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Post by dakman on Jan 27, 2011 13:21:36 GMT 12
Recently found a listing of aircraft registered in NZ in 1964
by type The numbers and types are thus
Pa18cubs and varients101
Fu24 66
Pa25 Pawnee20
C180/185 73
Dh82 99
It would be likely a fair number of those Cubs were ag ones
and probably back then a good number of DH82 as well
How many do we have now I wonder ?
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Post by Brett on Jan 27, 2011 14:29:32 GMT 12
A quick look at the current CAA register shows:
PA18 - 46 listed
FU24 - 62 listed
PA25 - 13 listed
C180/C185 - 123 listed
DH82 - 51 listed
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 27, 2011 16:06:26 GMT 12
Sad to see the Tiger Moth population has practically halved. I guess topdressing either crashed or stuffed most of those no longer flying.
I thought someone said there were only 40 something Fletchers built. Or was that Crescoes?
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Post by The Red Baron on Jan 27, 2011 16:12:32 GMT 12
There definitely werent 99 Ag Tigers in 1964,2 active would probably be closer.They had pretty much been retired by the late '50s.
Figures can get distorted for ag aircraft as they are sometimes taken from the number of aircraft that were 'licensed' to an operator in a specific area.Often they held a license for a type that wasnt in service,you had a license to topdress in an area with specific aircraft types.
Around 300 Fletchers were built from '54 until the early '80s.
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Post by Deane B on Jan 27, 2011 19:05:56 GMT 12
[quote author=admin board=agricultural thread=12759
I thought someone said there were only 40 something Fletchers built. Or was that Crescoes?[/quote]
Cresco's - there were only 38 built. It will be interesting in years to come, to see if they build any more.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 27, 2011 19:41:03 GMT 12
Ah, that was it. Thanks.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Jan 27, 2011 21:35:05 GMT 12
In 1964 Tiger Moths were still a fairly cheap knock-around plane that a private owner could afford to buy and run. Gliding clubs also used them as tow planes, Pawnees were then too valuable to be glider tugs!
As The Baron says, apart from the occasional sprayer, Tiger Moths had been retired from aerial work. Certainly in my meandering around airfields at that time there were quite a few private or gliding club Tigers, but I don't think I ever saw an operational topdressing Tiger until ZK-AJO at the Hamilton airshow in 1967.
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Post by The Red Baron on Jan 27, 2011 22:12:59 GMT 12
1965 Ag Figures
76 Fletchers
74 Pipers
62 Cessnas
14 Beavers
8 Tiger Moths
3 Austers
plus there would have been DC-3's,Lodestars,Ceres,1 Airtruk
240 pilots
223 loader drivers
60 operators flew 130,625 hours,spread 923,206 tons of fertiliser and sprayed 2,261,162 gallons of spray.
The spraying amount is huge,it must only be a fraction of that these days.
Also in the '60s if an aircraft was destroyed its registration often stayed on the registers for years later as it didn;t cost anything to leave it registered in those days,which distorts the actual active aircraft figures,as seen above there weren't 8 Tigers active in 1965.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 27, 2011 22:31:33 GMT 12
Would some topdressing companies have kept Tiger Moths flying purely as hacks?
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