Agwagons in NZ

[clintb]

Agman,

there is a personal message option via the site. i sent you a message with email details etc.

amec there were a couple of other ag huskys in NZ. motor holdings brought a demo unit to NZ circa 1980. Don Erceg toured it around the north island and worked it at te kuiti vs EGM, rurals only fletcher at the time. lapped the 400 according to my dad at the time. was a very sexy machine, i remember the rego as TJC or TJS. (sorry am digging into my memories as a 10 year old!)

there was also MJD based west of wanganui. was owned by a family who farmed out that way. was involved in a fatal around 2005?
another oddball was JCR, i think it was imported by aero works for spraying around wanganui mid 90's. but i think this was a c model not a husky.
i flew a bonnaire conversion in the states, IO-550. very cool aeroplane, shame wasnt one done here as it had tonnes of performance, especially as a sprayer.

cheers for the shot of csm. don was a legend.

[thomarse]

I don't think all Huskys were necessarily 400s were they? there were 300 turbos as well? MJD for instance.

Could be wrong but I seem to remember Robin Langslow had a 400 for a short time at Otane? I think it got creamed on the home strip?

clintb, the only TJx I can find is TJK (which I'd never heard of!) that was registered 1/94 and pranged 10/94 at Akotere which apparently is down Milton (Otago) way.

[amec]

clintb your are correct with the other huskys, though these were standard power plants. The first one Wanganui Aerowork operated was plagued with engine problems I understand.
JCR was an Agtruck and was imported as a rebuild for aeroworks. It was stored overseas in a shipping container, and then the container was flooded. There was considerable corrosion damage. It was a credit to them for getting it going. It was later sold and went down south. It was then involved in a takeoff incident and then caught fire and was burnt out.
There have been a few other agtrucks LDZ, FYJ and one that was powered by a lycoming IO-540 operated by Mark Watson I think, I forget it's rego.

[clintb]

a "real" husky is the turbo!!

was TJK a lycoming 300?? i can vaguely remember it being around.

am going to go through my old back copies to get that rego for the demo husky. it did exist.....not a fantasy. maybe one of the more senior members can help.

would also appreciate tips for copying old photos into a suitable format to upload. will go through my dads collection shortly.

[amec]

I did a bit of hunting around and found the demonstrator Ag husky was ETR. According to this site www.dave.wise.btinternet.co.uk/DWZKERZ.htm it arrived in 1981 and was exported in 1985.
Just to clear up some confusion in my previous posts. Only WAS and KZI were 400HP Lycoming engined Ag huskys, all others were the turbo charged continentals as delivered by Cessna.
WHL was the Ag truck fitted with a Lycoming IO-540, all other machines were powered with IO-520D Continentals IIRC.

Now for some pictures.

Two Ag trucks to start off with
JCR at Feilding 1994. Operated by Wanganui Aerowork.

FYJ at Feilding 1992. This was operated by Langslow Aviation at Otane. Crashed on takeoff shortly after.

[Damon]

I must say the scheme on FYJ is absolutely stunning! WoW!

[thomarse]

The things you find out when you start to delve.....

FYJ appears to have been rebuilt as COT(2) according to Dave Wise. I recall seeing COT(2) at Feilding at some stage so the rebuild was definitely completed, I presume by Neil Matheson.

However - and this is most unusual - Dave introduces a little confusion here as he shows COT(2) as being still on rebuild but I can find her registered 19/4/96 to Colin Bint at Rangiora and cancelled by him 2/12/98. What happened to her then?

[clintb]

Thanks amec. i had a eureka moment when i saw your post.

for anyone interested CAA have a listing of all occurence briefs in ag aviation since 1970 on thw website. If you go to A to Z Topics, then Ag aircraft safety review, click on annex E to L. Its 198 pages!!!! 3/4 of it is Fu 24 and C188 doesn't start until page 155 or thereabouts. useful for cross referencing etc on rego queries etc.
Its probably been talked about on other pages but thought i would post it here.

[amec]

Some more photos...

CSD operated by Falcon Aviation from Rangiora and flown by the late Peter Irvine. Crashed on takeoff Banks Peninsula. Photo taken at Feilding after STOL kit installation. 'A' model Ag wagon fitted with three blade Hartzell propeller.

EJK operated By Rural Air Services 1986 Ltd and flown here by Bob Monds. Later used in the rebuild of DPX. EJK and EJL I understand were the last Ag wagons imported into NZ brand new from Cessna about '77 or '78. Photo taken Hiwinui.

EMD opereated by Rural Aerial Co-op Pahiatua. Crashed into hillside at Pongaroa 1998. Pilot walked away uninjured. EMD rego also used on a earlier 954 fletcher and a later GA200C for the same company. Photo at Feilding 1993.

The original Ag husky WAS at Feilding 1988. Aircraft had a serious wire strike at Bunnythorpe in 1990. Pilot was seriously injured, but later returned to the cockpit. 400HP lycoming engine.

The replacement WAS spraying potatoes north of Feilding.

[thomarse]

amec

AFAIK you're correct about EJK (2873) and EJL (2859) being the last 2 brought into NZ new. I remember them sitting quite a while in the Motor Holdings hangar at MS.

They are 1977 models, and the 188 was built for a further 6 "model years" through 1983 before being discontinued at s/n 3968, another 1100 aircraft. I wonder why no more arrived here in all those years?

EMD is an interesting one as (again AFAIK) she's one of only 2 A188As to appear here, the other being CXO.

So is the 400hp count actually 3 units? 2 x WASs and KZI? I reckon KZI was a contemporary "parody" of our yacht KZ1 in America's Cup days.

Great photos guys, keep 'em coming!

[Deleted]

I am pretty sure no more agwagons were bought to New Zealand as there were to many imported in the 70's with no buyers. I know many sat for years unsold and ready for work

[clintb]

thought i would try this as a test. COO at Motat in Auckland. Took my son to look at Grandad's old plane. Awesome that this thread actually started with a pic of CQO. More to come

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[corsair67]

CSD operated by Falcon Aviation from Rangiora and flown by the late Peter Irvine. Crashed on takeoff Banks Peninsula. Photo taken at Feilding after STOL kit installation. 'A' model Ag wagon fitted with three blade Hartzell propeller.

amec, do you happen to know whereabouts on the peninsula this accident happened?

[amec]

corsair67
I am not 100 percent sure, but around the Akaroa area I think. Apparently it was on a sloping airstrip with a plateau loading area. Pilot misjudged aiming point on start of take off roll, which put the plane off the side of the strip. One wheel went into hole, and pulled aircraft through a fence writing it off. Pilot walked away unscathed.

[corsair67]

Cheers, amec.

I was just curious, as I wonder if it's the strip above the Hilltop Hotel.

[amec]

Some more photos for those who are interested..

EJL was the second to last (DHX being the last) Ag wagon to be completely rebuilt by us. It had an engine failure and forced landed onto a ridge line. Ripped a leg out, damaged wings etc. Was transported to us for repairs, and received more damage on ferry crossing, when a truck full of pumpkins collapsed on top of it.

Aircraft in storage awaiting rebuild. Aircraft behind is CSM part.way trough rebuild. And tube structure used to repair EJL.

Tube structure in jig.

Aircraft finished awaiting customer pickup, 1995


Start to finish took about 9 months, although aircraft was out of the air for a couple of years.
Most of the last crashed Ag wagons seemed to have had a problem getting airborne. This was due to trying to compete with fletchers etc and overloading and pushing the aeroplane to it's limits. We fitted a lot of STOL kits and even vortex generator kits to improve take off performance. This helped considerably.

[clintb]

Dme at Raetihi April 1976

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[clintb]

CQO at Raetihi April 1976

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[clintb]

Winter 1976 pre global warming obviously

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[clintb]

CQO in the snow, winter 1976.

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