Check out this write up on our Mosquito project from Vintage Aviation News. vintageaviationnews.com/restorations...
#avgeek #aviation #ferrymead #ww2
27.02.2026 18:55
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Check out this write up on our Mosquito project from Vintage Aviation News. vintageaviationnews.com/restorations...
#avgeek #aviation #ferrymead #ww2
Head out to West Melton Airfield on 14 March to check out the Lockheed L10A Electra - the first airliner type to operate from Christchurch Airport. #aviation #lockheed #electra #avgeek #nzch #chc #nzwl #christchurch
Our baby Robinson R22 ZK-HDB(6) now has its own page on the website. Check it out here: ferrymeadaero.org.nz/robinson-r22/
#helicopters #aviation #avgeek #aircraftrestoration #ferrymead
Turn and slip indicator genuine and replica. The ball in the replica even balls when you tilt it!
Bit hard to hide a gyro in there though!
The skills of an artist on display.
Again, less convincing from the rear.
Replacing lovingly made replicas with genuine instruments in the cockpit of our de Havilland Vampire. #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #museum #restoration
We recently had a film crew in for a night-shoot using one of our displayed aircraft. Their lighting and smoke made for some moody shots of F-27 BXG and Viscount BRF. #aviation #ferrymead #avgeek
Trial fit of the starboard wingtip for Mosquito HR339 as wing repairs continue.
Work continues on refitting engine components to Harvard NZ1058.
Robinson R-44 cab has taken the place of it's smaller sibling in the restoration bay.
This unlikely item is part of the radio rack from a Short Sunderland flying boat. Clearly the blokes at Short Brothers and Harland Ltd were Meccano Boys. Once restored this will be fitted to the cockpit section of NZ4112.
Lots of work going on in our workshops at the moment! #aviation #ferrymead #aircraftrestoration #helicopters #avgeek
Our display area has been overrun by bunnies! Hop on down to #ferrymead this weekend and see how many you can find. #aviation #avgeek
New aileron shroud rib made based on the remains of the original.
Trial fitting new ribs.
All buttoned up.
Curved rear ply repaired.
Mosquito HR339 wing trailing edge repairs. #ferrymead #avgeek #aviation #aircraftrestoration
If you are on Facebook and have a family or other connection to 487 (NZ) Squadron, check out this group to share information and to keep their memories alive.
www.facebook.com/share/g/165V...
#487squadron #rnzaf #nzaviation
This clip from the AWM shows our Mosquito HR339 and her crew Flt Lt R.J. "Jack" Dempsey (RNZAF) and Flt Sgt E.J. "Ted" Paige (RAAF) on their return from Operation Clarion 80 years ago today. The aircraft was damaged by by flak over Germany while attacking a train. The aircraft still bears the scars.
An unusual arrival and a fitting end to a long and worthy career. RNZAF Lockheed C-130H NZ7001 touches down on the grass at her new home, the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, Wigram in Christchurch. Thanks to Alexandra Strang for the video. #avgeek #airforce #rnzaf #Christchurch #c130 #hercules
Cockpit fitout continuing - albeit some parts are only temporarily fitted in order to measure up for wiring looms.
The blind flying panel is being built up, cosmetically at this stage, until we make all the plumbing. As ever, the Mossie looks to be going 250MPH while standing still.
Plumbing under the cockpit floor for the flap, undercarriage and bomb door hydraulics, brake and gun pneumatics, instrument vacuum and windscreen deicing is all now back in place along with the large silver gun heating duct and the various wiring bundles. The recoil mechanisms for the 20mm Hispano cannon will go in next, then the fairing panel can be replaced to hide it all away.
There is an amazing amount of stuff to go into the cockpit, not all well-documented. This terminal block is for wiring associated with the downwards pointing F24 camera in the rear fuselage. Unlike most places there is a placard specifying which wires go where. The placard was laser etched for us by Owen Booth at Wiseartz.
Mosquito HR339 cockpit restoration progress. Please support our work with a tax-deductible donation here: givealittle.co.nz/org/ferrymea...
#avgeek #aircraftrestoration #aviation #ferrymead #dehavilland #mosquito
Progress on restoration of the smallest aircraft in our collection, Robinson R22 Beta restored as ZK-HDB(5) which started as a very battered cab, a boom and bits. Still looking for an engine if anyone has a dead Lycoming O-320 lying around. #avgeek #helicopters #r22 #aircraftrestoration #ferrymead
The leading edge of the Mosquito wing is constructed of thin bent plywood supported by lightweight wooden ribs. Where the leading edge has been crushed in, the plywood is cut away and the edges feather to 1:10. In this case a replacement section has been spliced into the exposed rib.
Replacement plywood is cut to size, feathered at the edges to match the hole, and bent over a bespoke former.
The replacement section is temporarily screwed in place while the glue cures.
The screw holes and any rough edges are tided up with filler. Note the round patch above the new ply, which is a repair to flak damage probably recieved on Operation Clarion in February 1945.
Mosquito HR339 wing restoration progress.
Please support our work with a tax-deductible donation here: givealittle.co.nz/org/ferrymea...
Or by buying a book or other aviation item here: www.trademe.co.nz/a/search?mem...
The kuaka is capable of amazing feats of non-stop flight, with one individual in 2007 recorded as making an eight-day, 11,680km non-stop flight from western Alaska to the Piako River near Thames, NZ. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar-tailed_godwit
When NAC began using the godwit emblem in print in 1952 the airline flew as far as Norfolk Island, Fiji and Rarotonga. The choice of the kuaka might have symbolised a desire to fly longer distances, but TEAL took over these Pacific routes as the 1950s wore on. Later, the push by NAC to expand back into the Pacific was one of the catalysts for the 1978 merger with Air NZ.
Kuaka emblem on Fokker F-27 ZK-BXG 'Kea', on display at Ferrymead Aeronautical Society in late period NAC colours. https://ferrymeadaero.org.nz/about/fokker-friendship-zk-bxg/
Vickers V.807 Viscount ZK-BRF 'City of Christchurch', on display at Ferrymead Aeronautical Society in early period NAC colours. The blue kuaka appeared at the end of the red cheatline some time in the mid-1960s. https://ferrymeadaero.org.nz/about/vickers-viscount-v-807/
The Bar-Tailed Godwit or Kuaka, is one of the longest non-stop flyers in the world, making a 29,000km annual round-trip between alaska and NZ. From 1952 until the 1978 merger with Air NZ the kuaka was the emblem of NZ National Airways Corporation. #ferrymead #godwit #christchurch #aviationhistory
ZK-BRF at Wellington shortly before her retirement in 1975 (Peter Lewis photo). The other Viscounts in the NAC fleet were sold overseas however ZK-BRF was due for a major service and so no buyer was found.
The aircraft was presented to the Ferrymead Aeronautical Society in April 1975 and was dismantled at Harewood and trucked to the Ferrymead Heritage Park. Sandy Ferguson photo.
After 18 years of outside storage ZK-BRF was returned to Harewood where a group of Air NZ retirees undertook a cosmetic restoration. On return to the Park the aircraft spent some months in storage awaiting the construction of a new display building.
Today ZK-BRF is on display alongside former NAC Fokker F-27 ZK-BXG and the cockpit of Bristol Freighter ZK-CRK. The aircraft is substantially complete but work continues on detail restoration as time and resources permit. Peter Lewis photo.
One of the most treasured aircraft in our collection, the stately Vickers Viscount V.807 ZK-BRF 'City of Christchurch'. ferrymeadaero.org.nz/about/vicker...
#ferrymead #aviation #avgeek #nzhistory #vickers #viscount
In a former life ZK-HIK (c/n 2063) wore the Canadian Registration CF-MLL and was operated by Klondike Helicopters of Whitehorse, Yukon. This 1972 photo from Neil Hester shows CF-MLL (wearing floats) while on lease to Gulf Minerals Canada.
This Kit Cain photo shows CF-MLL in the Yukon during Operation Porcupine. Beginning in 1961 Operation Porcupine was an ambitious geological prospecting survey extending from Dawson City to the Arctic Ocean and from the Alaskan border to the Mackenzie River. Helicopters were used to move camps, personnel and supplies between survey sites.
Another Kit Cain photo from Operation Porcupine. Unfortunately Kit's book 'Flying the Yukon's Bush' appears to be out of print, but you can find interesting selections from the book here: https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=0woHu1QUIucC&lpg
Dave Burnett photo showing CF-MLL during Operation Ogilvie (another Geological Survey program) in 1961. Dave says "It shows Geological Survey of Canada geologist Dr. Jim Rodick 'on the way up'. Younger crew members would laugh at how tight he appears to be hanging on. This procedure required particular attention to buttons and buckles because in extreme cases we would roll off cleanly without the machine touching ground. This method was not used often and it was strictly voluntary. One always had the choice of climbing up two or three thousand feet to start the day. We habitually practiced synchronized two man helicopter entry and exit even on flat ground but this technique was strictly one at a time." Sporty!
One of the helicopters in our collection, Hiller UH-12E ZK-HIK had an adventurous career in Canada long before coming to NZ. #aviation #aviationhistory #avgeek #yukon #klondike #helicopters #hiller12 #porcupine
Please support our work with a donation here: givealittle.co.nz/org/ferrymea...
Fokker F-27-100 Friendship ZK-BXG in original NAC scheme at Momona (Dunedin) airport in the 1960s. ZK-BXG went on from NAC to Air NZ and was retired in the late 1980s. After 30-odd years outside she narrowly escaped becoming a cockpit section, and a large portion of the airframe is now on display. https://ferrymeadaero.org.nz/about/fokker-friendship-zk-bxg/
Lockheed L-188 Electra ZK-TEA 'Aotearoa' (1960s, location unknown). ZK-TEA was acquired by TEAL in 1959 and continued in TEAL and later Air New Zealand service until 1972. It was coverted to a freighter and was operated by Fred Olsens from 1973 to 1997. The aircraft was scrapped at Coventry in the UK in 2006, and we were able to acquire the cockpit section and ship it back to NZ. The cockpit section is currently hibernating in our workshop.
Came across these lovely colour pics of two aircraft from our collection on Dave's Old Slides Flickr here: flic.kr/ps/DZJyD. Dave's photostream is well worth a look for general NZ nostalgia in glorious colour. #ferrymead #nzhistory #aviation #nzaviation #fokker #f27 #lockheed #electra #avgeek #airnz
The centre pedestal is back in the cockpit. Next step is installing the plumbing and wiring up from underneath.
Repairs to the damaged starboard wingtip and aileron shroud.
Repairs to the starboard leading edge. Note the splice in the exposed rib, and the neat circular flak damage patch in the upper skin.
The fabric at the aft end of the fuselage has had a coat of silver dope. Now we can rejig this section and keep working forwards with the fabric.
Mosquito HR339 restoration progress. Please support our work with a tax-deductible donation here: givealittle.co.nz/org/ferrymea...
This fuel tank was removed from Hughes 300C 'Felix', constructor's number S1187, which bore the serials N3626A, N102CS and ZK-HDS(2). As N102CS Felix was deployed aboard the undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau's ship the RV Calypso, and the tank still bears the iconic artwork of the mermaid Calypso. Felix subsequently found its way to NZ and the ownership of Morven Hills Station as ZK-HDS(2). This tank was removed from the aircraft which unfortunately was written off in a crash at the Station on 15/09/02. The tank and Felix's logbooks were donated to the Society by Richard Snow several years ago.
A photograph from the PPrune forum showing 'Felix' resting on the RV Calypso. https://www.pprune.org/7127965-post1440.html
Jacques Cousteau aboard 'Felix'. Photo from the PPrune website. https://www.pprune.org/7127965-post1440.html
A unique item from our collection. #aviationhistory #aviation #avgeek #cousteau
Please support our work preserving NZ's aviation heritage with a tax-deductible donation here: givealittle.co.nz/org/ferrymea...
Fokker F-27 Friendship ZK-BXG https://ferrymeadaero.org.nz/about/fokker-friendship-zk-bxg/ Vickers Viscount V.807 ZK-BRF https://ferrymeadaero.org.nz/about/vickers-viscount-v-807/
Robinson R22 Beta ZK-HDB(5). A composite project based on R-22 bits accumulated over the years. ZK-HDB(5) c/n3674 was operated by Ahaura Helicopters during 2008 and 2009. We have some components from this 'DB as well as at least one of the previous incarnations.
de Havilland Mosquito FB6 HR339. This aircraft saw service in Europe with 487 Squadron RNZAF during WW2. The restoration incorporates the fuselage of postwar RNZAF Mosquito NZ2328. https://ferrymeadaero.org.nz/about/de-havilland-mosquito-fb-vi/
Lockheed Hudson III NZ2035. This aircraft was operated by the RNZAF in the Pacific theatre during WW2. https://ferrymeadaero.org.nz/about/lockheed-hudson-nz2035/
Follow us for updates for our various restoration projects and other interesting bits and pieces. #ferrymead #aircraftrestoration #avgeek #aviation #museum
Please support our work with a tax-deductible donation here: givealittle.co.nz/org/ferrymea...
