New planespotting photos ... with a difference

[ardypilot]

Hi all,

I like to photograph aircraft, normally at Auckland International Airport (NZAA), but today my photos are different from the rest. There are no heavy jets here. This time I went on a photo shoot at Ardmore Airport (NZAR), New Zealand's busiest GA airport (ranked the highest in the country by number of aircraft manoeuvres) which is only 15 minutes away from my house.

Also, unlike previous threads- this one is 56k friendly. There are 33 images totalling 4.42mb and if you where on a slow connection then this page would kill you I have put thumbnails next to each caption which are each linked to the fullsize shot.

The quality is perhaps not as good as my other selections, but I was having too much fun snapping at every moving metallic object to worry about lighting and contrast Hopefully these images will display the atmosphere of the busy little airport as I have lots of different shots from a wide variety of locations and angles.

Just click on the mini image to see the full sized photo- enjoy!




1. The first aircraft I saw was A Russian MIG fighter! (A long way from home and totally unexpected)


2. "Kiwi Thunder" one of ten Thunder Mustang's flying world wide


3. A close up of the Kiwi Thunder- just look at that turbo!


4. ZK-EBE, the Piper Cherokee I recently piloted in RL (Owned by a family friend)


5. The NZ Warbids Assosiation fully restored Catalina


6. Marlborough Helicopters ZK-HTA Bell 206B


7. A sleek Partenavia P 68C landing on the wet runway


8. Mountain Air's newest Britten Norman 2N Islander "Peg Leg"Â￾


9. A Side view showing the old "Wings over Whales"Â￾ livery as it sits on the tarmac awaiting its new paintjob


10. Both of the engine covers are off of ZK-SFK


11. ZK-JKB Cessna 172 owned by Auckland Flight Training Ltd


12. An old C150 parked on the grass


13. A sweet C210 Centurion- much bigger than my virtual Carenado model


14. Northern Charters' Cessna 421B


15. Not completed yet, this Piper Cherokee glistens its bare metal bodywork in the mid afternoon sun


16. Another Cessna 150, with a beard


17. ZK-TAQ makes a rough landing in the wind


18. An ex RNZAF Bristol Freighter parked in someones garden. I don't think it is airworthy for some reason


19. A visiting American Cessna Citation personal jet. Sorry for the bad angle- it was as close as I could get


20. ZK-HUM, a Kawasaki-Hughes 369HS Helicopter lands meteres infront of me


21. Auckland Aero Club's fleet of Grumman American AA-1C's


22. A great action shot!


23. ZK-FVR taxis to the active in the low evening sun


24. Why is the pilot of this Piper PA-28 looking at me like that?


25. An Ardmore Flying School student on finals for runway 03


26. A few more C172's parked up on the Flying School apron


27. A Mountain Air Piper Aztec


28. A Cessna 185C (with cargo pod) bringing back the weekend's shopping from Whitianga


29. This aircraft is for lease, but you will need your own propeller if you want to fly it


30. Christian Aviations "ZK-JAF"Â￾ I wonder if there is a link between the company's Auckland base and the Aucklander nickname JAFA?


31. A nose view of the NZ Warbirds DC-3


32. A rear angle shot of ZK-DAK parked up next to the tower. She looks like she could go with a new coat of paint.


33. I dunno what the heck this is, but it even makes the Britten Norman Tri Islander look good!


Thats all folks- comments are welcome as always.

[Alex]

Maybe they are holding off repainting the DC3 to get that 'I've been through everything and back again' look . But nice pics Trolly, looked like a good day.

Alex

[Charl]

Trolly
Many thanks for the pics - I've bagged JKB already.
Haven't been down to Ardmore for a long while, it certainly has its share of odd ones doesn't it?
That canard-footed twintail looks like a Transavia Airtruck agricultural aircraft, by the way.
PS Someone mentioned a 2-seater Mustang down at Ardmore, did you come across something like that?

[ardypilot]

PS Someone mentioned a 2-seater Mustang down at Ardmore, did you come across something like that?

The pilot of the Thunder told me there is another P51D and our Thunder Mustang which is two seat with dual controls.

[FlyingKiwi]

Nice pics, that MiG is actually for sale; there's a small section about it on the New Zealand Warbirds Association's website. (pretty sure it isn't airworthy though)

[bardos]

Trolly,
you're lucky. You have better and more airshows as we have in Holland.
Your nr. 33 is probably the Transavia PL-12 Airtruck (agricultural? or what the english word is:unsure:. Over 100 are built in the late sixties. I believe Mike Stone made one for FS2002.

Btw, you still love Haribo's?

[FlyingKiwi]

Yeah Bardos is right, that's an Airtruck. The earlier models with radial engines looked even worse!

[Craig]

33. I dunno what the heck this is, but it even makes the Britten Norman Tri Islander look good! 

The Transavia Airtruk & Skyfarmer 
Country of origin   

Australia

Powerplants   

PL12U - One 225kW (300hp) Continental IO520D fuel injected flat six piston engine driving a two blade constant speed McCauley propeller. T300A - One 225kW (300hp) Textron Lycoming IO540 fuel injected flat six driving a three blade constant speed Hartzell prop.

Performance   

PL12U - Max cruising speed 188km/h (102kt). Initial rate of climb 800ft/min. Service ceiling 10,500ft. Range with max payload 1205km (650nm), with max fuel 1295km (700nm). T300A - Max speed 196km/h (106kt), max cruising speed (75% power) 188km/h (102kt). Initial rate of climb 515ft/min. Service ceiling 12,500ft.

Weights   

PL12U - Empty 830kg (1830lb), max takeoff 1723kg (3800lb). T300A - Typical empty 955kg (2100lb), max takeoff (ag category) 1925kg (4244lb).

Dimensions   

PL12U - Wing span 12.15m (39ft 11in), length 6.35m (20ft 10in), height 2.79m (9ft 2in). Wing area 23.5m2 (252.7sq ft). T300A - Wing span 11.98m (39ft 4in), length 6.35m (20ft 10in), height 2.79m (9ft 2in). Wing area (including lower stub wing) 24.5m2 (264.0sq ft).

Capacity   

Single pilot in all versions. PL12, T300 and T400 - Seats for two passengers and fitted with a chemical hopper. PL12U seats five with no hopper.

Production   

Total production of 120 plus, including 18 assembled in New Zealand. Production complete.

Type   

Agricultural aircraft
History   



The Airtruk and Skyfarmer owe their origins to New Zealand's first commercial aircraft, the Waitomo Airtruck.


The original Waitomo Airtruck was designed by Luigi Pellarini in the mid 1950s, and used a number of components from the North American T6 Texan/Harvard series of piston engine military advanced trainers. These components included main undercarriage wheels, the front undercarriage assembly, fuel tanks and the 410kW (550hp) Pratt & Whitney R1340 radial piston engine. The Airtruck also featured a fairly tall and squat fuselage that accommodated a pilot, two passengers and a chemical hopper, tricycle undercarriage, a high mounted wing and boom mounted twin tails. The unusual twin tail configuration was adopted as it solved the problem of chemicals contaminating the rear fuselage, while it also allowed easier loading of the chemical hopper. The Airtruck first flew on August 2 1960.


The Airtruck was not built in New Zealand, and instead was further developed in Australia by Transavia as the PL12 Airtruk. The Airtruk differed from the Airtruck in having a flat six Continental engine and additional lower stub wings. It was delivered from December 1966.


The PL12U utility seats five and has the chemical tank deleted. It was delivered from 1971. The T300 and T300A Skyfarmers are improved developments of the PL12 with a Textron Lycoming IO540 engine; the T300 first flew in July 1971, the T300A, which introduced aerodynamic improvements, first flew in 1981. The final development was the 300kW (400hp) flat eight IO720 powered T400, four were delivered to China. Production ceased in 1993.

http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=379

[HardCorePawn]

isnt the airtruk the type of plane that dude in one of the 'Mad Max' movies had????

indeed: This would seem to confirm it

[ardypilot]

Nice summery Craig, made some interesting reading there.

isnt the airtruk the type of plane that dude in one of the 'Mad Max' movies had????

That was the flapjack wasn't it?

There is a fs2004 version here if you are interested: http://www.pmstone.com/StoneAirFlapjack.htm

Btw, you still love Haribo's?

Heck yes! How did you know I have a Haribo lust...?

[Craig]

http://www.pmstone.com/TransaviaPL12.htm

[ardypilot]

LMAO!

Downloading it now, thanks Craig! This will make some great screenshots

Now all we need is a ZK- reg on it. Does anyone actually know the reg of the beast in pic 33?

[Zöltuger]

ZK-UGLY