The crash of an Air New Zealand-owned Airbus A320, leased by the German company XL Aviation Germany, crashed off the coast of France on the 27th November. The crash occurred during a routine acceptance test flight following the aircraft’s maintenance in preparation for its “handover” and return to Air New Zealand. Two German pilots were flying the aircraft at the time ...

The second PilotExpoNZ—a biennial expo for general aviation (GA) in New Zealand—will be held at Ardmore Airfield on the afternoon of Friday the 27th and all day on Saturday the 28th of February 2009. The first PilotExpoNZ in 2007 was the first aviation expo of its kind to be held in New Zealand and provided pilots, aircraft owners and operators ...

Air New Zealand’s subsidiary Eagle Air says a new relationship with the airline pilot training organisation CTC Aviation is great news for young pilots looking to fast-track into an airline career. Eagle Air recently employed the first two New Zealanders to graduate from CTC’s Commercial Pilot Programme in Hamilton and formally marked their graduation with a function at CTC’s Crew Training ...

The Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum at Wigram recently celebrated the opening of its new History Gallery: “Horizon to Horizon: the Flight Path of our Air Force.” The new exhibition includes a full-size replica of a World War One Sopwith Pup fighter aircraft mounted in an 80 square metre aperture cut into the ceiling of the ground floor gallery, which ...

The Australian War Memorial in Canberra has just opened a new permanent exhibition titled Over the Front: the Great War in the Air that features an audiovisual display produced by Peter Jackson and Wingnut Films to enhance the exhibition’s aircraft and artefacts. The exhibition features three Allied aircraft (SE5a fighter, Airco DH9 bomber and Avro 504K trainer) and two German fighter ...

Gaye Pardy, a New Zealand travel manager who has organised and led numerous aviation tours to Oshkosh in the past, is currently organising a tour to AirVenture Oshkosh in 2009. The tour will leave New Zealand in time for its members to enjoy the whole week of Oshkosh events, and will be followed by a number of optional “after tours” to ...

At the recent AOPA expo in San Jose, California (6–8 November), Crownair Aviation, which is based in southern California, displayed its first Crownair “Centurion Edition” modified Cessna T210. Crownair’s upgrade to the 1977 aircraft features a glass cockpit, a new paint scheme, RAM engine, tinted glass, wingtips with recognition lights, “Super Quiet” cabin soundproofing and grey leather seats with sheepskin ...

A New Zealand-based human-factors expert, Werner Naef, was awarded a prestigious Special Award recently for his outstanding international commitment and achievements in Aviation Psychology and Human Factors During its 28th conference, the European Association for Aviation Psychology (EAAP) has, for the third time, presented an EAAP Award in recognition of excellent achievements of individuals and teams in European Aviation Psychology and ...

Some 27,000 of Boeing’s machinists, who walked off the job on 6 September, are now back at work. A new contract agreement reached on 27 October included wage and pension increases, and preserved health-care benefits. It also included lump-sum payments for each employee totalling $8,000 per worker over four years. Boeing said in a statement that the new agreement “addresses the ...

The organisers of the Taupo Flying Proms, which took place for the first time in February this year, will be holding another Taupo Flying Proms at Centennial Park, Taupo, on 14 February 2009, aiming to build on the success of this year’s inaugural event. Hugh de Lautour, one of the organisers, says he is delighted to have received sufficient backing to ...