 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Headquarters | Hamilton, New Zealand |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Website | www.aerospace.co.nz |
NZSkydive Ltd, trading as NZAero, is an aircraft manufacturing company based in Hamilton, New Zealand. Along with its predecessors, it has sold more than 700 utility, training and agricultural aircraft. [1] The company replaced Pacific Aerospace Ltd, which became insolvent and was liquidated in 2021. [1]
Pacific Aerospace was formed from two companies, Air Parts (NZ) Ltd and Aero Engine Services Ltd. Air Parts imported Fletcher FU-24s in kit form during the mid-1950s and began manufacturing a significantly-modified variant, known as the PAC Fletcher, in 1965. Aero Engine Services Ltd diversified from maintenance work into taking over production of the Victa Airtourer, a light aircraft it developed into a military trainer, the PAC CT/4 in the early 1970s. The two firms joined in 1973 as New Zealand Aerospace Industries, which became Pacific Aerospace Corporation in 1982. [2]
Shortly afterward, Pacific Aerospace won contracts to provide components to Boeing and Airbus. Pacific Aerospace took over NZAI's work on a replacement for the Fletcher, which became the PAC Cresco and has in turn developed this into utility and skydiving variants. A new utility aircraft, the P-750 XSTOL, first flew in 2001. The company has also continued low-level CT4 production for over 30 years. [2]
In September 2005, an American firm's order for 12 PAC 750s was dishonoured, leading to controversy about government assistance to Pacific Aerospace. [3]
In 2006, a consortium of aviation professionals purchased the assets of the company and Pacific Aerospace Corporation became Pacific Aerospace Limited. [2]
In 2012, the Pacific Aerospace P-750 XSTOL aircraft was certified against ICAO Annex 6 for Single Engine IFR Passenger Transport Operations. [4]
In 2017, the company pleaded guilty to breaching United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 against North Korea after a PAC P-750 XSTOL was observed flying at the Wonsan International Friendship Air Festival in September 2016. [5] [6]
In February 2021, the company notified the CAA that it is insolvent, whilst it was unable to meet its obligations under the Civil Aviation Act. The New Zealand civil aviation authority suspended Pacific Aerospace's AOC. [7]
In April 2021, the company was bought out of administration by NZSkydive Ltd, continuing to trade under the Pacific Aerospace name. [8] The trading name changed to NZAero on 1 November 2023. [9]
The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use. The PA-28 family of aircraft comprises all-metal, unpressurized, single piston-engined airplanes with low-mounted wings and tricycle landing gear. They have a single door on the right side, which is entered by stepping on the wing.
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The Lockheed Model 10 Electra is an American twin-engined, all-metal monoplane airliner developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, which was produced primarily in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2. The type gained considerable fame as one was flown by Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan on their ill-fated around-the-world expedition in 1937.
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An agricultural aircraft is an aircraft that has been built or converted for agricultural use – usually aerial application of pesticides or fertilizer ; in these roles, they are referred to as "crop dusters" or "top dressers". Agricultural aircraft are also used for hydroseeding.
The Pacific Aerospace Corporation CT/4 Airtrainer series is an all-metal-construction, single-engine, two-place with side-by-side seating, fully aerobatic, piston-engined, basic training aircraft manufactured in Hamilton, New Zealand.
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Aerial topdressing is the aerial application of fertilisers over farmland using agricultural aircraft. It was developed in New Zealand in the 1940s and rapidly adopted elsewhere in the 1950s.
The Fletcher FU-24 is an agricultural aircraft made in New Zealand. One of the first aircraft designed for aerial topdressing, the Fletcher has also been used for other aerial applications as a utility aircraft, and for sky diving.
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GippsAero is an Australian aircraft manufacturer based at Latrobe Valley Airport in Morwell, Victoria. The company builds single-engined utility aircraft. These include the multi-role GA8 Airvan and the agricultural GA200 Fatman. In late 2020, brand owner Mahindra Aerospace announced plans to shut down GippsAero due to poor sales unless a buyer could be found. Its 2021 Board Report indicated that GippsAero Pty Ltd. had been converted into a Spares and Support Organization.
The Victa Airtourer is an all-metal light low-wing monoplane touring aircraft that was developed in Australia, and was manufactured in both Australia and New Zealand.
The Found FBA-2 is a 1960s Canadian four/five-seat cabin monoplane that was produced by Found Aircraft.
The Commonwealth Aircraft CA-28 Ceres was a crop-duster aircraft manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) between 1959 and 1963. The aircraft was a development of the Wirraway trainer of World War II.
The Hopfner HS-5/28 was a utility aircraft built in Austria in the late 1920s. It was a conventional, parasol-wing monoplane with seating for two occupants in tandem, open cockpits. The landing gear was of fixed, tailskid type with divided main units. Two examples were built with Walter NZ60 engines, followed by two more with the more powerful NZ85 for Swiss aeroclub use. One of these latter machines remained in service until 1934.
The Hopfner HS-8/29 was a utility aircraft built in Austria in the late 1920s based on the Hopfner HS-5/28. It used a modernised version of its predecessor's airframe, being a conventional, parasol-wing monoplane with seating for two occupants in tandem, open cockpits. The landing gear was of fixed, tailskid type with divided main units. The first prototype used the same Walter NZ 85 engine that the later HS-5/28s had used, but this was followed by 14 production examples with Siemens engines, and a single prototype with a de Havilland Gipsy III.
The Victa Aircruiser was a 1960s Australian four-seat touring monoplane designed by Henry Millicer and built by Victa.
On 26 February 2016, an Air Kasthamandap PAC 750XL passenger aircraft with eleven people on board crashed at Chilkhaya in Kalikot district, Nepal, killing the two crew members and injuring all nine passengers on board. The accident occurred just two days after Tara Air Flight 193.
The TAI Aksungur is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) for the Turkish Armed Forces. Using existing technology from the TAI Anka series of drones, it is the manufacturer's largest drone with payload capacity for mission-specific equipment. It is intended to be used for long-term surveillance, signals intelligence, maritime patrol missions, or as an unmanned combat aerial vehicle. TAI planned to integrate weapon packages and put the Aksungur into production in early 2020. The first unit was delivered to the Turkish Naval Forces on 20 October 2021.
Air Kasthamandap Pvt. Ltd. was an airline based in Nepal which started operations in 2009. It had its headquarters in Kathmandu and operated scheduled and charter flights and cargo flights in Western Nepal.
