The State Secretary for the economy and privatisation at the Serbian Ministry of Economy and Regional Development Nebojša Čirić said today announced the tender for the sale of Jat Airways. The deadline for submitting offers is the beginning of October. In a statement to the news agency Beta, Čiric said that investors will be able to submit offers for buying a minimum of 51% and a maximum of 70% of the Serbian airliner. The starting price for the airlines 51% share is 51 million Euros decreased from the earlier announced 150 million in order to increase interest. Serbian government has allowed potential buyers to decide which shares they want to buy so that companies from countries that are not in the EU may compete as well, and signed international agreements are not violated. According to the Open Skies Agreement, companies not registered in the EU or Serbia cannot be owners of more than 49% of Jat Airways, but companies from non-EU countries can compete as consortiums, explained Čirić.
Companies participating in the purchase must have an Air Operators Certificate (AOC), that it carried over 1.3 million passengers in the last year and that it has a profit of at least 200 million Euros. Interested investors will be given a deadline of nearly two months, until the end of September or beginning of October, for submitting binding offers.

Aeroflot: We will not take part
The Russian Aeroflot who was rumoured to have taken great interest in the purchase of Jat will most likely not compete in the tender due to unreasonable demands of the Serbian government, according to its press secretary. Aeroflot, as the biggest problem, sees the large starting price for the purchase of 51% of the airline. The chief of Aeroflot’s press management Irina Tanenberg said that Aeroflot is aware of the outlined conditions of Jat’s tender and that the airline has serious reserves about it. “I think that we most likely wont participate in the tender due to the condition which the Serbian government has set., meaning the price. We do not want to pay for an airline which is worth nothing especially during the current world oil crisis“ says Tenenberg.

At Ardmore 24Jul was this Hastings based Champion which has been on the registered since 1981!


Duchess ZK-FIC has taken on a new identity from 25Jun as ZK-SMI


Appears that Jetranger ZK-HOP has adopted a modified scheme.


Hughes 500D ZK-HRI from Masterton arrived at Oceania 24Jul.

Great Barrier Airlines took delivery of Trislander G-RHOP back on 12Apr this year with the aircraft arriving at Auckland from Lord Howe Island. It has since been noted at North Shore marked as ZK-CJS albeit not yet registered.

At North Shore on 23Jul, Steve Lowe photo

The Macedonian national air carrier, MAT, has purchased a Boeing 737-500, which has already been registered in Macedonia under Z3-AAH.The aircraft embarked on its first commercial flight from its base in Skopje to Zurich, Switzerland. MAT received a loan to buy the 126 seat Boeing 737-500 aircraft with MAT and PK Aviation securing the down-payment for the loan. MAT representatives have said that the airline plans to buy another aircraft next month.

MAT owns one CRJ-900 and has one leased Boeing 737-500. In total there fleet, with the new aircraft, amounts to three. The average age of the airlines fleet is young - just below 7 years. MAT carries out operations to 8 destinations from its bases in Skopje and Ohrid however it operates no flights to any of the EX-YU republic except its own.

Serbia’s privatisation agency has announced the beginning of the privatisation process of its national airline - Jat Airways. It has called upon investors to send in their letter of interests within two days. After this it will be known who is interested in the purchase of the airline and if rumours are true that Russia’s Aeroflot is no longer interested. Being sold are 9 Boeing 737-300 jets and 3 ATR72 planes (the rest of the current Jat fleet is leased). It is also selling its fleet of 24 aircraft from its regional aviation division with its grand offices in New Belgrade, traffic technicians centre, flights operations building and its international and domestic offices all being sold. Jat in total owns 3.815.313 square metres of land. The aim of the privatisation is to expand Jat into a regional leader as well as a competitive international airline. The aim of the privatisation is also to attract strategic investors which will invest in the airlines fleet and development. Jat has a share 62.4% of traffic at Belgrade’s airport. 51% of the airline is being sold. Serbian media suggest that currently Aeroflot, Icelandair and Air Berlin are interested in the airlines purchase with Aeroflot offering the best conditions so far.

Although airplanes are designed for a variety of purposes, most of them have the same major components.

The overall characteristics are largely determined by the original design objectives. Most airplane structures include a fuselage, wings, an empennage, landing gear, and a power plant.

Aircraft - A device that is used for flight in the air.
Airplane - An engine-driven, fixed-wing aircraft heavier than air that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of air against its wings.

FUSELAGE
The fuselage includes the cabin and/or cockpit, which contain seats for the occupants and the controls for the airplane. In addition, the fuselage may also provide room for cargo and attachment points for the other major airplane components. Some aircraft utilize an open truss structure. The truss-type fuselage is constructed of steel or aluminum tubing. Strength and rigidity is achieved by welding the tubing together into a series of triangular shapes, called trusses.

Construction of the Warren truss features longerons, as well as diagonal and vertical web members. To reduce weight, small airplanes generally utilize aluminum alloy tubing, which may be riveted or bolted into one piece with cross-bracing members.

As technology progressed, aircraft designers began to enclose the truss members to streamline the airplane and improve performance. This was originally accomplished with cloth fabric, which eventually gave way to lightweight metals such as aluminum. In some cases, the outside skin can support all or a major portion of the flight loads. Most modern aircraft use a form of this stressed skin structure known as monocoque or semimonocoque construction.

The monocoque design uses stressed skin to support almost all imposed loads. This structure can be very strong but cannot tolerate dents or deformation of the surface. This characteristic is easily demonstrated by a thin aluminum beverage can. You can exert considerable force to the ends of the can without causing any damage.

However, if the side of the can is dented only slightly, the can will collapse easily. The true monocoque construction mainly consists of the skin, formers, and bulkheads. The formers and bulkheads provide shape for the fuselage.

Since no bracing members are present, the skin must be strong enough to keep the fuselage rigid. Thus, a significant problem involved in monocoque construction is maintaining enough strength while keeping the weight within allowable limits. Due to the limitations of the monocoque design, a semi-monocoque structure is used on many of today's aircraft.

The semi-monocoque system uses a substructure to which the airplane's skin is attached. The substructure, which consists of bulkheads and/or formers of various sizes and stringers, reinforces the stressed skin by taking some of the bending stress from the fuselage.
The main section of the fuselage also includes wing attachment points and a firewall.

Truss—A fuselage design made up of supporting structural members that resist deformation by applied loads.
Monocoque—A shell-like fuselage design in which the stressed outer skin is used to support the majority of imposed stresses. Monocoque fuselage design may include bulkheads but not stringers.
Semi-Monocoque—A fuselage design that includes a substructure of bulkheads and/or formers, along with stringers, to support flight loads and stresses imposed on the fuselage.


On single-engine airplanes, the engine is usually attached to the front of the fuselage. There is a fireproof partition between the rear of the engine and the cockpit or cabin to protect the pilot and passengers from accidental engine fires. This partition is called a firewall and is usually made of heat-resistant material such as stainless steel.

WINGS
The wings are airfoils attached to each side of the fuselage and are the main lifting surfaces that support the airplane in flight. There are numerous wing designs, sizes, and shapes used by the various manufacturers. Each fulfills a certain need with respect to the expected performance for the particular airplane.

Wings may be attached at the top, middle, or lower portion of the fuselage. These designs are referred to as high-, mid-, and low-wing, respectively. The number of wings can also vary. Airplanes with a single set of wings are referred to as monoplanes, while those with two sets are called biplanes.

Many high-wing airplanes have external braces, or wing struts, which transmit the flight and landing loads through the struts to the main fuselage structure. Since the wing struts are usually attached approximately halfway out on the wing, this type of wing structure is called semi-cantilever. A few high-wing and most low-wing airplanes have a full cantilever wing designed to carry the loads without external struts.

The principal structural parts of the wing are spars, ribs, and stringers. These are reinforced by trusses, I-beams, tubing, or other devices, including the skin. The wing ribs determine the shape and thickness of the wing (airfoil). In most modern airplanes, the fuel tanks either are an integral part of the wing's structure, or consist of flexible containers mounted inside of the wing.

Attached to the rear, or trailing, edges of the wings are two types of control surfaces referred to as ailerons and flaps. Ailerons extend from about the midpoint of each wing outward toward the tip and move in opposite directions to create aerodynamic forces that cause the airplane to roll. Flaps extend outward from the fuselage to near the midpoint of each wing. The flaps are normally flush with the wing's surface during cruising flight. When extended, the flaps move simultaneously downward to increase the lifting force of the wing for takeoffs and landings.

Airfoil—An airfoil is any surface, such as a wing, propeller, rudder, or even a trim tab, which provides aerodynamic force when it interacts with a moving stream of air.
Monoplane—An airplane that has only one main lifting surface or wing, usually divided into two parts by the fuselage.
Biplane—An airplane that has two main airfoil surfaces or wings on each side of the fuselage, one placed above the other.

EMPENNAGE
The correct name for the tail section of an airplane is empennage. The empennage includes the entire tail group, consisting of fixed surfaces such as the vertical stabilizer and the horizontal stabilizer. The movable surfaces include the rudder, the elevator, and one or more trim tabs.

A second type of empennage design does not require an elevator. Instead, it incorporates a one-piece horizontal stabilizer that pivots from a central hinge point. This type of design is called a stabilator, and is moved using the control wheel, just as you would the elevator. For example, when you pull back on the control wheel, the stabilator pivots so the trailing edge moves up. This increases the aerodynamic tail load and causes the nose of the airplane to move up. Stabilators have an anti-servo tab extending across their trailing edge.

The anti-servo tab moves in the same direction as the trailing edge of the stabilator. The anti-servo tab also functions as a trim tab to relieve control pressures and helps maintain the stabilator in the desired position. The rudder is attached to the back of the vertical stabilizer. During flight, it is used to move the airplane's nose left and right. The rudder is used in combination with the ailerons for turns during flight. The elevator, which is attached to the back of the horizontal stabilizer, is used to move the nose of the airplane up and down during flight.

Trim tabs are small, movable portions of the trailing edge of the control surface. These movable trim tabs, which are controlled from the cockpit, reduce control pressures. Trim tabs may be installed on the ailerons, the rudder, and/or the elevator.

Empennage—The section of the airplane that consists of the vertical stabilizer, the horizontal stabilizer, and the associated control surfaces.

LANDING GEAR
The landing gear is the principle support of the airplane when parked, taxiing, taking off, or when landing. The most common type of landing gear consists of wheels, but airplanes can also be equipped with floats for water operations, or skis for landing on snow.

The landing gear consists of three wheels—two mains wheels and a third wheel positioned either at the front or rear of the airplane. Landing gear employing a rear-mounted wheel is called conventional landing gear. Airplanes with conventional landing gear are sometimes referred to as tail-wheel airplanes. When the third wheel is located on the nose, it is called a nose-wheel, and the design is referred to as a tricycle gear. A steer-able nose-wheel or tail-wheel permits the airplane to be controlled throughout all operations while on the ground.

THE POWER PLANT
The power plant usually includes both the engine and the propeller. The primary function of the engine is to provide the power to turn the propeller. It also generates electrical power, provides a vacuum source for some flight instruments, and in most single-engine airplanes, provides a source of heat for the pilot and passengers. The engine is covered by a cowling, or in the case of some airplanes, surrounded by a nacelle. The purpose of the cowling or nacelle is to streamline the flow of air around the engine and to help cool the engine by ducting air around the cylinders. The propeller, mounted on the front of the engine, translates the rotating force of the engine into a forward acting force called thrust that helps move the airplane through the air.

Nacelle—A streamlined enclosure on an aircraft in which an engine is mounted. On multiengine propeller-driven airplanes, the nacelle is normally mounted on the leading edge of the wing.

Representatives of the Montenegrin national airline have announced that a total of 3 companies are interested in its purchase, one of which is the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). “Talks with EBRD have been going well” says a Montenegro Airlines official. American consulting group SH&E have been chosen to assist Montenegro Airlines with its analysis of interested airlines. Last Friday the airline’s board agreed that 30% of Montenegro Airlines shares should be sold. The airline has not revealed details on the other two companies interested in its purchase. A board of advisers have been selected which will monitor the progress of the airline’s privatisation.

Montenegro Airlines has been flying for 14 years. It has 6 aircraft in its fleet (one of which is leased to another airline). It recently decreased the age of its fleet by introducing a brand new Embraer 195 jet. A second is also on order. The airline operates to 12 destinations, recently opening services to London and Milan. The airline’s most negative aspect which may divert potential buyers is a corruption scandal involving the airlines CEO, its short lived sister airline Master Airways and an Albanian carrier. Furthermore Montenegro Airlines still has a case against it by passengers of a 2005 January flight from Belgrade when Montenegro Airlines was the only airline not to cancel its flight to a snow covered Podgorica thus landing on a frozen runway in the process experiencing a nose collapse. Some passengers were injured.

The second brand new Dash 8 Q400 is on its way to the Croatian capital Zagreb as it makes its delivery flight for Croatia Airlines. The expected arrival time in Zagreb is at 17.42. The flight DHC1 arrives from Toronto via Goose Bay, Reykjavik and New Castle. The new plane will be named Lika which is a mountainous region in central Croatia. The first Croatia Airlines Dash 8 Q400 was delivered a few months ago to the airline. Croatia Airlines has ordered a total of 4 Q400’s with the expected delivery of the other two aircraft in 2009. They have also signed an option for two more aircraft. The airline currently has 11 aircraft with the new Bombardier making it the 12th fleet member. Not included in the number is the Fokker 100 which Croatian Airlines wet leased from Trade Air for the 2008 summer season. The aircraft will replace the ageing ATR42.

Can anybody help me out with a positive identity for this Cessna 172.
Seen at Thames on 18-03-2000. It may include the numbers "55" in its c/n.
I'm thinking maybe ZK-FSI. Any better answers out there ?

Easier one this time !
All I need to know is what sort of aircraft do we have here ?
(yes it is NZ Civil).

Bell 47G VH-UTQ , c/n 3337 , was registered to Helicopter Utilities in 1965 and served in Fiji as VQ-FBN and DQ-FBN. It returned to Mascot, Sydney in 1976 and is shown here parked outside the Airfast Helicopter Hangar on 25-11-1976.

And blow me down; here it is again. This time as ZK-ICJ at Tauranga on 10-02-2007. It was first listed in NZ to Clark & Jolly at Taupo on 01-10-2002. Then to Helilink on 17-02-04; Harbour & Gulf on 30-06-05 and now with Kiwi Kopters Tauranga Ltd from 15-12-05.

Ive been unpacking boxes of photographs recently and sorting them into some sort of order and came across this one which shows the damage done to the C180 Patrille (better known to most of you as ZK-BJB) when the driver pulled back on the control column as the fence approached. This off course gives up elevator but also places the elevator balance horns below the level of the tailplane handy for the #8 wire to hook onto. Note there is a significant length of #8 still attached to the tail wheel and extending out to the bottom left of the pic (taken 21-04-1969 at Invercargill).
I hope the pilot purchased a Art Union ticket.
The aircraft is still alive and well with Tony Mackle out of Tea Pot Valley.

What you are looking at is the overhead panel in the cockpit of the Cessna 180E , c/n 51144 , now ZK-TUA. I believe this was a local Aussie mod.
It was delivered to the Australian Army on 30-08-1962 having briefly been tested using the US registration of N2644Y. Interesting to note here that in earlier days Cessna used to register their aircraft using the last two numbers of the c/n as the last two numbers of the US registration.
In a similar vein the Australian military use the last three numbers of the c/n as the last three numbers of the military serial number - preceeded by a type number (98 for the Cessna 180) and the letter "A" for Australia.
In the case of this C180 it became A98-144. Its colour scheme in the early 1970's was full military scheme.
This particular C180 joined the Queensland Police Force in 1975 as VH-PFT, followed by a fist full of private owners until by 1992 it was with the Western Australia Skydiving Academy. In October 1994 it ended down in the mangroves near Broome.
It was shipped to NZ and over a four year period was rebuilt by Kim Christophers and registered as ZK-TUA on 24-09-1998 and first flew on 27-09-98. Why "TUA" well the next owner from 10-11-98 was Tim U Austin.
Hugh & Sam Bethell became the listed owners from 17-03-06, but when they both obtained C185's it moved on to David Sinclair of Balclutha from 25-10-2006.
No winner. Pic taken at Christchurch in November 1998

Anybody tell me where this Sidewinder is now located ?
I took the above shot of N50VL , c/n 55 , at Wanaka on 22-01-2002.
The FAA lists it as a Martin Van Lieden Sidewinder with an airworthiness date of 20-05-1987.
Also a sale reported to K A A F Museum Pursuit Inc. Still currently listed, but staus unknown.

An incident at Ljubljana’s Jože Pučnik airport on an Adria Airways jet has caused major delays to the airline’s schedule due to the fact that the aircraft has been taken out of service. On Wednesday an incident occurred when a parked Adria jet, which had just arrived from Munich, was hit by a baggage delivery trolley. Even though the trolley had its security breaks in use a strong wind pushed the trolley over which hit the side of the Adria plane. The plane was expected to fly again to Munich that evening however was taken out of service and has been causing the cancelation of certain flights as the Slovenian national carrier is now operating with only 9 aircraft. Nobody has been blamed for the incident as security breaks were in use and the cause of the incident was blamed on the wind. Therefore an insurance company will provide the finances to fix the inflicted damage as soon as possible so the plane can return to regular service.

Many flights today were extremely late. For example flights to Skopje and Tirana departed an hour after schedule. Slovenia has recently experienced extremely bad weather with even a tornado forming 2 weeks ago destroying villages in the process.

The Montenegrin government has passed a new law regarding air transportation within the country. This is the first time laws have been changed since the 90’s following the collapse of Yugoslavia. It outlines that every low cost airline which requests slots at Montenegrin airports will gain licenses if they have all necessary security certificates. This is to respond to growing criticism that Montenegro’s government has not been allowing low cost airlines to commence services in order to protect the national airline. However the minister of transportation Andrija Lompar states that low cost airlines are now analysing the Montenegrin market and are making their decisions at a very slow pace. Currently there are no scheduled destinations by low cost airline to Montenegro’s two international airports Tivat and Podgorica.

Meanwhile Montenegro Airlines has started services to Milan, Italy. Flights began on Sunday and the flight occupancy for the two operated flights stands at 47%. Montenegro Airline CEO expects that the occupancy will reach 70 to 75% within the next month. Montenegro Airlines expect that 45% of passengers will be tourists, 15 to 20% transit passengers and business passengers should make up for 3 to 5%. The lowest ticket price for flights between Tivat and Milan is 89 Euros which does not include taxes which are 114 Euros. Flights between Tivat and Milan operate every Thursday and Sunday and from October 26, when the winter timetable starts, the flights will be modified so they depart from Podgorica instead of Tivat.

The Serbian government has often been criticised for not providing enough competition in the airline industry in order for it to protect its airline Jat Airways. Although one can debate this as the Serbian government provides minimal funding for its national airline, Jat has claimed for the last few years that it has no special status and that it is unlikely for low cost airlines to begin services to Serbia as the market has not developed yet. Lately low cost airline such as Germanwings and Norwegian Air Shuttle have begun services to Belgrade with lines to Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart, Oslo and Stockholm. The Serbian Civil Aviation Board recently offered the worlds largest low cost airline Ryanair slots at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport however the low cost airline rejected the offer saying the market does not have enough potential yet. The airline requested that if it were to start services the Serbian government would have to invest thousands of Euros in its promotion. The biggest problem, which is keeping low cost airline away from Serbia, are visa restrictions for travel to EU nations imposed on Serbian citizens. Citizens often have to wait months before their visa applications are approved. When this obstacle is overcome (expected to occur in late 2008) it is expected that the Serbian aviation industry will grow by at least 30%.

Best examples that the Serbian aviation industry is not ready for a low cost airline are previous unsuccessful attempts. The first Serbian low cost airline Centavia lasted only a month before it went bankrupt. Air Maxi, which planned to establish itself in Serbia as a low cost airline and begin operations decided not to midway through its processes of gaining a license. The national airline, Jat Airways, also planned a creation of its own low cost subsidiary to have been name Interlink however it also decided not to. Belgrade Airport is currently served by 19 scheduled airlines with 2 scheduled low cost airlines operating flights.

The Croatian government and the representatives of the Kingdom of Jordan have ratified a free sky agreement making air traffic between the two countries possible without any restrictions. According to Croatian media some Jordanian airlines are already interested to fly to Osijek which one Jordanian airline would use as a stopover for their flight to a western European destination. If this were to occur the whole region of Slavonija would have great benefits from the new line. Jordanian Royal Wings recently announced the start of services between the Serbian capital Belgrade and the Jordanian capital Amman starting early August.

Osijek airport is currently served by only 2 scheduled airlines – Germanwings and Croatia Airlines. This is mostly due to the fact that travel to the region is seasonal however there are numerous charter airlines serving the airport in the summer. Will a Jordanian Airline join the abovementioned two remains to be seen.

The government of Serbia has given its approval for the privatisation of the national carrier, Jat Airways, to begin. The minister of economy and development Mlađan Dinkić announced that the starting price for the airline will be lowered due to the international fuel crisis while the tender for the submission of offers will begin in the last week of this month (between the 26th and 31st of July with the 30th or 31st the most likely dates). New reports by Serbian media suggest that Aeroflot is still interested in the purchase even though it was reported a few days ago that the Russian carrier is no longer interested and has its eyes set on other airlines in Europe about to undergo the privatisation process. Icelandair from Iceland is also said to be still interested however Aeroflot has already offered the Serbian government and Jat Airways management a 10 year plan, earlier this year, for future development which includes a large purchase of new planes, employment security and wage increases for workers.

Flights between the Serbian capital Belgrade and the Jordanian metropolis Amman will commence after a 16 year absence. The daughter company of the Jordanian national carrier, Royal Jordanian named Royal Wings, will commence once weekly flights between Amman and Belgrade using an Airbus A320-200. The flights depart on Saturday evening (starting August 2) from Amman and will arrive in Belgrade at 05.10AM on Sunday. The flight commences its return journey from Belgrade to Amman at 6.10AM and arrives in the afternoon at its base. The flights will operate from August 2 until September 28. The flights were initially planned to begin on July 13 however the Jordanian company requested for the flights to be moved. There is a possibility if good results are achieved, for the line to become permanent as a Royal Jordanian destination.

Both Jat Airways and Royal Jordanian used to operate flights between Amman and Belgrade before the breakup of Yugoslavia. This summer Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is being served by 19 scheduled airlines including, from the EX-YU, along with Jat, Montenegro Airlines.

\Ljubljana Airport may now start negotiating with Schenker, a Deutsche Bahn subsidiary, on the construction of a logistics centre near the airport. The Defence Ministry is willing to give up part of the land. “The process of the division of land has already begun. We intend to transfer the land to the Ministry of Transport by September this year”, said the Slovenian defence minister. In March 2008 Ljubljana Airport and Schenker, a German logistics company, signed a letter of intent concerning the construction of the centre in two phases. They need 7 to 10 hectares of land.

Slovenia’s main airport, Ljubljana, is involved in several other projects such as a 2.6 million Euro construction of a parking lot that should be finished in November. A new travel terminal T2 will be built at the place of the old parking. The airport has been looking for a partner for the construction of an airport hotel. However, high prices of fuel have been increasing operating costs which have influenced the decision by airline companies when choosing their destinations making Ljubljana often undesirable. In addition to that, the relatively small Slovenian market hinders the arrival of new airline companies. Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport is currently served by 11 airlines which along with Adria Airways are served by Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines from EX-YU.

The management at Croatian Airlines have announced in Zagreb that the airline’s ticket prices will increase if the current situation with fuel prices continues. Recently Adria Airways increased its ticket prices by 12 Euros as well as Croatia’s star alliance partners Lufthansa and Austrian. Furthermore Jat Airways increased ticket prices on selected lines between 1 and 7 Euros earlier this month. Fuel prices are affecting the aviation industry globally. Croatia Airlines has promised it will keep current prices as long as it can however any future rise in fuel prices will immediately increase fares. Croatia Airlines CEO Ivan Mišetić announced a rise in ticket prices as early as last month stating that expenditure of fuel prices rose from 12% last year to 35% this year.

Croatia Airlines management also states it has not increased its fares since 2002. Croatia Airlines is now spending 21 million Euros for fuel. In the first six month this year fuel expenditure has increased by 8 million Euros compared to the total 12 month expenditure in 2006.

What are we looking at ?
What type of aircraft is it ?
What colour scheme did it wear in 1972 ?
What is its registration ?

I am sorry but I have had to re-introduce the Word Verification process to deter the rubbish
responses.

The latest news regarding Jat’s privatisation suggests that the tender in order for Jat’s privatisation to begin will occur near the end of July. Serbia’s minister for the economy said that the starting price will most probably be decreased from the suggested 150 million Euros in order to attract more buyers. Jat’s CEO Saša Vlaisavljević said he could not disclose reports by the media that Russia’s Aeroflot, which was by now most involved in the purchase, is no longer interested. The CEO went on to further state that Jat has had no contact with Icelandair in the last 6 months however that it does not mean they are no longer interested in the purchase. Vlaisavljević stated that it is in the airline’s and country’s interest to privatise Jat as soon as possible. He stated that fleet renewal is the biggest priority for the airline however that it must wait to be privatised.

I seem to have the infinite capacity to have aircraft flock off before I get into a good position to photograph them. However today Robinson R44 Clipper ZK-HDD/4 c/n 0299 kindly turned across my nose. It is listed as being with Skyline Trust Ltd of Nelson.

Beautifully finished Rans S6S Coyote II of Chris E Reid uses his initials for its registration of ZK-CER. c/n 11021465. A real slippery machine with many small personal mods to ease its passage through the air. Here it is having adjustments made to its Warp Drive prop.

Absorbing the UV's in the late afternoon sunshine was the Fleet 16B ZK-AGC/2. With a c/n of 668 it started life in the Royal Canadian Airforce in March of 1941 as #4793. It later entered the US civil register as NC128H and later to N128H. It arrived at Omaka in May of 2004 for Graham Orphan and joined our register on 11-05-2007.

Ohrid St.Paul the Apostole Airport, the second largest in Macedonia, has recently added Skywings as one of the airlines which operate to the airport. The airline commenced services recently between Ohrid and Dusseldorf, Germany. This charter flight will operate once a week, on Sunday, during the 2008 summer season. Six airlines now fly to Ohrid with two operating exclusively summer charters. These are, the airline mentioned above and Sun d'Or International Airlines operating charters to Tel Aviv. Compared to last year, Ohrid Airport this year does not have charters to Greece due to a ban imposed on Macedonian airlines to fly to Greece because of a name dispute as well as the absence of flights to Belgrade which were operated last year by Jat Airways.

Annual Servicing of DOC outpost on Stephens Island

Tuesday had me pottering around on Stephens Island watching Helipro's AS355F1 Twin Squirrel ZK-HYN , c/n 5286.
At work lifting supplies up from the barge to the station at just over 600 feet above sea level; and back loading retro.

Sidling in towards the heli-pad close to the light house and auto weather station.In less than two hours all the lifting was done. This used to take yonks when supplies arrived at the landing rock on the east coast of the island by boat and lifted by crane (before the crane was decommissioned) and then loaded manually onto a very steep railway line. At the top of the railway items were then handled onto a trailer for dispersal as required. It is all much quicker, safer and probably cheaper these days.

This is the full picture of Harry Harris's Spitfire U/L at Ashburton on 05-02-2005.

Partial blow up of tail section.

No winners !

Britten-Norman BN2A Mk111-1 Trislander ZK-LOU c/n 322 in Great Barrier Airlines scheme at Auckland on 13-07-08. Interesting life this has had. I recall seeing it at Cairns in about 1976 in Bush Pilots scheme before becoming Air Queensland in 1982. It all began as G-51-322 back in 1972 with the manufacturers to become G-BAFF(still with the manufacturers) on 17-10-1972 for delivery to IAS of Lakembla NSW on 05-12-72. It then went for a short lease as DQ-FBY with Fiji Air Service from Feb 1973. By 29-06-1973 it was VH-BGS with Barringer Surveys of Sydney and was fitted with a tail magnetometer (MAD tail) and underwing fuel tanks for mineral survey work. After its Air Queensland duties it moved up to PNG and became P2-DNX for Douglas Airways out of Port Moresby in August of 1983. About mid 1995 it retuned to Australia (I think using the trade plate registration of VH-CYC) and became VH-MRJ and served mostly in West Australia with Murchison Relines and Bushstar Pty Ltd. It was crated into North Shore in December of 2003 and carried out its first GBI service on 22-10-2004.

BAe Jetstream Srs 3200 Model 3201 ZK-ECI with c/n 946 at Auckland on 13-07-2008. This has an even more convoluted history. Briefly:- it was G-31-946 then N946AE in 1991 and flew into Wellington on 26-02-1999 to become ZK-REY on 24-03-1999 with Rex Aviation (NZ) who traded as Ansett Regional. On 30-08-2000 it was re-registered as ZK-TPC with Tasman Pacific Regional Airlines. When this Company fell over the aircraft was stored at Woodbourne and then Nelson before being taken on by Origin Pacific Airways on 12-12-2002. On this same date it was re-registered to ZK-JSU and served until being withdrawn on 11-05-06 and stored at Wellington. It was picked up by Air National Corporate on 18-07-06 and became ZK-ECI and began the new CH-OU-CH service for Eagle Air on 06-08-06.

BN2B-26 Islander ZK-DLA c/n 2131 also at Auckland on 13-07-2008. Built in 1982 it was delivered as G-BLOO to Taiwan to become B-12222. By April 1998 it was VH-ISL and toiled with several outfits in Queensland until it arrived in Auckland on 26-05-2006 for Sounds Air Travel & Tourism Ltd of Korimiko on 07-06-06. on 07-05-07 it was listed to Commercial Helicopters Ltd who trade as Mountain Air. Here it is in its latest re-branding of "Fly My Sky".

All three photos provided by Keith Morris.

After nearly 10 months of meetings and 14.000 pages of documentation Jat’s privatisation is set to begin within the next 7 days. Jat management has voiced their disapproval at the duration of the privatisation process fearing that the airline has drastically smaller chances of being successfully privatised now that the price of fuel has grown considerably and that the privatisation of CSA Czech Airlines and Austrian should start soon which could attract airlines which had previous aspiration towards Jat.

The tender for the submission of offers should commence July 23. By the end of summer a special commission will rank the offers Jat has received in terms of which company has offered the best deal in the long term. A Serbian tabloid suggests on its front page publication today that Aeroflot has decided not to bid for Jat Airways. Aeroflot was the most interested buyer promising big investments and job security for those employed in the airline. Are they still interested? One cannot trust the source of the news, due to its many previous inaccuracies, however it is certain that the global economic situation will not benefit Jat in any way. Currently the only known of and confirmed airlines interested in Jat are Aeroflot from Russia and Icelandair from Iceland. Air India confirmed they have dropped out of the race a few months ago.

The official internet website of the Montenegrin national airline has been under attack for the last 24 hours (and is still under attack as this news is written) by ethnic Albanian hackers from Kosovo. The attack commenced yesterday in the late afternoon hours when the Montenegro Airlines web page was covered with Albanian flags. There were a few lines written in English all reading “United Albania”. The group of hackers signed with “Kosova Hackers Group”. In the evening hours Montenegro Airlines “cleaned out” its website however attacks are still taking place. As this news article is written one can enter montenegroairlines.com and come across material such as “Republika e Kosoves”, “Albanian hackers 4 ever” and a message written in Albanian.

The hacking group has become famous in the Balkans as they have already hacked into the rock internet portal “Balkanrock” when they wrote messages such as “United States of Albania”. Three years ago the Serbia’s mobile company “Mobiklik” web presentation was attacked with messages “063 never again in Kosovo) with 063 being the calling number of the mobile operator.
However this is a first time that a website of an airline company has been attacked this way. Montenegro Airlines has recently announced they are developing a new webpage which will be online by late September/early October 2008. The new website will include Internet booking and a much clearer and interesting web presentation. We hope security will also be updated.

UPDATE: montenegroairlines.com has now been taken off line

UPDATE 2: Hackers have now attacked the web presentation of Montenegro’s daily newspapers

To competently control the airplane, the pilot must understand the principles involved and learn to utilize or counteract these natural forces. Modern general aviation airplanes have what may be considered high performance characteristics. Therefore, it is increasingly necessary that pilots appreciate and understand the principles upon which the art of flying is based.

STRUCTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE
The atmosphere in which flight is conducted is an envelope of air that surrounds the earth and rests upon its surface. It is as much a part of the earth as the seas or the land. However, air differs from land and water inasmuch as it is a mixture of gases. It has mass, weight, and indefinite shape.

Air, like any other fluid, is able to flow and change its shape when subjected to even minute pressures because of the lack of strong molecular cohesion. For example, gas will completely fill any container into which it is placed, expanding or contracting to adjust its shape to the limits of the container.

The atmosphere is composed of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and 1 percent other gases, such as argon or helium. As some of these elements are heavier than others, there is a natural tendency of these heavier elements, such as oxygen, to settle to the surface of the earth, while the lighter elements are lifted up to the region of higher altitude. This explains why most of the oxygen is contained below 35,000 feet altitude.

Because air has mass and weight, it is a body, and as a body, it reacts to the scientific laws of bodies in the same manner as other gaseous bodies. This body of air resting upon the surface of the earth has weight and at sea level develops an average pressure of 14.7 pounds on each square inch of surface, or 29.92 inches of mercury. But as its thickness is limited, the higher the altitude, the less air there is above. For this reason, the weight of the atmosphere at 18,000 feet is only one-half what it is at sea level.

Tag: Flying instrument, instrument flight, aviation, piloting, instrument rating, instrument flying training, instrument flight rating, instrument rating requirement, instrument rating regulation, aircraft, aerospace, airplane, and aeronautical knowledge.

At Skopje Airport from January to June there were 6407 departures and arrivals, 4.8% more than the same period last year. At the beginning of summer timetable (which began March 30), the number of weekly frequencies with new scheduled destinations were increased by Adria Airways to Ljubljana (+3 compared to last year), Turkish Airline to Istanbul (+1), MAT to Rome and Vienna, and in May Croatia Airlines introduced a new line to Zagreb. There has been a decrease of weekly frequencies to Zurich, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Berlin (operated by MAT and Helvetic Airways).

Aircraft movements in commercial aviation increased by 0.5% compared to same period in 2007, and non commercial aviation (military flights, general aviation and others) increased up to 21.5% compared to last year. According traffic figures most frequent aircraft in use at Skopje’s airport is Canadair 900 and Airbus 320.

In the first six months 291.918 passengers were transported, an increase of up to 8.5% compared to last year. Compared to year before, there is a growth of passenger traffic on all destinations, excluding Zurich and Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Berlin. The most frequent destination still remains Vienna and the most significant growth of traffic was registered to Ljubljana, Istanbul and Zagreb.

The second new Bombardier Q400 will be delivered to Croatian Airlines by the end of the month. The airline received the first Bombardier in late May while the second was expected in June. However there has been a significant delay in the delivery. Croatian media report that the new plane will be named Lika (a mountainous region in central Croatia) while the first Bombardier was named Slavonija. Croatian Airlines has ordered a total of 4 Q400’s with the expected delivery of the other two aircraft in 2009. They have also signed an option for two more aircraft.

The airline currently has 11 aircraft with the new Bombardier making it the 12th fleet member. Not included in the number is the Fokker 100 which Croatian Airlines wet leased from Trade Air for the 2008 summer season.

There is an olde nostalgic saying "Ah De Havilland"
But wot about "Agh ha Pratt & Whitney and Hamilton Standard"
Oh sweet memories - Can't you just hear it.
1941 was a good year for building North American Harvards. (ie, 67 years young).
Here we have ZK-XSA burning up some carbon credits and stimulating the ear drums as it heads back to its home strip.

Fleet 80 Canuck (pronounced Canook) CF-DQM , c/n 065 of 1946 vintage is flying.

The Yaks came out to graze in the sun at Rangiora today (Sunday 13-07-2008)

Yak 52 ZK-JPW from the Ashburton Yak Syndicate on short final and about to quench its thirst.
Yak 55M ZK-YKV arrived back at NZRT a couple of minutes later. I imagine that with the pending Wigram closure it will be back to stay.
And the resident Yak 52 ZK-YRA of BDH Investments (Brian Hall) came out to puff some smoke.

Jat Airways recently started service between Serbia and Croatia (Belgrade and Pula) resuming traffic after a 17 year absence. The new line which is operated twice a week is doing extremely well. Jat Airways has a license to fly to Pula until September but Jat management is announcing continuation of the flights well through the winter schedule, if the Croatian aviation board approves a license extension. Pula’s citizens are not hiding their happiness as the new flights swing into full operation and bring with it an enormous increase in tourists from Serbia. The management of the “Tourist Organisation of Istra” states that an aggressive promotional campaign has commenced to attract Serbian tourist. The organisation hopes that by 2011 a total of 100.000 Serbian tourists will visit the Istrian coast requiring air services to operate on a daily basis. Most of Jat Airways’ tickets to Pula have already been sold. However, the management has been surprised by the large interest from Pula residents to travel to Belgrade. The Pula - Belgrade line is, at the moment, more successful than the Belgrade-Pula line.

Due to the interest, Jat Airways is now working on ideas to open new lines to Croatia next year. Currently the airline plans possible lines between Belgrade – Zagreb, Belgrade – Dubrovnik and Belgrade – Split with this line continuing on to an Italian city. Pictured above are passengers from Jat’s first flight to Pula after 17 years, operated on July 3.