ZK-AKO de
Havilland D.H.82A Tiger Moth
(c/n DHA505)
Australian (Bankstown, NSW) built Tiger. To to RNZAF as NZ1419. Issued
free to the Waikato
Aero Club of Whenuapai in 1946. Like so many ex-club
Tigers, it wound up, like as not,
"behind the barn" as a topdresser, as seen in my shot below.
ZK-AKO's conversion came
rather earlier than most, being converted for James Aviation Ltd of
Hamilton in December 1949,
who named it 'Scotts Wild Oats'. It crashed at Mamaku on 26 June
1956 when it swung on takeoff
after
hitting a patch of mud on the runway and ended up inverted on the
ground. Nonetheless it was
purchased by a buyer in Australia and repatriated, becoming
VH-BPY. It was finally withdrawn from
use in
1961.