whence it came only three months previously. Super King Air SPQ has gone to PNG after its lease to Flight West, as has the Missionary Aviation Fellowship’s Cessna Stationair HBP. Also heading to PNG is HLL, the first Robinson to be registered in that country.

Two mid air collisions in Queensland claimed several lives and four aircraft during May and August with Cherokee DMB colliding with another Cherokee WAS over Moreton Bay and Cessna Skyhawk HIZ tangling with Tomahawk MHQ over Coolangatta.

Ferry flights of both new and used aircraft continue at a high rate with November and December seeing 27 and 32 respectively arriving at east coast airports. Christmas Eve saw no fewer than nine aircraft arrive consisting of four Mooneys, a Baron, Seneca, Cessna 210 and two Cessna 172s. Other interesting aircraft were a Transavia Airtruk from New Zealand and a Lockheed Neptune from the USA on 13th November (refer Warbirds), a Beech 300 on the 16th and two Ayres S2Rs on the 18th and 22nd November. December deliveries included four Navajos, a Fletcher and a Twin Otter. Unfortunately the risks involved with long overwater ferry flights have been highlighted recently with the loss of Mitsubishi MU. 28 N296MA on 10th December en route from Majuro to Cairns and PA34 Seneca N8295M soon after leaving Honiara for Brisbane on the evening of 19th January.