Cargo Air NZ Antonov An-12

[ron]

Cargo Air NZ chartered An-12 LZ-SFL for trans-Tasman horse charters in the late nineties. The aircraft was photographed by Phil Treweek at Rukuhia in August 1997. Does anyone know when the charter began and when it ended? Were any other An-12s involved?

Regards
Ron

[FlyingKiwi]

I'm pretty sure that was the only one, and I'm not sure exactly when it began/ended but I don't think it was here for any great length of time.

[area51]

Herewith is a list of my records for LZ-SFL
09JUL97 DRW--HLZ
17JUL97 HLZ-MEL-SYD
18JUL97 SYD-NLK-HLZ SFB302
08AUG97 HLZ-BNE
15AUG97 -NLK-HLZ
17AUG97 HLZ-CHC-MEL
21AUG97 BNE-HLZ
27AUG97 HLZ-NLK-BNE
29AUG97 BNE-HLZ
10SEP97 HLZ-CHC-MEL
12SEP97 BNE-NLK-HLZ
23SEP97 HLZ-SYD
24SEP97 SYD-HLZ
02OCT97 HLZ-CHC-MEL
04OCT97 HLZ-BNE-NLK-AKL-HLZ
14OCT97 HLZ-NLK-BNE
23OCT97 HLZ-CHC-MEL
07NOV97 HLZ-CHC-MEL
08NOV97 MEL-CHC-HLZ
14NOV97 HLZ-NLK-HLZ
19NOV97 BNE-HIR
25NOV97 CHC-MEL
28NOV97 CHC-MEL
05DEC97 HLZ-BNE never to return!

Prior to LZ-SFL, there was LZ-SFG
23JAN97 BNE-HLZ
24JAN97 HLZ-SYD-LAE
No other records for this machine.

Not a complete listing of activity by any means but hope this gives a picture of its activities while in NZ. Cheers Mike

[ron]

Mike

Many thanks for your trouble. That info is very helpful indeed. Do you expect that the 09JUL97 movement by LZ-SFL was a delivery flight?

Nice to see someone else speaking AIRIMP.

Regards
Ron

[Dave Homewood]

Is it specifically Antonov movements you're interested in Ron? Or other horse transports too? I know people from here in Cambridge who've transported horses from NZ to the UK aboard a Singapore Airways 747 which is apparently specially kitted out for the job. I could ask round for more details if you're interested.

[ron]

Hi Dave

Thanks all the same but it's just the An-12s that I am chasing. More specifically, I'm trying to compile a listing of the An-12s which were based in Brisbane with Pacific Air Express. The NZ aeroplane, LZ-SFL, was later based in Brisbane for a time. Don't ask me how I came to be obsessed with Antonovs!

Regards
Ron

[ron]

I think I've gone as far as I can with this subject (certainly much farther than I originally intended!). The results of my research are on the QAM website:

www.qam.com.au/misc-exhibits/An-12-door.htm

Any additions or corrections will be much appreciated.

Rgds
Ron

[FlyingKiwi]

If you search for Antonov AN-12 under the aircraft type field and New Zealand in the country field on Airliners.net there are actually a few photos of both LZ-SFL and LZ-SFG, including a cockpit photo.

[ron]

Leo

Those images on Airliners.net reveal the following:

LZ-SFG was photographed at Hamilton on 23/24 FEB97 in Air Sofia livery and said to be on lease to CargoAir NZ although no titles are carried.

LZ-SFL was photographed at Hamilton and Christchurch between 10JUL97 and 07OCT97. The JUL97 photos show the aeroplane apparently being unloaded with forklifts (possibly offloading spares?) so that may well be its delivery flight as earlier surmised. At this time the aircraft carried no CargoAir titles although these are in evidence in the AUG97 photos.

This is now outside the scope of my original research but let's follow it through to a conclusion if we can.

Was LZ-SFG indeed on lease to CargoAir? The fact that it was operating out of Hamilton suggests that it probably was.

Did LZ-SFG continue operating in NZ beyond FEB97 and was there a gap before LZ-SFL arrived in JUL97?

Mike shows LZ-SFG operating as follows:

23JAN97 BNE-HLZ
24JAN97 HLZ-SYD-LAE

Was this a CargoAir operation or just an itinerant charter? Alternatively, are the movements on 23/24JAN97 and 23/24FEB97 one and the same with a typo?

Imagine how much fun it must be tracking these "aerial tramp steamers" on a worldwide basis.

Regards
Ron