After what has been an excruciating wait for its new owners, Tiger Moth ZK-ATM2 (c/n 85470) was outside at Tauranga yesterday 22/11/21 for engine runs and a compass swing. The Hairy Mole Rat was there to photograph it - thanks HMR.
I understand that its first flight in New Zealand is likely to be this week. But wait! It is not the first flight of this airframe in New Zealand!
To clarify the above, a summary of its history will help. This Tiger Moth was built in England in 1942 as was bought on charge with the RAF as DE474 on 17/3/42 at RAF Kinloss. It carried on with the RAF until November 1953 when it was registered as G ANKL to A J Whittemore (Aeradio) Ltd of Croydon on 24/12/53. It then went to Belgium as OO-JIM, being registered to J Bogaerts of Grimbergen in October 1957. On 1/6/58 it crashed while landing at Zwartberg and records show that it was destroyed by fire. However even being destroyed by fire cannot keep a good Tiger Moth down! and after storage it was restored to the UK register as G-ANKL on 28/1/93. In 1995 it was shipped to New Zealand for restoration by Colin Smith at Mandeville and ownership was taken up by Ted Millar and Michael Lambert of Portland Oregon in March 1998. The completed Tiger was registered as ZK-JLF and was registered on 20/4/00 with a first flight the next day. Can anyone supply a photo of it as ZK-JLF? It was then shipped to Portland Oregon where it became NC82TM for Sea-Air Ltd (Ted Millar and Michael Lambert) on 9/5/00. They flew it for 20 years before selling it to New Zealand where it will be based between Whitianga and Kaipara Flats.