Following hot on the heels of the Aerocraft aircraft and kits, other homebuilders began completing their Turbulents, from 1961 on, as follows.
Again, the photos are nearly all from the Keith Morris collection and I have taken most of them. However, some of the photos were taken by others and I do not have a record of who took them.
The first of these to be registered was ZK-CAQ (c/n PFA/573) on 10/7/61. It was built by John Inglis of Towai and it is photographed here at Ardmore. It was named "Windsong" at this time. As with nearly all the Turbulents it had its share of incidents and accidents including minor damage at Ardmore on 7/1/68 and crashing at Thames on 6/4/69, but was rebuilt each time. It was sold to B N Inglis of Waimuku (a relative?) on 18/10/88.
This photograph of ZK-CAQ was taken at a Matamata airshow in the early 1990's. It then went to N E Wilson of Reefton, Dave J Stuart of Lower Hutt (who re-engined it with a HAPI 1860cc VW conversion - well up on power from the original 1200cc VW!). It was redesignated as a Class 1 microlight on 12/6/98 and then went to R O Byfield of Christchurch.
It was then sold to Paddy McDonnell of Ashburton who refurbished it and painted it in his trademark colour scheme (similar to Corby Starlet ZK-MGM and Avid Flyer ZK-VID). This photograph was taken by Blue Bus at the 1997 SAANZ flyin at Ashburton. Finally Paddy sold it to R C Brown of Lower Hutt. ZK-CAQ is still current.
The next Turbulent to be registered, on 27/9/61, was ZK-CAX (c/n PFA/658). It was built by Gordon Waldie of Lower Hutt and was one of the original core of Turbulents in Wellington which gave the impetus to the formation of the Amateur Aircraft Constructors Association (AACA). Gordon was AACA member number 12. The early AACA magazines wrote up some of the eventful flights of those early Turbulents, and everyone seemed to fly everyone elses planes. Jack Inder took Robbie gentry's ZK-CAE back to Dargaville and Stan Smith flew Gordon Waldie's ZK-CAX to Ardmore. One interesting story that caught my eye was when two early flyers (no names) in ZK-BWE and ZK-CAX flew down from Ardmore to an air pageant at Taupo on 8 January 1966. A combination of winds and needing to refuel at Tokoroa saw them arrive at Taupo 20 minutes after the airshow had started. Nearly out of fuel and with a strong crosswind they elected to use the new grass vector that was not yet opened figuring that 2 Turbulents could not do much harm. Their arrival coincided with a DC 3 display and it was reported that their arrival "did not meet with official approval and we had some explaining to do"! Then "followed a joyful re-union with Mother Earth and all the other flyers of the Association who had made it"!
ZK-CAX has not had many owners. Gordon Waldie sold it to John Perry of Opotiki who in turn sold it to John Hansen of Te Awamutu on 18/4/74. The above photograph of ZK-CAX was taken at the 1981 AACA flyin at Mount Hutt. John Hansen still owns the aircraft and it is still current, although I haven't seen it for a very long time.
The next Turbulent to be registered, on 8/3/62, was ZK-CBN (c/n PFA/462) which was built by Merv Meredith at Waipukurau. It first flew on 7/12/64 and Merv was very active flying it around New Zealand, including flying up to the opening of Mangere Airport in 1966 (when 5 Turbulents attended). Merv sold ZK-CBN to Neil Managh of Feilding and then it went to Robert Trewavas of Motueka. Merv Meredith went on to serve as president of the AACA and to build 2 other homebuilt aircraft: Minicab ZK-DAG and EAA Acrosport 2 ZK-MWM. Tragically he and a friend were killed in ZK-DAG when they got caught in bad weather in the Ruahine Ranges when returning from a fishing trip in the Bay of Plenty.
ZK-CBN crashed at Motueka on 28/12/71. It must have been rebuilt because it was sold to A D Stott of Christchurch on 13/2/73, and later to I G Williams of Whenuapai. It was withdrawn and reduced to spares, and cancelled on 29/8/75. It may have been begun to be rebuilt with a new c/n. Does anyone know any details of this?
ZK-CAX has not had many owners. Gordon Waldie sold it to John Perry of Opotiki who in turn sold it to John Hansen of Te Awamutu on 18/4/74. The above photograph of ZK-CAX was taken at the 1981 AACA flyin at Mount Hutt. John Hansen still owns the aircraft and it is still current, although I haven't seen it for a very long time.
The next Turbulent to be registered, on 8/3/62, was ZK-CBN (c/n PFA/462) which was built by Merv Meredith at Waipukurau. It first flew on 7/12/64 and Merv was very active flying it around New Zealand, including flying up to the opening of Mangere Airport in 1966 (when 5 Turbulents attended). Merv sold ZK-CBN to Neil Managh of Feilding and then it went to Robert Trewavas of Motueka. Merv Meredith went on to serve as president of the AACA and to build 2 other homebuilt aircraft: Minicab ZK-DAG and EAA Acrosport 2 ZK-MWM. Tragically he and a friend were killed in ZK-DAG when they got caught in bad weather in the Ruahine Ranges when returning from a fishing trip in the Bay of Plenty.
ZK-CBN crashed at Motueka on 28/12/71. It must have been rebuilt because it was sold to A D Stott of Christchurch on 13/2/73, and later to I G Williams of Whenuapai. It was withdrawn and reduced to spares, and cancelled on 29/8/75. It may have been begun to be rebuilt with a new c/n. Does anyone know any details of this? Flyernzl has provided details on the reborn ZK-CBN as follows: It was re-registered on 29/5/95 as an Amateur Built Aircraft to the Williams/Thompson/Knox syndicate of Auckland, with a new c/n of 21875. It was redesignated as a Class 1 Microlight on 23/4/01 and is still current.
And the next Turbulent to be registered, in 11/62, was the Rev Ron Keyte's ZK-CDD (c/n PFA/428) which he built at Kaitia. This first photograph of it is very early on in its life when Ron thought that a very small registration would fit nicely with his colour scheme. The colour scheme was mainly a duck-egg blue with white and black. Ron Keyte went on to be an Air Force chaplain at Ohakea where he completed Jurca Sirocco ZK-DAF. Ron Keyte was also tragically killed with a friend when the Sirocco broke up in mid air at Masterton.
Unfortunately the long arm of officialdom descended and this next photograph shows it with a larger (presumably regulation for the time) registration.
By the 1972 AACA flyin at Masterton where this photograph was taken, it sported a canopy and another version of a smaller registration. It was sold to Chris Reid of Blenhiem on 22/5/72 and was damaged near Renwick on 8/7/72.
It was rebuilt and then had 2 other owners in the Blenhiem area: Tony Chaytor, the Trarangi Flying Group. It is photographed here at the 1974 AACA flyin at Bridge Pa where the colour was overall red.
And the next Turbulent to be registered, in 11/62, was the Rev Ron Keyte's ZK-CDD (c/n PFA/428) which he built at Kaitia. This first photograph of it is very early on in its life when Ron thought that a very small registration would fit nicely with his colour scheme. The colour scheme was mainly a duck-egg blue with white and black. Ron Keyte went on to be an Air Force chaplain at Ohakea where he completed Jurca Sirocco ZK-DAF. Ron Keyte was also tragically killed with a friend when the Sirocco broke up in mid air at Masterton.
Unfortunately the long arm of officialdom descended and this next photograph shows it with a larger (presumably regulation for the time) registration.
By the 1972 AACA flyin at Masterton where this photograph was taken, it sported a canopy and another version of a smaller registration. It was sold to Chris Reid of Blenhiem on 22/5/72 and was damaged near Renwick on 8/7/72.
It was rebuilt and then had 2 other owners in the Blenhiem area: Tony Chaytor, the Trarangi Flying Group. It is photographed here at the 1974 AACA flyin at Bridge Pa where the colour was overall red.It was withdrawn from use after its permit to fly expired, and was cancelled on 21/6/84
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