Beavers & Beavers # 18 ZK-FPZ

De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver , c/n 717 , was built as an L-20A for the U.S. Army and had a build date of 01-11-1954. It was allocated the US military serial of 53-7909.
Following miitary service it entered the US Civil register as N6474 in about 1972 listed with the Texas State Technical Institute at Amarillo, Texas.
Some other operators that I know about were Joe Vaughn Spraying Inc of Kress, Texas; D Wright at Anchorage, Alaska from 09-02-1979; D Carrell in Alaska from 17-06-1980, with a change of registration to N93DC in August 1980 - still with D Carrell and trading as Alaska Travel Air.
It reverted back to N6474 in February of 1982 for Kennedy Air Services of Cordova, Alaska.

It was shipped to NZ and registered as ZK-FPZ to Motor Holdings (Aviation) Ltd of Ardmore on 16-02-1988 and assembled at Rotorua as a floatplane. First flight was from Lake Rotorua on 30-03-1988. It was registered to Float Air Picton (1984) Ltd on 29-04-1988.

Below : Two views of ZK-FPZ at Picton Harbour on 22-05-1989.

On 22-03-1990 it was overturned by high winds and sank in Picton Harbour. Rebuilt by Arc Aviation (Keith Newton & Jack Lamb) at Taupo to fly again on 16-08-1991, as a land plane. It then served with Mid Island Aviation Ltd of Taupo from 16-08-1991 and then Tandem Corp and then to Venture Aviation Ltd from 31-03-1998.