ZK-DDD Drover

Thanks for the info. A couple of things,
I have a note that DDD was registered to the Drover Club sometime in 1971. (Ref J P Fleets)
Is the date 7/7/1976 the date for the accident or ownership transfer ?
Also I have a note that VH-UMA departed Sydney on 27/09/1970 on delivery flight to New Zealand., however you have 29/08/1970 ? It was struck off register 02/10/1970.
F/F 20.01.1984, what is the significance of this date ?

VH-FBC is currently on display at the Bankstown Air Museum at Bankstown Airport, Sydney, NSW.

H'ok . . .
In the late 1960s the Mercury Bay Aero Club (based at Whitianga, on the Coromandel Peninsular) was carrying out regular charter flights between Whitianga and Auckland. Although only 30 minutes or so by air, because of the 'U' shape of the roads between the two centres and the hilly and gravel nature of part of the road, a car trip could then take 2 to 3 hours.
They hunted around for a low-cost aircraft to set up the operation, and settled on the Drover. The aircraft was sourced from Hazeltons, and flown across the Tasman sea. Three days for the trip, 27th - 29th, sounds about right, allowing for a 'rest' day at Norfolk Island. There may be some transcription error in the month - either August or September - you will need to seek further confirmation on this.
The aircraft was based at Whitianga, operated as 'Mercury Airlines', and was finished in grey with dark blue trim. These two photos were taken by me at Whitianga 20th January 1973:





The operation was successful, so finance was able to be raised to buy a more practical and modern aircraft. A new Cessna 207 Skywagon ZK-DXT was bought from Rex Aviation (NZ) Ltd., the Cessna agents, and this flew the route from August 1975. The Drover was put up for sale.
About a year later, the 'Drover Club Incorporated' was formed by a group involved with parachuting operations at Whenuapai, and this group bought the aircraft to operate as a jump ship, ownership transferring in July 1976. This next photo, taken at Ardmore 16th April 1977, shows the aircraft still basically in the Mercury colours at the start of its parachuting career:



These flights continued on a regular basis, and I often used to see and hear the Drover out overhead Whenuapai. The aircraft was soon repainted in a more pleasing white, yellow & blue scheme, seen here 13th September 1978:



At some point in the early 1980s, the aircraft was damaged. I think this was in a groundloop at Whenuapai, but this is unconfirmed. The parachutists felt that repair was uneconomic, and sold the damaged aircraft to aircraft engineer Stan Smith.

Around the same time, Jim Bergman had sold his flying school and, looking around for the next opportunity, became interested in starting scheduled services between Auckland and Great Barrier Island. As with Mercury, he was after a 'cheap' aircraft to start the operation, tracked down the Drover, and arranged for Stan Smith to repair it for him. The first flight (at North Shore airfield?) after completion of the repairs was on 20th January 1984. Scheduled services by GBA using the Drover started soon after this date. Bergman later wrote quite an interesting article on the Drover and his operation of it that was published in New Zealand Wings magazine at a later date - this could be worth tracking down.
Again, the operation was successful, and GBA was able to buy its first Islander ZK-JSB later that year, and other aircraft soon after.
The Drover was sold to Mike Kelly, who traded as Southair, and possibly was transferred to him as a trade-in on another aircraft. Kelly seems to have not used the Drover, and it was sold back in Australia in 1988.

The rest you know.

This information and photos are outstanding. I thank you very much indeed.

The Drover is actually very similar structurally to the Dove, as DHA used this as the basis for the design but beefed it up into a "bush plane" . The fuse cross section is virtually identical (note also the rear fuse shape) as is the wing shape. The big difference in the airframe however is the Drover does not use the redux Bonding system that the Dove used, so instead of the Doves nice smooth skins, the Drover has a mass of round rivet heads! The Drover certainly doesnt have quite the right look - even with the original Gypsy majors (the other Aussie survivor stilll has these powerplants)

Third photo down, it appears that there is writing on the nose cowl. A name perhaps ? Any info ?

Judging from the composition it could read De Havilland Drover

I jumped regularly out of this plane at Whenuapai with Auckland Skydivers round 1979

I flew in ZK-DDD once at Bridge Pa aerodrome in 1975.

However, although I know what it is like to takeoff and climb to altitude while riding in a DHA-3 Drover, I wouldn't have a clue what it is like to land in one, because I was no longer onboard when it landed!

I jumped it in Bridge Pa at the same meet. Found out that it couldn't maintain height if one of the 3 noisey things decided not to play anymore. Fortunately we were at 3,000 feet.