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Post by chbessexboy on Feb 8, 2022 21:16:24 GMT 12
Can any Auster aficionados tell me the fate of ZK-ATO?
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Post by scrooge on Feb 9, 2022 9:52:11 GMT 12
ZK-ATO J/1B 2640 Hastings flying - revoked by CAA 2001 from hereCivair blog mentions ATO was owned by Charlie Janes and modified with a Rover V8.
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Post by chbessexboy on Feb 9, 2022 11:12:08 GMT 12
ZK-ATO J/1B 2640 Hastings flying - revoked by CAA 2001 from hereCivair blog mentions ATO was owned by Charlie Janes and modified with a Rover V8. It was subsequently restored to Gipsy power and sold.
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Post by Brett on Feb 9, 2022 12:35:50 GMT 12
Looks to have been on the register until 2000, but not in my listing for 2001.
It was registered to Auster ATO Syndicate, which I think was a Hastings resident named George Lane.
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Post by chbessexboy on Feb 9, 2022 14:15:06 GMT 12
Looks to have been on the register until 2000, but not in my listing for 2001. It was registered to Auster ATO Syndicate, which I think was a Hastings resident named George Lane. That's correct, but it was believed sold as a "restoration project" to someone in Auckland.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 9, 2022 16:50:31 GMT 12
Hmm, there has been a thread on an Auster now for 19 hours and our resident Auster nut Baz has not shown up. Should someone check on him?
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Post by Peter Lewis on Feb 9, 2022 19:55:17 GMT 12
The first J-1B Aiglet to arrive in NZ was c/n 2640, which became ZK-ATO in 1950. This aircraft was imported by Lawson Field of Gisborne, apparently without going through the NZ Auster agents. Field was a prominent, well-connected and wealthy businessman who had set up the Gisborne Aerial Topdressing Company the previous year.
ZK-ATO was owned by one of his companies, Arowhana Station Ltd, and registered to the Gisborne Aerial Topdressing Company as operator on 7July1950. It was utilised for seeding and rabbit-poisoning work.
On 2Nov1951 Fieldair Ltd, was formed and, while still owned by Arowhana Station, the operator of the Aiglet was registered to that company on 1December1951.
ZK-ATO continued to work on the East Coast, apparently without incident, until mid-1960 when it was replaced by a Piper Cub and then converted back to a passenger-only aircraft. At the end of 1962 it was sold to K A Thiasen of Ruatoria for 500 pounds.
After passing through five more private owners, ZK-ATO became the property of C E Janes of Bay View, Hawkes Bay in October 1985. Charlie Janes was a back-country hunter who used it to ferry wild-shot game out of remote North Island bush strips. He became fed up with the problems of the Gipsy Major, so installed a Rover V8 engine into Auster. This involved him in prolonged and acrimonious disputes with CAA, which he eventually lost. Janes wrote several books about his adventures in this and other aircraft.
Restored to Gipsy power, ZK-ATO passed into the hands of the Auster ATO Syndicate (G M Lane & A W Payne) of Napier as from 5Mar1990.
This Aiglet then faded into obscurity, with the registration being revoked by CAA in June 2001.
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Post by chbessexboy on Feb 9, 2022 22:12:21 GMT 12
Thank you Peter. I hope ATO has survived in some corner of a hangar somewhere...
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Post by johnnyfalcon on Feb 10, 2022 12:00:33 GMT 12
Hmm, there has been a thread on an Auster now for 19 hours and our resident Auster nut Baz has not shown up. Should someone check on him? He's probably completely absorbed in his 3D computer flight simulator (flying a CGI Auster no doubt). Or Theresa has got him doing work around the house...(snort!)
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Post by planewriting on Feb 10, 2022 13:07:37 GMT 12
Hmm, there has been a thread on an Auster now for 19 hours and our resident Auster nut Baz has not shown up. Should someone check on him? Or perhaps he is driving with a trailer on the back, possibly to Hawke's Bay and doesn't want to get distracted by phones, emails or forums...
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Post by ZacYates on Feb 11, 2022 15:36:11 GMT 12
It'll be interesting to see where she is now and what lies in her future. He's probably completely absorbed in his 3D computer flight simulator (flying a CGI Auster no doubt). I can confirm there's a delightful Autocrat for Microsoft Flight Simulator X - loads of fun! The other day I "flew" from Hood to Omaka.
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Post by chbessexboy on Feb 20, 2022 16:52:43 GMT 12
George Lane tells me,
"ATO went to the Whangarei area in 1999 to a gent that built some home-builds at the local high school."
Ring any bells, anyone?
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catcrew
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 72
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Post by catcrew on Feb 20, 2022 21:05:40 GMT 12
Hmm, there has been a thread on an Auster now for 19 hours and our resident Auster nut Baz has not shown up. Should someone check on him? Any sign of Baz? It has been more tha a few hours now.
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Post by chbessexboy on Feb 20, 2022 21:37:10 GMT 12
Hmm, there has been a thread on an Auster now for 19 hours and our resident Auster nut Baz has not shown up. Should someone check on him? Any sign of Baz? It has been more tha a few hours now. Baz has been in touch and does not know the whereabouts of ATO.
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Post by Brett on Feb 21, 2022 7:50:53 GMT 12
Sounds like Paul Morrison, who does have something of a history with Austers....
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Post by baz62 on Feb 21, 2022 8:37:17 GMT 12
Any sign of Baz? It has been more tha a few hours now. Baz has been in touch and does not know the whereabouts of ATO. Thanks Ron. Nice to see a mature response to the thread. Yes I'll ask Paul about ATO for you.
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Post by chbessexboy on Feb 21, 2022 11:04:15 GMT 12
Thanks Ron. Nice to see a mature response to the thread. Yes I'll ask Paul about ATO for you. Thanks Baz. Paul has just been suggested to me from another source, but I have no contact for him.
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Post by chbessexboy on Feb 21, 2022 12:41:04 GMT 12
I have also been given the name Lee Middleton of Topini.
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Post by baz62 on Feb 21, 2022 16:07:44 GMT 12
Ron I've heard back from Paul Morrison and he has her in storage up in Warkworth.
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Post by chbessexboy on Feb 21, 2022 16:46:55 GMT 12
Ron I've heard back from Paul Morrison and he has her in storage up in Warkworth. Fantastic news Baz. I'm relieved she is still extant! Many thanks.
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