The year that was

2008 was a turbulent year for all carriers across the world and the national airlines from the former Yugoslav republics were no exception to this.

Adria Airways – On the whole the national carrier of Slovenia has had a good year, particularly in the first 6 months. During this time the country was running the presidency of the European Union and as a result traffic for the carrier increased significantly. In the second half the carrier strengthened its services to key European destinations, introduced new uniforms and received a brand new CRJ900. The airline has been accused of price fixing on the Ljubljana to Brussels line, despite its denial. Overall Adria will end the year with a profit however the airline’s CEO issued a warning stating that the high petrol prices and the economic crisis will take an effect on Adria in 2009. Next year the airline will have to reroute some of its services to Maribor due to Ljubljana Airport development.

B&H Airlines – The national carrier of Bosnia and Herzegovina has, despite the aviation crisis, had a stable 2008. Although the airline only has 2 aircraft its passenger numbers were mostly stable. In June the airline’s privatisation process began. Although many announced that they would bid, including Croatia Airlines, interest was low and only 3 companies remained in the running when the deadline closed. In October it was announced that Turkish Airlines has won the bid. In return the Turkish carrier has promised to provide 2 short to medium haul aircraft, employee training, servicing of aircraft and hiring new employees while all currently working at the airline will keep their jobs. Therefore 2009 will be crucial in seeing what the new owners will do with the carrier.

Croatia Airlines – The Croatian carrier ends the year as the most successful airline from the EX-YU region, having the most passengers and also ordering new aircraft however it’s been a turbulent year for the carrier. This year Croatia Airlines received 2 Bombardier aircraft and a Dash 8 while orders were placed for 4 Airbus A319s and 2 Q400 NextGen turboprops. The airline’s CEO announced that if the financial crisis takes its toll these aircraft orders will be cancelled. Two ATR42s farewelled the airline this year after more than a decade of service. Mechanical problems and emergency landings put a serious stain over the carrier this year which resulted in negative press. A total of 3 serious safety problems took place in a scope of a few months. The airline also has to deal with major losses which have doubled compared to last year. On a positive note, the airline announced new flights from Pula next year and opened its own maintenance hangar at Zagreb Airport.

Jat Airways – One of the most turbulent years in recent history for Jat was 2008. Everything started optimistically with Aeroflot already a certain buyer although there was interest from IcelandAir. Passenger numbers increased as major events such as Eurovision took place in Serbia however all of this was about to end. When Aeroflot announced it will not purchase Jat in the summer the airline found itself in a financial crisis. Five aircraft have been taken out of service, some of which have been leased to carriers in Africa. The airline suspended a few destinations although new flights were established to Milan and for the first time after 16 years regular service commenced to Croatia (Pula). After pleading with the government the airline has been promised it will get a loan of a billion Dinars which will be invested in the current and future fleet as well as a money incentive programme for 600 to 700 workers which must leave the airline. Meanwhile the carrier closed its office in New York and moved its offices in Amsterdam and Rome to the airport in order to decrease costs. Catering has also been reduced. However the airline can report the best passenger figures since 1997. What’s in store only time can tell.

MAT Macedonian Airlines – A Very bad year for the Macedonian carrier started when the airline was banned from flying to Greece due to a political name dispute. The airline has received two B737-500s to accompany the Bombardier aircraft in the fleet. However, MAT’s debt is coming back to haunt the airline. It owes 680.000 Euros to Macedonian Airports (the handling and operational company of Skopje and Ohrid airport). Later in the year the airline was denied landing rights to Düsseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg and Rome because of its unpaid obligations to EUROCOTNROL. If it does nothing about it the airline will be grounded in 16 days.

Montenegro Airlines – The expansion of Montenegro Airlines began in 2008 with the arrival of a new Embraer E195 jet. The airline has ordered 2 new E195s, scheduled to arrive in 2009. The airline began services to London while passenger numbers strengthened. There were some problems such as the airline’s website being offline for weeks due to an attack by hackers as well as a landing fee dispute with Belgrade Airport. The airline can expect turbulent times in 2009, more about this on January 2.

2008 poll results

Top 3

· Best website

1. Jat Airways (52%)

2. Adria Airways (20%)

3. Croatia Airlines (11%)

· Best livery

1. Croatia Airlines (34%)

2. B&H Airlines (25%)

3. Adria Airways (17%)

· Biggest potential

1. Croatia Airlines (37%)

2. Jat Airways (33%)

3. Adria Airways (14%)

· Need to improve most on

1. Destination network (60%)

2. Fleet modernisation (12%)

3. Safety procedures (10%)

When I heard the news on Christmas Day of a newly imported aircraft crashing into the sea while enroute from Ardmore to Whangarei, I instantly thought of Centurion ZK-ZIO. This article and its associated photo confirms my suspicion!

SeaNorth boss Robert Burling, left, with the salvaged Cessna. Picture/Chris Rudsdale

Cessna looks good on surface - article from the Northern Advocate 29.12.2008
By Mike Barrington
A textbook landing by pilot John Sturgess when he ditched his plane in the sea off Ruakaka Beach on Christmas Day paid off when the aircraft was hauled out of the water showing little damage yesterday.
The Cessna Centurion is now in the Ruakaka Surf Lifesaving Club compound, where its wings are to be removed so it can be taken to the Northland Aviation Ltd premises at Whangarei Airport for Civil Aviation Authority inspection later this week.
However, despite its good condition after four days under water, insurance official Graeme Polley said yesterday that salt corrosion of the plane's aluminium fuselage would be rapid and the aircraft was likely to be written off.

Engine failure forced Mr Sturgess to crash-land his plane about noon on Thursday, when he was flying north from Ardmore to visit his mother in Whangarei Hospital.
The 52-year-old Auckland businessman got out unhurt and two Ruakaka lifeguards helped him ashore as the plane sank in 4m of water.
The salvage operation was carried out by Kerikeri-based SeaNorth Ltd, which had Northland Underwater Technical Services Ltd divers attach airbags to strong points on the aircraft to lift it to the surface.
Following instructions from Retro Air engineer Bruce Caulter, of Hastings, the landing gear was manually pumped into the down position, inspection hatches and doors were opened for drainage, and lines attached for the divers' boat to tow the partly submerged plane toward shore.
The tow line was then transferred to the tail and Ruakaka contractor Dave Le Grath used a tractor to tow the aircraft out of the surf backwards to reduce damage.
About 250 litres of fuel was drained from the plane's self-sealing tanks. Mr Caulter recorded the position of instruments to pass the information on to CAA officials.
Mr Polley said early indications were that the plane's engine had failed internally.
Both he and SeaNorth boss Robert Burling attributed the Cessna's relatively intact condition to the pilot's landing skill.
"The guy did an excellent job with his belly landing," Mr Polley said

And looking much happier at Ardmore two days prior to its crash!

Directory for the files
http://www.katix.org/karoliina/packages/zdesigner-mac - MacOSX binary
http://www.katix.org/karoliina/packages/zdesigner - Linux Intrepid binary

MAT could be grounded by January 15

The national carrier of Macedonia has had one of its most turbulent years, being plagued both by bans and low passenger numbers. Just a few days before the New Year and Christmas holiday period, when passenger numbers are usually high, MAT could be grounded. The Civil Aviation Authority issued an ultimatum stating that if MAT does not pay 110.000 Euros it owes to EUROCONTROL, the organisation that regulates Europe’s airspace, its aircraft will be completely grounded. Some countries have already taken steps and have banned MAT from their airspace, the latest being Germany and Italy.

According to local press MAT is shocked by the impending ultimatum and has voiced its frustration at EUROCONTROL, stating that it does not understand why the organisation would take such steps to ground the airline at a time when airlines are reporting low passenger figures and are in major financial trouble due to the global economic crisis.

To find out more about the turbulent year MAT has had visit tomorrow for the “Year in Review”. We will keep you updated with the current situation in MAT over the following weeks.

I created Qt-based UI for the aircraft design program I am writing. The initial version is available from here:

http://www.katix.org/karoliina/packages/zdesigner-current.tar.gz

ChangeLog
COPYING
zdesigner - Ubuntu Intrepid Binary

You need to have Qt 4.5 installed to run the binary.

Noise pollution monitoring near Ljubljana Airport begins

At three out of four selected locations in the area around Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, continuous measurement and monitoring of noise has begun in the past few days. Previously, in agreement with the local community certain measures were adopted as a solution to the complex issue of limiting and monitoring noise. One of the key measures, continuous monitoring and measuring of noise, which will also enable the identification of violators, has been implemented in the past few days. The system of noise monitoring is part of the integrated approach to the issue of noise in the areas around the airport, and will help in a non-discriminatory way to improve the quality of life in the municipalities that surround the airport. In line with the contract, the company ZVD. has already set up three measuring terminals, which comprise a measuring system and computer as well as wireless connections, and they have been located at Vodice (Lokarje), Lahovče and Šencur. Unfortunately owing to the negative response from local residents and landowners, the placing of a fourth measuring point in the area of the village of Voklo-Voglje has not been completed. The measuring points were selected on the basis of the most exposed settlements or locations under the approach and take-off paths. Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport has in this way joined more than 40 other European airports that have already implemented this kind of monitoring.

'The following three photographs have been supplied by David Eyre from Australia.

A visit to Camden, NSW on 16-12-2008 found the Helipro Kawasaki BK117 B2 ZK-HYX3 , c/n 1006 , on fire duty carrying "New South Wales Rural Fire Service" titles and fleet number.

Another find was that of the Seawind 2500 ZK-SWT , c/n AACA/1093 .

This is the aircraft that crashed on take off at Lake Taupo on 16-01-2005 killing the builder/pilot John Borman from Tauranga. The registration was cancelled on 27-04-2005 as being exported. Shot below shows it at Camden on a rebuild. It still carries "Pure Pleasure" on the fuselage side.


Thanks to David Eyre in Australia.

Another easy one to finish the year off.
What sort of tin pigeon is this then.

And because it is such an easy one : have a crack at is registration.

First up with an answer was nzompilot - and behold - he is correct with Raytheon (Beech would have been OK) 1900D. It is ZK-EAG at Westport on 26-03-07.

Thinks maybe I included too much of the 1900's forehead - making it far too easy.

Well done all.

NONPLANAR WING CONCEPTS FOR INCREASED AIRCRAFT EFFICIENCY - http://aero.stanford.edu/Reports/VKI_nonplanar_Kroo.pdf

Adria Airways CRJ900

Adria Airways' third Canadair Regional Jet CRJ900 joined the airline’s fleet a week ago. These 86 seat aircraft fill the gap between the seven smaller 48 seat aircraft and the large Airbus aircraft. The most economical aircraft in the regional class, the CRJ900 offers passengers more comfortable seats, a better view through the windows and more space for baggage. The new aircraft, registration S5-AAN, entered Slovenia's airspace in the early hours of the morning on December 18. “The CRJ900 also meets our high environmental protection standards”, 'explained Adria chairman Tadej Tufek. “Emissions and noise are well below permitted international limits, and fuel consumption is significantly lower: under optimal conditions, just 3.5 litres per 100km per passenger. For the sake of comparison I should point out that the only other aircraft to achieve such exceptionally low fuel consumption figures are wide-bodied aircraft on transoceanic flights, in other words over significantly greater distances”.

The capacity of the new aircraft is 80% greater than that of the CRJ200, but it is operated by the same four-member crew. The increase in operating costs is just 30%, and the aircraft will be maintained by the Adria servicing centre. The new aircraft is 36.4 metres long, with a wing span of 24.9 metres and a maximum take-off weight of 38 tonnes. It can take off and land in visibility as low as 200 metres, its top speed is 882 km/h and it has a range of 3660 km. “The purchase of the CRJ900 has undoubtedly been cost effective”, added Mr Tufek. “With them we will significantly improve our passenger load factor and reduce operating costs, while their modern technology will represent an important boost to our competitive ability in the future”.

In November 2008 Adria had the second lowest cabin occupancy factor in Europe, making the new addition extremely important in order to increase the occupancy index. The Adria Airways fleet now consists of 14 aircraft, with one more CRJ900 due to be delivered early next year.

Four visitors and one local exposed themselves for my camera today (28-12-2008) at Rangiora.

A trio from up North. Piper PA-32-260 Cherokee Six ZK-DSQ , c/n 32-1012 is listed to A F & T R Hull of Auckland.

Piper PA-28-161 Warrior II ZK-KAT , c/n 28-7816099 from the North Shore Aero Club.

& Nanchang CJ-6 ZK-FRU2 , c/n 2132048 , starting after refueling.

All three having been parked up at Omarama overnight and Lake Station the previous night.
Planted firmly on terra firma is Cessna A185F ZK-DPF Skywagon , c/n 02421. This has been with the Fechney family since new (via Rex Aviation) in late 1974. This is based near Aylesbury a few clicks west of Christchurch.

The EAA Acro Sport II ZK-VWT , c/n AACA/635 belongs to Andrew Beasley of Hokitika. Currently parked up at NZRT. Built in Dunedin by David Comrie and first registered in February 1982. It moved to New Plymouth for R McLellan in May of 1985. From April 1997 it spent ten years at Motueka with Vince and Alison D'ath until moving to NZHK in April of 2007.

Something for the wider audience this time.

Manufacturer and model required this time.

We have no winner for this QT.

The answer is off course :- Sigma Aircraft Sigma 4. Three have been listed on the NZ Civil Aircraft Register.

ZK-JQF2, c/n 08, pictured above at Rangiora on 14-10-2006. It was exported and cancelled on 21-06-2007 and I believe is now "24-5095" on the Australian Recreational Aircraft Register.

ZK-JRC2 c/n 09 has been hangared at Ashburton for some time. Picture above taken on 21-03-2008.

The third is ZK-JRN c/n 10, which I have not yet sighted.

JRC & JRN are still both registered to the importer Maxim Vassiliev (East Sea Company).

The Sigma is Rotax 912ULS powered onto a Kiev, threee bladed propeller. They also have ballistic recovery parachutes. Pic above shows JQF coming together at Rangiora on 24-02-06 showing part of this system :the red object on rear window: which connects to the chute.

Jat’s aircraft will be fixed

The Serbian Minister for Infrastructure, Milutin Mrkonjić, which is also responsible for transportation, has vowed that the goal of his ministry will be to revive the ailing national carrier by the end of 2010. The government will allocate 1 billion Dinars (11.6 million Euros) in funds. As reported by this blog in the past, the restructuring process inside the company should begin in February 2009. By this time Jat’s current CEO will be most probably be replaced. Due to strict laws and regulations outlined by the European Union, a national government is not allowed to subsidise its national carrier. As a result the funds for Jat (a loan) will be allocated by a bank.

Meanwhile Jat’s CEO Saša Vlaisavljević said "We need to cut the number of employees from the current 1.800 to 1.100. We have already reached an agreement with unions”. He noted that the company has already undertaken a series of measures to cut costs by 11 million Euros per year. "We have reduced the number of airports we are flying to and we have cut salaries", he said. "We also reduced the catering offer in our aircraft". Parts of the funds that will be provided will go for redundancy payments and part to "fix five planes that are currently not operational because we don't have money to buy spare parts”.

I bought the Zaon XRX for my LongEz as I read it could remote interface with the Garmin 496 which I have mounted in the front of my canopy so it's like a head-up display.

The Zaon XRX comes with leads which allow remote mounting so that it paints onto the screen of the 496 (and I beleive, the 396) with direction and relative altitude.

However, it has to be calibrated to align with the aircraft, and is designed to live on the cockpit coaming of a "normal" aircraft; the setup screen/ranges etc is visible in that mode. Initially I thought I'd mount it in the rear, on the floor. But that's not really practical as you need to get to it for various reasons, not least of which is to be able to turn it on. So I ended up mounting it on the flat part of the pilots seat back, alongside the headrest. It gives a slight background noise. On a trip from FL to CA it warned me twice before I saw the traffic (which was no conflict) so I guess it works.

When flying in formation with Richard Richmond, I had to endure an hour of warnings and a flashing red dot on the screen as if I had turned it off, I wouldn't have been able to reach to turn it back on again until getting on the ground.

So it works, although the ergonomics diminish its utility. I think that in a Cozy there would be more room to mount it on the "coaming" as intended, where it would be great.

Three more noted at Rangiora this morning around 1030am

Laurie Tuff's Tri-R KIS-TR4 Cruiser ZK-TUF c/n 44. First flown 20-04-2000. Don't see it out all that often.

The real tidy Cessna 185B Skywagon ZK-FRW2 c/n 185-0568 listed to the Flying Circus Ltd. Based at Rangiora it is a reasonably recent rebuild from Frank Wright at Mt Maunganui. It has an extensive history from the US, Canada, Zimbabwe and Australia.
A real stranger in town was the Vans RV6A ZK-VIA c/n 23401 of Derek and Christine Edwards of Levin.

A few in the sun at Rangiora today, MGS was over from it's home at Forest Field, while CLT is close to it's first flight.

I have been thinking what are the advantages and disadvantages of push-pull configuration. Everyone knows that push-pull has both disadvantages of pusher and tractor configuration but also implements a simple to control center line thrust operation for a critical single engine situation. However, there is more than that to it.

If you think one-of-a-kind aircraft, e.g. what Burt Rutan used to do during the early years. You want to build a twin on a shoestring budget. Then you realize that you have to buy two of everything. What if you have two engines already hanging around but they are not exactly the same make, model and horse power.

In case of center line thrust, no problem. Nothing requires the two engines to be the same. Not even weight and balance. Burt Rutan's Voyager is an example. You can find that the front engine is different from the rear engine.

It might not be because of the reason described above, but if you are into auto conversions and designing a twin, how you plan to get two identical engines for not much cost at all (from totalled cars for example). Might prove to be a challenge, especially in a country like Finland where the population and the availability of engines might be poor. With center line thrust you can use different engines in the front and rear.

By the way: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Duborvnik Airport

Every other week European carriers are announcing that they are including Dubrovnik, located on Croatia’s Adriatic coast, in their destinations network. Tourism is the most obvious reason for flight operations with people, particularly from the European Union, wanting to travel direct from their city to Dubrovnik. However with careful planning and management even a long haul service could be profitable on a seasonal basis.

There is no direct air service to Milan and Nice. This, in spite of the increased number of tourists from the region. The number of people arriving by cars from these cities is significant and when translated into figures could become a profitable air service. There are many charter flights during the summer season flying from Dubrovnik to Paris. According to passenger figures, there is high demand for direct morning flights. These passengers use time-consuming intermediate airports to reach Paris. Lisbon, in Portugal, could become a profitable summer destination. Figures show that there are a large number of Portuguese visitors. Since there is no direct connection, they use indirect flights to reach Dubrovnik and the rest of the region. Slovenians are ranked very high on the list of visitors to Dubrovnik according to figures submitted by the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, but with no air service, the only option is to arrive by road. Other destinations inside Europe that can be proved profitable due to high demand include Moscow, St. Petersburg, Salzburg, Venice, Hamburg, Warsaw, Berlin, Athens, Istanbul and Budapest.
More than 3.000 passengers travelled to Dubrovnik from New York in 2008. In the 1980s there was daily direct service between the two cities and this has not resumed despite demand evidence. Due to the fact that the situation in the 80s was much different, today this service could be made profitable with scheduled charter flights during the summer.

Dubrovnik Airport offers an airport charge incentive programme for airlines interested in taking up new routes, additional frequencies, or year-round traffic. Besides financial support, the airport offers assisted advertising as well.

In January you can read more airport analysis that will be published on the blog.

I was wondering what kind of servos can be used with the Spektrum DX5E. The Spektrum servos on their website all seem to be micro foamy plane type servos, no standard size for say .40 size planes are shown. So if one is to buy this 2.4 Ghz radio / receiver, is it compatible with standard Futaba servos? A switch harness and battery pack would also be needed to complete the radio package, correct?

I think I paid about $350 for me DX7 fully loaded back in March. The TX that came with my Blade CX2 is a 5 Channel DSM probably close in features as the DX5E, no programming features though. Both have been flawless in their operation so far. Are you able to field program the DX5E?

Central Zagreb

For all readers celebrating Christmas today we wish you a Merry Christmas!

Sretan Božić
Vesel Božić

Visit tomorrow for an analysis of potential destinations from Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Waiting for government - Jat Airways

Frustration is growing at Jat Airways due to the fact that the Serbian government has still not decided whether it will help the struggling carrier after its privatisation process failed earlier in the year. Workers at Jat who found their paycheques slashed by 10% this month are threatening that they will begin protests during the New Year and Christmas holiday period which could derail air transportation in the country. Jat will increase frequencies to popular destinations during the holiday period if strike action does not go ahead.

The Serbian government promised it would provide funds so the airline could compensate 700 excess workers to leave the airline. Jat would return the provided credit by next fall however the government has not provided the funds yet. Due to the fact that the funds were not provided, the 700 workers cannot leave until spring 2009 because they first must use their entire 2009 holiday time. Saša Vlaisavljević, Jat’s CEO, released a short statement stating “We are waiting for the government to react. We no longer have time”.

Couple of new ones (for me at least) parked at Ardmore 23Dec.

Jabiru ZK-CPA has been around since May 2003 and is currently registered to a Mr Boag of Palmerston North.

Cessna T210M Centurion ZK-ZIO came onto the register 11Dec this year and was previously registered N6298B with it arriving into New Plymouth via container and noted Labour Weekend marked as ZIO. Its registered to John Sturgess & Associates of Manukau. The addition of ZIO to the register brings the population to 8.

Crisis in Adria? Not in 2008

Slovenian flag carrier Adria Airways expects an operating profit of 1.9 million Euros in 2008 despite the global economic crisis that the aviation industry has been caught in. This is a good million less than in 2007, although the number of passengers is expected to increase by 17% to 1.3 million by the end of 2008, while European growth is four times lower. High oil prices cost the company an additional 11 million Euros, the flag carrier wrote in a press release after the session of the company's management and supervisors last Friday. Adria's income will exceed 200 million Euros, which is 13% more than in 2007 and 5% above the estimated levels. The company retained operational liquidity throughout the year, while cash flow will finish at 32 million Euros, the press release says. The supervisors confirmed the plan for 2009, which forecasts no increase in the number of passengers due to the financial crisis. The management presented additional measures, which it is preparing to rationalise operations in order to achieve a positive result despite the expected recession, the company wrote.

The Question time circuit has gone all quiet.

I add the pic below to help stimutate your phagocyte's

Budapest delayed...until further notice

Malev will not gain a license to commence services to Belgrade despite its desires for many years. The Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate rejected the Hungarian national carrier, yet again, due to the impact it could have on the struggling Serbian carrier Jat Airways. Malev is a major threat to Jat due to the fact that it could take over many Serbian passengers travelling to Western Europe as well as further abroad. Realising the success Malev could have on this line, earlier this year it requested double daily flights from Budapest to Belgrade for the 2009 summer season. However it will have wait another year as Jat’s redevelopment is set to begin in February 2009 and the government does not wish to create further pressure for the airline. This also puts in doubt other airlines that requested licenses in order to commence flights to Belgrade – low-cost Wizz Air and Nikki. However there is some good news for the Serbian public. Croatia and Serbia are negotiating a free sky agreement which could see regular services restart between the two countries. Jat Airways operated seasonal flights for the first time this year, after 16 years, to Pula however the new agreement could also see Croatia Airlines in Belgrade. The Serbian Aviation Directorate is also negotiating with China for direct flights to recommence between the two countries after 8 years.

On Saturday Nebojša Starčević, former Jat CEO, was named as the head of the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate (that issues licenses to foreign airlines) starting January 2009.

Finally found the Titan outside in the sunshine at Wigram today.

ZK-NDY c/n 404-0693, photographed just after 10am this morning, taxying out for departure.

It still carries these titles on the port side (as seen at Timaru on 21-02-08).

Found another pic of Ceres ZK-BZO c/n 9. Taken at Silverstream on 22-07-1982.

Found an old shoe box among the collection of unsorted junk that has been awaiting sorting since moving into this house. This box offered up many olde photos & slides, including the following moth eaten colour slides. A quick run under the scanner produced the following shots. Not as good as the originals but of sufficient historical interest to blog up.
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA28 Ceres Type C VH-CEL was first registered to the manufacturer on 20-09-1960. It was cancelled on 03-02-1961 for it to join the NZ civil register as ZK-BZO on 07-02-1961 for Aerial Farming of NZ Ltd. I believe it first flew here on 30-01-1961. It quickly joined the Cookson Airspread Ltd fleet at Wairoa and remained with them, through at least three incidents until moving to Manawatu Aerial Top Dressing Co Ltd on 01-12-1969.

Above shot at Feilding 29-10-1970

Above. Working out of Paraparaumu on 08-04-1971.

Near Paraparaumu 08-04-1971.

On 17-01-1972 it was damaged on the Pahiatua Track.

The above two shots give an idea of the damage. Pics at Feilding 20-11-1972. The registration was cancelled on 30-03-1976.

It then spent some time at The Silverstream Museum (between Stokes Valley & Upper Hutt) before going into storage. I believe a Mike Nicholls imported a Wirraway tubular forward fuselage section in about 1990 with the intention of converting BZO back to a RAAF Wirraway.

Can anybody add to this ?

ZK-HWH S/N: LN098 joins HYY & HUA for Garden of Eden Helicopters. Christchruch 19th Dec

Good old days - Inex-Adria 1985

Adria Airways will postpone the scheduled construction of a new maintenance hangar because of the financial crisis, the flag carrier's chairman Tadej Tufek has told a daily. Tufek added that the carrier was preparing plans in the event of a major economic downturn. Adria is not facing difficulties with liquidity since it took out all its main loans in 2006 under favourable conditions, Tufek told Monday's edition of the daily Dnevnik. "Problems would only arise if we were to undertake unnecessary investments this year or the next", he added. This is why the carrier will be shelving plans for the construction of a third maintenance hangar, worth between 3 million and 4 million Euros, at Ljubljana Airport in 2009.

As for plans for next year, Tufek said that the best-case scenario would mean that passenger numbers would remain flat compared to this year. "The worst-case scenario involves a 15% fall in passenger numbers". He said Adria was well prepared to handle a potential fall in demand, because up to 20% of all its capacities were flexible. He also called on Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport to lower its prices for the carrier. Adria generates up to 80% of all passenger numbers at the airport and Tufek believes Ljubljana Airport "should adapt its prices for the main carrier. "Given the 80% share, we are only right to expect lower prices than that offered to our competitors", he told Dnevnik. He suggested that from an economic viewpoint Adria would find it best to move all its flights to Maribor, although that is not possible since it is building its hub in Ljubljana. Tufek explained that falling fuel prices have only been felt by Adria in the last month. Adria flew on expensive fuel throughout the main season, he stressed. "But the drop in fuel prices will surely offset some of the drop in revenue caused by falling demand next year". According to him, Adria has expanded at three times the speed of its regional rivals on average in the past three years. Its revenues have gone up over 50% to 210 million Euros and passenger numbers by 60% to 1.3 million.