"Jinxed" aircraft

[hairy]

After lookong at the jaded history ZK-JNX (see rnzaf.proboards43.com/index.cgi?board=civil&action=display&thread=1201750949 ) I was wondering what other NZ aircraft have had what could be considered a bad luck or jinxed history?

Possible candidates;

ZK-SUN - Feb. '79 wheels up landing, Dunedin.
- Late '70s underwater when Invercargill airport floods.
- May '89 crashed near Napier killing all aboard

NZ1082 - had its tail cut off at least twice by other taxying Harvards.

ZK-JNX - see above thread.

As a type, how about the Lockheed 10 Electra? 8 of the type registered in NZ, 7/8 involved in major incidents..............
ZK-AFC - crashed and destroyed, Mangere, 10 May 1938
ZK-AFD - bellied onto Flagstaff hill, Dunedin, 5 Feb 1943 (repaired and returned to service, fuselage now at MOTAT)
ZK-AFE - crashed and destroyed, Mt. Richmond, Nelson, 7 May 1942
ZK-AGJ - written off after crash into Tauranga Harbour, 19 April 1945
ZK-AGK - crashed and destroyed, Mt. Ruapehu, 23 Oct 1948
ZK-ALH - crashed, Hamilton, 24 Feb 1949 (repaired and returned to service)
ZK-BUT - written off after ground loop, Christchurch, 18 Feb 1959 (now at MOTAT)

But surely there are better examples of HOODOO aircraft out there and maybe some of you out there have had personal experiences with such aircraft, please share.

[DragonflyDH90]

Cherokee Six ZK-ECV, has had untold engine failures. As just about any skydiver from the South Island about ECV "The Pig", quite a few from the North will know too.
Its had its rego changed now to ward of the "evil spirit of the engine failure".

[pa18]

You might want to check" Cessna 185 aerial agriculture"

[FlyNavy]

Info from www.adf-serials.com and my own resources: (does this qualify?) Personally I'm no fan of any jinx theories.

Skyhawk N13-154908 LATER NZ6214
A-4G 887 __ Delivered to RAN 11/67.
The first A4G catapulted from HMAS Melbourne flown by LCDR John Da Costa on the 13 Feb 1969. During this launch the radar panel with its long body extending back into the instrument panel (being not properly secured) came out into the pilot's lap. Unable to eject (because of the large size of the panel body - length and weight) Lcdr Da Costa skilfully flew the aircraft with its trim buttons and limited control stick movement to an emergency straight in landing back at NAS Nowra. Being able to survive such a drastic mishap enabled many previously unexplained USN catapault launch accidents to be solved. Thereafter the radar screen in all A4s was secured by a very large extra fittings, especially while at sea.

Undercarriage lowered accidentally during pullup from an armament dive at 450 knots. Location at the Kahoolawe Weapons Range nearby the island of Hawaii. 887 recovered at NAS Barbers Point (near Pearl Harbour near Honolulu Intl airport) by arrested landing onto a foamed runway. The pilot was SBLT John Hamilton. 887 repaired within 2 weeks to fly onboard HMAS Melbourne at sea, nearby Oahu.

Wheels up landing, landed on the tanks (with foamed runway) at Amberley QLD after losing a wheel on a touch and go off HMAS Melbourne, 22/05/78. The Pilot was SBLT Barry Evans.

To RNZAF 07/84 as NZ6214, now A-4K. Birdstrike 10/01/92 Coromandel Peninsula while at 250ft and 420kt, recovered OK and returned 12/92. Retired by RNZAF 2001/02.

[hairy]

sinbad said:

Personally I'm no fan of any jinx theories.

To tell you truth neither am I, but it does make for good copy.

[jumpinkiwi]

Feb 2, 2008 8:46:15 GMT 12 DragonflyDH90 said:

Cherokee Six ZK-ECV, has had untold engine failures. As just about any skydiver from the South Island about ECV "The Pig", quite a few from the North will know too.
Its had its rego changed now to ward of the "evil spirit of the engine failure".

As a young pilot, I flew approximately 200 hours PIC in ZK-ECV and luckily didn't have any engine failures..unlike  a lot of other jump pilots. The last owner who used it for skydiving never maintained the aircraft as it should have been , especially in an operation like skydiving. At one point the engine needed some serious work but instead of doing a complete zero time rebuild , he elected to do a top end overhaul only and it just never was the same. Problem after problem and an overheating issue which could never be solved.
You can't skimp on maintaining an aeroplane.....as this owner was notorious for. I am so thankful that no one was seriously injured or killed in ECV.

[Mustang51]

Certain Sea Fury at Nowra continually had problems with engine and airframe to the point where it was "on strength" but not flown. When it came time for the first disposals it was top of the list. Unfortunately when the scrappies came in they picked the wrong airframe and chopped it up. Serial number exchange effected on the 'rogue' machine to protect the innocent. Aircraft still survives to this day !