Marlborough Aero Club now has the most advanced fleet of Piper Tomahawks in New Zealand, thanks to a smart new upgrade that has seen ZK-DMF and ZK-EQH overhauled with the latest instruments and a new paint scheme.

The Club, established in 1928, has a long and proud history of training private and commercial pilots. In a phase of up-dating its fleet of seven aircraft to reflect the needs of today’s pilots, the Committee decided that upgrading the two Tomahawks would be more effective than purchasing new aircrafts.

With 20 years left on the airframes, the Tomahawks have been given a new lease of life. In less than two months both aircrafts have been given a new paint trim and the interiors completely overhauled, including new seats, carpets and sun visors. More impressively, the analogue avionic systems have been replaced with digital instruments and a touch screen GPS.

Craig Anderson, Director of Sounds Aero Maintenance, adds: “The Tomahawks have plenty of life left in them and are great training aircraft. The Committee took a brave decision to revive them by fit them out with the latest avionics. Student pilots will be getting excellent training in modern aircraft.”

For those students training for their licences, the upgrades mean that they will receive the highest standard of training. Travers Tennant, Chief Flying Instructor for Marlborough Aero Club, adds: “The ‘new’ Tomahawks are creating a bit of a stir. With digital instruments, similar to Sounds Air commercial passenger planes, students are being trained to modern industry standards.”

For more information, visit www.marlboroughaeroclub.co.nz or call 03 578 5073

ENDS