VH-RYA (2) Cessna
207
(c/n 207-0075)
Unfortunately this beautifully turned
out 207 was parked a little too close to its neighbor when
John Wheatley
took the above shot at Alice Springs in 1971. First registered on
12 September
1969 (ex
N91109), it was operated by Tipperary Land and Exploration Co.out of
Tipperary
Station, in the Northern Territory. It was later sold to
Territory Airlines in PNG (Talair) and in
June 1974 was
re-registered P2-RYA, later P2-SED. Talair had several (3
or 4) C207s but
rated them underpowered and wouldn't fly them into the highlands.
In July 1987 P2-SED was
sold in
New Zealand as ZK-FOO. It had several owners,
but on 26 August 2008 the aircraft
suffered
a significant power loss takeing off from the Bay or Plenty area and
forced landed in a
farm
paddock. There were no injuries amongst the seven persons on board, and
initially the air-
craft suffered minor damage.
However, in the subsequent recovery effort ZK-FOO was
destroyed
after an emergency release from its recovery
helicopter.