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Specialists In Contemporary Photographs and Moving Images of Historical Aircraft
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The largest aircraft on public display in New Zealand, and the last of its kind in the world, is Armstrong-Whitworth Argosy "Merchant Enterprise", located adjacent to Woodbourne Aerodrome in Blenheim. The "Merchant Enterprise" is an AW-650 Series 222 Argosy aircraft built by the Armstrong Whitworth company at Baginton, near Coventry, England. This twin-boomer first flew on 10 March 1965 and was operated by BEA on their European cargo routes. It then did several years service with TransAir in Canada and Alaska before arriving in New Zealand in July 1974.
Merchant Enterprise.
Registered as ZK-SAE, the aircraft was operated by Safe Air Ltd from their base at Woodbourne, near Blenheim. It flew the main trunk air routes of New Zealand as a general purpose cargo carrier, and also flew the unique Chatham Islands service, using a specially-built passenger capsule fitted inside the freight hold.
The relatively plush interior of the purpose built 'Passenger Capsule' In December 1978 the Argosy was the subject of much media attention when a series of "UFOs" were seen and filmed from it whilst flying along New Zealand's Kaikoura Coast. The "UFOs" were also tracked on radar and seen by other air and ground observers. What they were is still a matter of much debate.
On the flight deck. Safe Air ceased flying operations on 30 September 1990 and the "Merchant Enterprise" made its last flight back to Woodbourne commanded by long-serving SAFE Captains Allan Graham and Ian Pirie. It was then stripped of engines and instruments in preparation for scrapping. However at the last minute the aircraft was purchased by the Argosy Trust and moved to a nearby farm where it remained for some years awaiting restoration.
Moving to it's new home in 1999.
ZK-SAE was one of just seven civilian 200 Series Argosies built, and this aircraft is the sole survivor, all others having crashed or been scrapped. Another 56 military Argosies (100 Series) were built for the RAF and served with Transport Command through the 1960's. Most of these were also scrapped, and there are now only five non-airworthy 100 Series Argosies left, three in the UK and two in the USA. The huge aircraft sits alongside the "Argosy Cafe", a specially built aviation-themed cafe complete with a display room of artifacts, paintings and photographs, plus a Rolls-Royce Dart engine. A popular feature at the Argosy is a realistic "Virtual Flight" aboard the aircraft itself. Passengers take their seats inside the re-furbished Chathams Islands passenger capsule and experience the sights, sound and movement of an actual Argosy flight with a fascinating film telling the Argosy story as "inflight" entertainment.
Paul Davidson's 'InFlight' film Argosy Statistics
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Historical Aviation Film Unit :: Email: info@aviationfilm.com :: Fax: +64 3 578 4466 |
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