Pawnee ZK-CEL

[ron]

Does anyone have any history or photos of this aeroplane? The partially restored airframe was today delivered to the Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra. Anything will be much appreciated.

Regards
Ron

[Martin Wienert]

Hi Ron,
wanted to look for - but couldn't find a trace of ZK-CEL in the CAA Active Aircraft Register and nothing in G****e ...

Kind regards
Martin

[Peter Lewis]

ZK-CEL
Piper PA25 Pawnee 235 c/n 25-2747
Imported by the NZ Piper agents Airwork (NZ) Ltd., Christchurch in 1964, and registered to them.
First operational owners Auster Air Services Ltd., Timaru
Then onsold:
17/4/1968 Wanganui Flying School & Air Services Ltd., Wanganui
2/2/1972 Aerocraft (NZ) Ltd., Palmerston North (possibly for repair work?)
26/1/1973 Makarua Co-operative Lime Society Inc., Wellsford
13/3/1975 name change to: Farmers Aerial Co-operative TD Soc.Ltd., Warkworth
23/9/1981 taken over by: Fieldair Holdings (Northern) Ltd., Thames
7/12/1981 Farmers Aviation Ltd., Hawera
Cr Parihauhau 31May85
30/6/1989 Ross Aviation Ltd., Rotorua (not rebuilt - for Ross aviation museum)
registration cancelled 17/1/1991
After Ross museum folded, last reported to V & P Anderson of Katikati for rebuild 1993.

Photo at Palmerston South April 1966 (Auster AS ownership):



At Ardmore, late 1970s:

[Peter Lewis]

Any chance of a photo showing her current condition?

[Martin Wienert]

Hi Peter,

you always has an answer ...
I really do want to know - why was there no trace of CEL in the CAA files?

Thank you in advance.
Regards

Martin

[ron]

Hi Peter

Many thanks for that comprehensive response. The Pawnee was one of several aircraft owned by Bill Salt here in Brisbane. His collection was auctioned at Archerfield on 04OCT07 due to the owner's ill health. ZK-CEL was purchased by the Queensland Air Museum and trucked to Caloundra on 05OCT07. The aircraft is partially restored and we will complete the restoration as a static exhibit when time permits. Peter, can you remember the colours? The following image was taken by Nick Sayer as the Pawnee was being loaded at Archerfield. And to save anyone asking, no, the aeroplanes in the background were not included in the auction

Regards

Ron

[flyjoe180]

I really do want to know - why was there no trace of CEL in the CAA files?

If the Certificate of Airworthiness or registration fees are allowed to lapse, then the aircraft will disappear from the register. The registartion itself may be reserved though, pending a restoration or return to active flying.

Hope this helps.

[flyjoe180]

The CAA is not always the best option for researching registration marks, Peter can probably direct you to a better source; he probably even has the entire historical NZ registration database at hand! ;D

[fletcherfu24]

Peter, can you remember the colours?

My moneys on white and red.... ;D

Its obviously a Kiwi Pawnee because the gas tank has been removed from between the engine and hopper and put in the wings,was that adopted in other countries or was it a local mod?.

[Peter Lewis]

This Pawnee seems to have operated for it's entire life in the standard Piper white with red trim - I have these colors noted at the time of the Ardmore pic. If you look carefully at the above two photographs, there are minor differences in the striping, but there is no evidence of any operator's markings. From photos of other Farmers Aviation aircraft, I would say that it flew there until its demise in a similarly anonymous colour scheme.

wieesso said:

I really do want to know - why was there no trace of CEL in the CAA files?

As Joe rightly says, once an aircraft registration is canceled, it no longer appears on the internet database. No doubt records are kept in the bowels of CAA house (from experience, not always) but it is in a 'dead' file.

flyjoe180 said:

Peter . . . has the entire historical NZ registration database at hand! ;D

True, some 12226 records, the results of forty years work, and no you can't have a copy. However, a reasonable request couched in a polite manner will usually result in a helpful response.

Thanks for the update pic and gen Ron.

[Peter Lewis]

fletcherfu24 said:

Its obviously a Kiwi Pawnee because the gas tank has been removed from between the engine and hopper and put in the wings,was that adopted in other countries or was it a local mod?.

As far as I know, the wing tanks were a Kiwi innovation developed by Airwork after their first Pawnee ZK-BOP spun in and crashed near Cheviot 20Jul62. The pilot J Shutt (an American chap bought over to show the Kiwis how it should be done) was badly burnt in the accident, attributed to the fuselage fuel tank igniting. The accident is described in Roger Crow's book Flying Low.

[Dave Homewood]

I don't think these will be of any interest here, but oh well. My late father, Gordon homewood, and hia mate Fred Stevens both built 1/4 scale Pawnees in the late 1970's or early 1980's. Dad's was in US colours for some reason, while Fred's wore a local scheme. I just unearthed an old photo to see if Fred's was in the same registration as CEL but his was CIB instead.

[Deane B]

I grew up in Hawera and Bruce Aitken (Farmers Aviation) was the local ag-pilot. After his hangar on Brewers strip burnt down in 1981 (in which he lost an Airtruk, Pawnees, Super cubs and a 172) he bought CEL to start work again. Dad used to fly R/C models from Hawera Aerodrome where CEL was based was, so I often saw it. Bruce was a very good pilot (some thought crazy) and I was always in awe of his skill. He used to perform "crazy" flying acts at airshows in one of his Super Cubs and I was told he was a true "barnstormer". I can also recall him taking off in CEL with his loader driver sitting behind him on the same seat, getting airborne and throwing it into a 80 to 90 degree banked turn. Then doing a 180 with the wingtip just a few meters above the ground before heading off to his work area.

These pics were taken in 1984. Not long after these were taken the plane was repainted. The red areas became orange and from memory the rego was painted a mid blue colour.

I can supply higher res scans of these photos if required.

[ron]

Deane B

Yes please to the offer of high res images of CEL. If you could send them to [e-mail] I'd be much obliged.

Rgds
Ron

[Deane B]

Pictures have been emailed Ron. I'll try and dig out the negatives next time I see my parents as the photos I have scanned have lost a bit of colour. Would be nice to get better copies. Regards Deane

[Dave Homewood]

Photoshop is your friend:

[Deane B]

Yes - you can do a lot if you play around - I tried, but didn't get it as good as you have.

A lot is still down to the photo. If you look at the grass you can see patches of brighter colour, where the photo was not so faded. Also the sky has lost its blue and the white is all washed out.

BTW I use Paintshop Pro, rather than photoshop, but same sorts of tools. I also remove all the blemishes that tend to be picked up when scanning and I am able to take out a fair bit of damage on photos.

Thanks for improving the pics Dave.

[Dave Homewood]

Yep, my quick effort is by no means perfect but the colour is brighter. I used to use Paint Shop Pro till my old computer died, but I think Photoshop is far superior in many ways when you know how to use it.

[thomarse]

Deane, are those shots taken at the Hawera field?

After the fire, did Bruce move to the field?

BTW, where was Brewer's strip?

[Deane B]

Yes the pictures are taken at Hawera Aerodrome.

After the fire, when Bruce got CEL, it was based there until retirement. Plane was usually picketed on the concrete apron behind the tail wheel.

Brewers Strip was east of Hawera at Ohangai. From memory it was off Matangara or Makowhai Roads?