A recent posting showed the Squirrel ZK-HWG departing from the Korean icebreaker Araon at Lyttelton. HEREYesterday December 26th two more Squirrels helicopter arrived aboard the Araon. Both Canadian registered - and both have very interesting previous New Zealand histories.Above is...
A recent posting showed the Squirrel ZK-HWG departing from the Korean icebreaker Araon at Lyttelton. HERE
Yesterday December 26th two more Squirrels helicopter arrived aboard the Araon. Both Canadian registered - and both have very interesting previous New Zealand histories.
Above is a long range phone shot of the Aerospatiale AS 350 B2 C-GDWM6 c/n 2463 of Canadian Helicopters Ltd which had just landed aboard.
A 1991 production machine listed as HB-XVT in March of 1991. It was damaged on 12-08-1995 and came to NZ to be re-worked by Helicopters (NZ) Ltd at Nelson and became ZK-HNZ3 from 01-12-1997.
It went off to Lao Westcoast Helicopters (a subsidiary of HNZ) for work in Cambodia and Myanmar.
It was re-registered as ZK-HDO4 on 04-05-2007 and was re-exported and cancelled on 06-10-2011 to become RDPL-34185 with Lao West Coast Helicopters of Vientiane, Laos (to continue its work looking for MIA's from the American War).
On 02-01-2018 it became C-GDWM6 with Canadian Helicopters Ltd, who had in the intervening period taken over Helicopters (NZ).
This is C-GHVU2 c/n 2132. A 1988 build which became N350MB followed by HS-NMB in February 1990 and HS-HTA from January 1995 in Thailand. On 08-09-1998 it became VH-WCU with Helicopters (Australia) Pty Ltd of Belmont WA - another subsidiary of Helicopters (NZ) Ltd. It joined the NZ register as ZK-HFH3 on 04-12-2001 and served several summer seasons at Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica before returning to Helicopters (Australia) this time as VH-WDQ from 26-06-2009.
Another return to the NZ register had it listed as ZK-HVU4 from 23-09-2013 with the renamed HNZ New Zealand Ltd of Nelson. It served at least two more trips to Terra Nova Bay until it moved to its parent Company as C-GHVU from 12-07-2018.