Percival ZK-DPP

ZK-DPP (c/n K.305) was built as a Percival P28B Proctor 1 by F Hills and Sons Ltd away back in 1939 and fronted up for RAF duties from May 1940 as P6271. Post military service it went civilian via Air Services Training at Hamble as G-AHTV on 11-12-1952. It changed owners a couple of times and was then ferried out to Australia.

See:-

http://www.modelflight.regheath.com/mf121/fullscaleset.htm

and

http://www.modelflight.regheath.com/mf122/fullscale.htm

After a life in Australia as VH-BCX from 31-12-1953 it was cancelled as exported to NZ on 12-10-1999 for Guy Clapshaw.

It went down to Mandeville to Croydon Aircraft Company and was rebuilt as a Vega Gull and became ZK-DPP2 on 21-11-2006 - which I believe was also the date of its first flight from Mandeville

It gained a mention in Classic Wings Magazine in Vol 14 #4 2007, and also features in NZ Aviation News Magazine Dec/Jan 2008 page 20.

I received the following photographs courtesy of Guy Clapshaw via Jean210 last Tuesday. Also received was a video clip of ZK-DPP landing at Ardmore. But for reasons unknown I cannot load it onto this blog - So I have have decided to run without it in the meantime.

"ZK-DPP finally landed at Ardmore on the evening of Saturday 2nd July, 2011, just before sunset after a restoration period of 11 years and 10 days. The same aircraft had originally departed Southend, Essex, in 1953, reaching NZ yesterday (Saturday, 2nd July, 2011), claiming a half way round the globe record of 59 years."

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