New Zealand Percival Aircraft

[Peter Lewis]

The second Proctor of this import was Proctor 1 c/n H.15, an early Hill-build that had seen service as R7499. Post-war it had gone to Field Aircraft Services and become G-AIXP on 3Dec1946.

Sold abroad and cancelled on 22Feb1947, this aircraft became ZK-AOA with L E Clark before going to Hastings with the Hawkes Bay and East Coast Aero Club. Its first NZ CofA, presumably after the expiry of the UK certificate, was issued on 27Mar1948.

As with other NZ Proctors, ZK-AOA was modified for ambulance work. This entailed allowing for the removal of the co-pilot front seat and fittings for a light alloy stretcher to be installed down the starboard side of the cabin. This gave room for an attendant to be seated beside the patient on the remaining half of the rear seat.

ZK-AOA was damaged in an accident at Hastings (Bridge Pa airfield?) on 4Jan1950, but was repaired and continued to serve with HB&EC AC until 1958.

I have a note that ZK-AOA flew 136hrs in 1957, compared with 348hrs for the two Whitney Straight aircraft. The club overall made a financial loss that year, and it was decided to sell the Proctor.

Unable to find a local buyer, ZK-AOA was shipped to Australia where Proctors were more popular in the hope of a sale there. However, the airframe was damaged while unloading at Sydney and ended up derelict at Bankstown airfield where it was eventually used for fire-fighting practice in 1962. The NZ registration was cancelled on 5Mar1958.

ZK-AOA at Mangere 1947, shortly after assembly.







At home base - Bridge Pa airfield, Hastings, 5Nov1949







ZK-AOA visiting Omaka



Appears to be the results of the crash on 4Jan1950.
I would say a write-off - but obviously they jacked it up, turned it over, and flew it again. Amazing.





Repaired and repainted, with the registration now on the fin. ZK-AOA at Paraparaumu 24Oct1953.





At some later stage, reverting to the fuselage registration but now with the addition of a stripe.



The end for ZK-AOA. Derelict at Bankstown, Australia.

[Peter Lewis]

Proctor 3 c/n H.524 was built by Hill and served as LZ754. It became G-AGVE with Hunting Air Travel (a company associated with the Percival organization) at Newcastle-on-Tyne on 7Nov1946. They sold it to Field Aircraft Services on 17Jan1949 and it was registered in that name on 10th February. Field cancelled the registration on 6May1947 as sold abroad.

Bought on charge in New Zealand as Proctor 3 ZK-APG, this was apparently a stock machine held for potential sale by Clark.

When Southern Scenic damaged their Auster ZK-APO in the Lammerlaw Ranges mid-1947 and with Proctor 1 ZK-AJY also out of service at that time they were left without an operational aircraft. Luckily, with finance made available from Lucas’ family, they were able to buy ZK-APG within a few days. Ownership was transferred to F J Lucas, Queenstown 27Jul1947 and ZK-APG became part of the Southern Scenic Air Trips fleet. “It wasn’t the machine we wanted” notes Lucas, “but at the time very few suitable aeroplanes were available”.

On 29Oct1947, Bill Hewett became stuck in the soft sand at Big Bay, Westland, in ZK-APG and the aircraft suffered both accident and water damage. Spares had to be flown in by a South Canterbury Aero Club Tiger Moth and the Proctor was repaired on-site over the following weeks under the most difficult circumstances.

After this was sorted out, ZK-APG served under Southern Scenic Air Services Ltd. ownership until July 1958 when it was sold to E L Phillips of Turangi. 

The Proctor was damaged in an accident at Masterton in early 1960. Ted Phillips replaced ZK-APG with Auster Autocar ZK-AYQ and the damaged Proctor was apparently sold to Colin James of Air Contracts Ltd. but this change was not officially notified.

It then may have passed briefly through the hands of the Hawera Aero Club, as I have a newspaper clipping of a notice of sale by tender by that club giving airframe hours since overhaul 202hr 15 min and engine hours since overhaul 524hrs. Tenders closed 24Feb1960.



J H Muir of Lower Hutt then acquired the remains and used the motor and presumably other parts in his Proctor 5 ZK-AQJ. The remains lay at Hood airfield, Masterton, fading away by March 1962.

At Luton, during its time with Hunting as G-AGVE



ZK-APG visiting Rongotai, August 1947





A visit to Christchurch, outside the Airwork hangar



Southern Scenic Air Trips nose art on ZK-APG



ZK-APG now with SSAS badge on the fin





Derelict at Masterton

[hairy]

Fantastic work Peter, as with your previous type listings I am enjoying this and look forward to seeing each new instalment.

A Percival a day keeps the doctor away.

[Peter Lewis]

Thanks Marcus.

[Dave Homewood]

Indeed, these threads are important and you're doing excellent work Peter. I still recall fondly getting to have a taxi ride with Stan Smith in the Percival Proctor with his collection back in 2005, quite an experience.

[scrooge]

You might want to amend that to Proctor, Dave.

[agile]

Aug 19, 2014 21:27:08 GMT 12 hairy said:

A Percival a day keeps the doctor away.

Or should that read '...keeps the Proctologist away"?


Can I add my encouragement to the chorus Peter - I really enjoy these threads.

[scrooge]

Of course, if you spend any time near Stan Smith, he'll ask you whether a pilot who flies Proctors is in fact a Proctologist.

[Peter Lewis]

While the early marks of the Proctor were based on the Vega Gull with seating reduced from four to three to allow for the weight of the military equipment, there was still a British Air Ministry requirement for a four-seat aircraft.

Hence the Proctor was redesigned with a larger fuselage to meet this specification, and this variant went into production for military use as the Proctor IV in 1943. Although fitted with the same 210hp Gipsy Queen as the earlier models, the Mk.IV was 465lb heaver, handled less nimbly, and managed to display both a lower cruising speed and a higher landing speed than its predecessors.

Post-war, Percival produced a purely civil version of this model as the Proctor 5. The first of these new aircraft to arrive in New Zealand was c/n Ae.26 which had achieved its UK CofA #9529 on 19Jun1947 and was registered to L E Clark of Christchurch as ZK-APH.

The Waikato aero club had had considerable success with its early Proctor ZK-ALS and could see the potential for extending its aerial ambulance business, the larger cabin of the Proctor 5 making it much more suitable for such work. Lacking the funds within the club itself to buy ZK-APH at that time, they therefore announced a public fund-raising exercise to raise the necessary money. This was a successful move, and ZK-APH was registered to the Waikato Aero Club on 5Sep1947. It carried the name ‘Spirit of Waikato’.

The ambulance and charter work kept ZK-APH busy, and one of it’s regular pilots was June Howden. At that time June was NZ’s only full-time woman commercial pilot, and her exploits were often written up in the press as noteworthy. When she married Bob Gummer, who worked as a topdressing pilot with Robertson Air Services at Hamilton, the Proctor was suitably decorated as their after-wedding transport.

ZK-APH was sold in mid-1953, and traveled south to Nathan Scott of Christchurch, who registered it in the name of his company Scotts Engineering Co. Ltd. on 27May1953. Three years later the Proctor came back to the North Island into the ownership of Rolvin Airways of Palmerston North, a charter company run by Cliff Rolfe. Ten years later, in 1966, William J Thomasen of Auckland took ownership and ZK-APH was briefly based at Ardmore.

Meanwhile there had been growing concern about the structural integrity of some glue joints in wooden aircraft. The Australian DCA announced that several makes of such aircraft would have their certificates of airworthiness permanently withdrawn as from the end of 1963, and the Proctor 5 was included in this list. Some other aircraft types – including earlier models of the Proctor – required mandatory glue adhesion tests of the wing spars. These tests would involve significant invasive testing work, and even if the aircraft passed the test the subsequent repair would entail considerable costs, possibly more than the value of the aircraft. Despite the more benign climatic conditions in New Zealand, these recommendations were eventually adopted here and sounded the death-knell of most of the local Proctor population.

Thus ZK-APH was withdrawn from use at Ardmore in 1967, being replaced by Thomasen with Cessna 180 ZK-BUI. Ownership passed to John Collins of Henderson 20Mar1968 but I think the aircraft remained at Ardmore. It was shipped to Phillip Burns, Christchurch on 3Sep71 for restoration and a proposed museum, and the registration was finally cancelled on 24Jan1991.

The Proctor remained in storage, fell into disrepair, and eventually some remnants were collected from Burn’s property by Jim Mungall and Don Subritzky. These parts are now with Stan Smith as spares for ZK-ARP. The wings of ZK-APH were at the Ashburton Aviation museum recently before removal to Rangitata Island in 2013.

ZK-APH at Mangere, fresh out of the box, September 1947



Newly arrived for the Waikato Aero Club, at Rukuhuia 27Sep1947





Visiting Rongotai September 1947



and at Paraparaumu



Visiting the Auckland Aero Club at Mangere 15Nov1947























ZK-APH airborne over Hamilton City 21Apr1948









Change of livery - ZK-APH now on the tail, 'Spirit of Waikato' now just forward of the cabin door. Rukuhuia 19Nov1949





Visiting Mangere in the new colours



The Gummer/Howden wedding 210-horse coach









and the happy couple



Repainted again. At Mangere.











Now at Ardmore, 1966.



After the grounding - Ardmore 16April1968





Departing Ardmore by road transport for Christchurch, September 1971



ZK-APH at Christchurch, somwhat later




'curtiss' photos

What remained of ZK-APH, even later, when rescued by Mungall and Subritzky








Jim Mungall photos

Wings off ZK-APH, Ashburton Air Museum 3Jan2011

[raymond]

That looks like Nev Mines (Shorty)in the photo of the rear fuse at the back of a shed

[baz62]

Yep looks like him. I recall standing where he was looking at this poor Proctor. This was at Ron Fechney's farm here in Canterbury. (And one time owner of exRNZAF Mustang ZK-CCG/NZ2417)

[Peter Lewis]

The next new Proctor 5 to arrive for Clark was c/n Ae50, which became ZK-AQJ on 11Dec1947.

Six months later it moved to Omaka, being registered to the Marlborough Aero Club in June 1948. Again, they used this Proctor for charter and ambulance work alongside their Fox Moth ZK-APT.

In July ZK-AQJ was sold to MAC club member and local orchardist Bevan R R Cragg and continued to be based at Omaka until moving north to N R Black of Masterton Although Black registered the Proctor in his own name on 15Aug1955, he hired the aircraft to his company Air Contracts Ltd.

At that time the Wairarapa & Ruahine Aero Club, also based at Hood airfield, Masterton, leased their flying operations to the Wellington company Airlift (NZ) Ltd., and Airlift bought ZK-AQJ from Black in July 1956 to use in the WRAC operation.

Airlift went into liquidation in late 1959, and the receivers for the company advertised the Proctor for sale by tender alongside Cessna 180 ZK-BGO. It was stated that ZK-AQJ was a three-passenger aircraft with a total of 3054hrs since new.

Tenders closed on 15Feb1960 and J C Meredith was apparently the successful bidder, with the aircraft being registered to him on 24Mar1960.

In May 1961 J H Muir of Lower Hutt took possession, and then sold ZK-AQJ to Harry Jenkins of Paraparaumu on 12Feb1968. Jenkins ran a flying school at Paraparaumu, and passed the Proctor to ‘Wellington Air Taxi, Tawa’ on 3 Oct1969. I don’t know if Wellington Air Taxi was a Jenkins-run operation.

The final owners were the Auckland-based group of Dave W Gray, T B & L P Geary, and J J O’Connell who acquired ZK-AQJ on 8Jul1972. At about the same time, the aircraft was withdrawn from service at Ardmore as part of the Great Glue Joint Clamp-down, and the aircraft is stored thereabouts with John Geary. Registration ZK-AQJ was cancelled on 1May1992.

Proctor 5 ZK-AQJ at Ardmore early 1948 before departing to the South Island



Marlborough Aero Club visit to AAC at Mangere 19Mar1949













This Proctor would have been a fairly frequent visitor to Rongotai.
Auster J-1 Autocrat ZK-AUB was operated by the Nelson Aero Club 1950 - 1952.



Wellington's Vega ZK-AKV in the background



At Masterton, owned by Black and operated by Air Contracts Ltd.



At Masterton, owned by Airlift and used by the Wairarapa & Ruahine Aero Club



At Masterton, presumably early in the J C Meredith ownership



ZK-AQJ at Paraparaumu 6Jan1967





Paraparaumu June 1968







Visiting Ardmore, 10Aug1968

[agile]

Aug 21, 2014 22:30:44 GMT 12 Peter Lewis said:

Thus ZK-APH was withdrawn from use at Ardmore in 1967, being replaced by Thomasen with Cessna 180 ZK-BUI. Ownership passed to John Collins of Henderson 20Mar1968 but I think the aircraft remained at Ardmore. It was shipped to Phillip Burns, Christchurch on 3Sep71 for restoration and a proposed museum, and the registration was finally cancelled on 24Jan1991.

How positive are you about the Burns connection? I only ask because the subject came up at smoko on Saturday, and the consensus of the FAS corporate memory was that Burns' Proctor was former resident AQK. Or was he associated with two of them?

Cheers
A

[baz62]

I'll have to have a look at my old Air Force Museum photos as for a while Phillip's Proctor was with us in 7 Hangar. It was in complete condition (apart from wings). Sadly it was capable of being ground run unitl not long before it came to Wigram. During a high power engine run it stood on it's nose as the chap running it was unaware the elevator cables were not connected.................
I had the prop hub for a while but we put another complete prop on her while at Wigram. So maybe not APH as that "wrecked" state was not the one I saw.

[agile]

There must have been two then I guess as Denys sent me a newspaper cutting announcing the arrival of AQK at Ferrymead in 1972, which specifically refers to Phillip and includes a photograph showing the machine (rego visible) sans engine, wings and U/C. Might have been tricky to ground run it in that state.

[johnnyfalcon]

Peter, I take my hat off to you. The effort to develop this thread must be huge in terms of hours, research, collating, scanning, and explaining. A great window into NZs past and preserved - albeit electronically (is that a word? better than cyberspacy I guess). Well done once more, there are many here that admire your efforts and handiwork.

[Peter Lewis]

Thank you.
Yes, it takes months of work.
Not just researching the gen, many of these photographs are in a really bad way and take a long time to restore to a reasonable standard.

[shorty]

There was a Proctor in Ferry Road (thats Christchurch for you Auckland people)in the vicinity but opposite side of the road, to the Edmonds factory. Parked in front of an old shed I was under the impression it belonged to Burns. Not sure if I have a photo of it

[gfm]

In 1975 I was at a combined traction engine rally/air pageant at Waimate (SI) airport. There was a proctor there, red and cream colour scheme, but cant remember the reg. Only one I ever saw,and never saw it again. In 1978 I was at an auction/clearing sale in Christchurch (Rhodes??) and there was the front 1/2 of the fuse, complete with engine of a blue and white Proctor. I believe the buyer wanted it for the engine for some other a/c.

[Peter Lewis]

Proctor 5 c/n Ae79 was built by Percival Aircraft Ltd. in October 1947. There was some talk of a sale to Paulo Pereira Ignacio from then until 24Sep1947, but in any event the Proctor was shipped as an unused aircraft to New Zealand, assembled at Mangere, and registered as ZK-AQK to Ernle Clark on 11Dec 1947.

In May 1948 ownership was transferred to J R C Killian of Gisborne. John Killian was an ex-RNZAF Squadron Leader who had flown Corsairs as CO of 19 Squadron in the Pacific. He utilized the Proctor for commercial charter flights, and was contracted by Southern Scenic to assist them in the Big Bay to Queenstown whitebait freight runs during the 1949 season. By 1950 Killian had moved to Queenstown where business was better and he could work with Southern Scenic as required.

The Proctor 1952 was transferred to the ownership of Southern Scenic Air Services Ltd. on 17Oct1952 and John Killian became a partner in the business after the departure of Bill Hewett. ZK-AQK operated alongside Proctor 3 ZK-APG and Lucas commented “The Proctors had become an embarrassment, but we used them whenever possible for scenic and charter flying, and freighting whitebait out of Big Bay”.

ZK-AQK was finally sold in 1960, as Southern Scenic re-equipped with Cessna 180s. The new owner from 28Oct1960 was Bevan Cragg of Blenheim who had previously owned ZK-AQJ. He sold the aircraft to B Wells of Mosgiel in March 1964.

Central Aviation Company Limited based at Roxburgh were the final operators of ZK-AQK from February 1965, and the aircraft was grounded at Roxburgh later in 1965 no doubt as part of the glue joint exercise. Nathan Scott of Scotts Engineering, Christchurch, bought the unairworthy aircraft as a parts source as he now owned ZK-AQZ. He cancelled the registration of ZK-AQK on 4Apr1966.

The aircraft was seen derelict at Woolston in 1972, and ownership eventually passed to Phillip J Burns of Dunsandel who registered the aircraft again on 10Nov 1977. The airframe moved around various locations until ending up at Russell Brodie’s airfield at Rangitata Island, South Canterbury, in April 2003. The registration was again cancelled on 24Jan1991. Stored at Brodies for some years, it was advertised for sale in early 2014 and was purchased by the Ashburton Aviation Museum.

The Museum moved it from Rangitata Island to their Ashburton premises in April 2014 and intend to restore the Proctor to a static display standard.

Proctor 5 ZK-AQK at Mangere early 1948



A few months later, at Mangere with John Killian













ZK-AQK in Southern Scenic colours at Bell Block, New Plymouth



Taieri, Dunedin, October 1956



ZK-AQK at Christchurch, March 1958



This Proctor seems to have kept the same livery once passed into private ownership.



Visiting Ardmore, ZK-AQK in one of the central hangars for some work on the undercarriage





Once no longer airworthy, the airframe moved around quite a bit. Where? and when? Looks to be a suburban front garden.



Resting at Rangitata Island 1Jan2011



ZK-AQK on the move to Ashburton April 2014


Dave Paull photo

The panel still looks almost complete, which is good news.


Dave Paull photo