Date:	Saturday 4 April 1959
Time:	day
Type:	De Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	Tauranga Aero Club
Registration:	ZK-BEF
MSN:	83323
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Location:	Opotiki Airfield, Bay of Plenty 3 -   New Zealand
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:
Destination airport:	Opotiki Airport, Ōpōtiki, Eastern Bay of Plenty, North Island (NZOP
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 83323; (Built by Morris Motors at Colwy, Oxford); Taken on charge as T5625 at 2 EFTS RAF Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire 24.6.40; tomoved with unit to RAF Staverton, Gloucestershire 8.40. Crashed at Sanbourne, near Redditch, Worcestershire 16.11.40; to DeHavilland for repairs 30.11.40. To 24 MU RAF Ternhill, Shopshire 4.2.41 upon completion of repairs. To 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit, Q Flight, RAF Aberporth 23.7.41. To 1609 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight, RAF Aberporth 1.10.42 (or 1.11.42). Unit reformed as 595 Squadron, at RAF Aberporth 3.12.43. To 38 MU RAF Llandow, Glamorgan 13.7.45 for long-term stroage pending disposal.

Struck off charge when sold 27.8.46 to Herts & Essex Aviation Ltd, Broxbourne. UK civil registered as G-AIDR (C of R 10587/1) 22.8.46 to Herts & Essex Aero Club (1946) Ltd, Broxbourne, Nazeing, Essex. Damaged in hangar fire Broxbourne 23.6.47, prior to overhaul but repaired. C of A 9717 issued 14.11.47. New CofR No.R2583 issued 6.2.50. Registration G-AIDR cancelled 16.11.53 as 'subsequently sold to New Zealand'.

New Zeland civil registered as ZK-BEF 6.1.54 to J M “Jim” McMahon, Tauranga. New Zealand CofA issued 19.2.54. Re-registered 23.2.54 to H Allen Mills Ltd, Rotorua. Badly damaged on landing The Chateau, Tongariro 5.7.54; repaired and returned to service. Re-registered 20.8.54 to Aircraft Sales & Service Ltd. Re-registered 4.12.54 to Tauranga Aero Club, Tauranga.

Badly damaged on landing 4.4.59 at Opotiki Airport, Ōpōtiki, Eastern Bay of Plenty, North Island; pilot F Forge. (Ōpōtiki is a small town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand)

Repaired and returned to service. Re-registered to V Swanson & K S McMaster, Featherstone. Re-registered to Ian Bennie, Auckland. Re-registered 5.1.70 to D L Sterling, Matakohe. Re-registered 7.5.70 to A W Shaw, Hastings. Badly damaged when struck ground low flying near Onga Onga 13.12.70.

Rebuilt [1971] using spares from NZ810 [MSN DHNZ.60]. Registered 29.5.78 to Graeme C Taylor, Hastings. Re-registered 8.3.93 to Central Hawkes Bay Aero Club, Waipukurau. For sale ‘as is’ 2017. Registered 18.1.2018 to Darren J Luff, Wanganui. Currently registered (as at 30.11.2021)

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AIDR.pdf
3. Aviation Historical Society of New Zealand: Journal Vol 28 No 1, 1985
4. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p833.html
6. Tiger Moth ZK-BEF (still as G-AIDR) at Broxbourne 1.7.52: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwhitworth/5526055936/
7. Tiger Moth ZK-BEF at Taumarunui - NZTM New Zealand 17.10.2020: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9922153
8. http://edcoatescollection.com/ac2/NZBA/ZK-BEF.html
9. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/56787-zk-bef-1
10. https://airportguide.com/airport/info/NZOP

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

5 July 1954	ZK-BEF	H A Mills	0	Chateau Tongariro, Tongariro NP		sub
26 January 1967	ZK-BEF	V Swanson & K S McMaster	0	Pirinoa, Wairarapa		sub
13 December 1970	ZK-BEF	A W Shaw	0	Ongaonga, Hawke's Bay		sub
17 February 1977	ZK-BEF	A.W. Shaw	0	Patoka, Hawke's Bay		min

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-May-2009 12:58	XLerate	Added
16-May-2018 05:40	Ron Averes	Updated [Cn, Operator, Source]
06-Oct-2021 20:36	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]
04-Dec-2021 16:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category]
04-Dec-2021 17:06	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]
21-Jan-2022 21:20	Ron Averes	Updated [Aircraft type, Location]
21-Jan-2022 21:36	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]
14-Feb-2022 02:32	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]