Return to West Auckland Airport Home Page Phone: 021 681 900. Email: Bryn@ParakaiAirfield.co.nz Agents for Ballistic Recovery Systems (whole-aircraft parachutes), and France Aviation (DynAero Aircraft) Leading Edge Aviation Ltd (Bryn Lockie, L.A.M.E and I.A.), are licensed aircraft maintenance engineers at West Auckland Airport (Parakai). Leading Edge are able to carry out major work and scheduled maintenance on Certified, Sports and ML aircraft. Petrol, diesel and turbine engines. Aluminium, glass and carbon fibre airframes. Chief Engineer Bryn Lockie is Inspection Authorised (I.A.), and is able to certify Major Repairs/Modifications and Annual Reviews of Airworthiness (ARAs). A courtesy car is available no charge for those flying in for service. As Bryn Lockie lives close to North Shore Airfield he can often pick up aircraft there, fly them to West Auckland for service and deliver back when finished. Minor tasks can usually be carried out in their home hangars for aircraft based at North Shore or Whenuapai. Services: Apart from carrying out normal scheduled servicing of aircraft, Leading Edge Aviation specialise in: major rebuilds, corrosion and damage repair, refurbishment of aircraft, aircraft recovery from remote locations, import/export of aircraft, and assistance to home builders including completion of stalled projects. Import / Export of Aircraft: A complete package for importing aircraft including customs and agricultural clearance, unpacking the container, assembling the aircraft, making any mods required for NZ specs, arranging CAA inspections and placing the aircraft on the NZ register, for fly-away from West Auckland or delivery anywhere in NZ. Likewise for export of aircraft, a complete package... aircraft can be flown into West Auckland or picked up from anywhere in NZ, and will be disassembed, packed into a container and export arranged to final destination with documentation.
Leading Edge Aviation Ltd's engineering hangar Feb 09. 'Flying Doctor' Service. Available for those who strike problem at a remote strip and need an engineer to rescue aircraft, or to check for airworthiness before it is flown off. Bryn can fly or drive in, and has a low loading aircraft recovery trailer for recovering aircraft from difficult situations. He will also fly/drive into other airfields north of Auckland to carry out Annual Reviews of Airworthiness (ARAs) on aircraft at their home airfield.
ZK-NSA being fixed at Tapora after a forced landing. It was flown off by Dawson Boles from here, becoming airbourne before the fence (which was dropped just in case) on the ridge in the background.
Refurbishing Aircraft: Major overhauls of aircraft are a specialty at West Auckland, to any level including engine overhauls, uhholstery, paint, avionics. Both restoration and upgrading. The Cessna 150 ZK-TWT was flyable but looking neglected with poor paint, some corrosion, scratched windscreen, torn seats, damaged trim and generally it didn't inspire confidence in passengers or pride for the owner.
ZK-TWT back on-line.
Mooney ZK-DBK had a pre-purchase inspection that revealed corrosion in some of the major spars in the wing structure. Corrosion is never good news, but better to find this out on the ground than in the air. When the job started, the wings were removed (not a trivial job on Mooneys, which are a very solidly constructed aircraft), and opened up...
The skins had to be de-rivetted and peeled back for the affected spars to be exposed.
The brown colour under the skins is anti corrosion sealer. Decisions could then be made on exactly what needed to be taken out and replaced, and new parts ordered. An addition to replacing the affected spars the engineers took advantage of the opportunity to apply new anti-corrosion to all the normally inaccessible places. Shouldn't be any corrosion problems in this wing for a very long time.
Reassembly: Looking more closely at the photo above, you can see that the fuselage is suspended by the engine crane at the front and a chain block from the roof at the tail. Meanwhile the wings, which are one very solid unit on Mooneys, are being accurately position underneath on the wheeled platform ready for everything to be reunited. This all has to be done carefully as precise alignment is important, and these are heavy components where you wouldn't want something to slip. Once in place the physical reattachment is still quite a big job as there are hundreds of bolts and rivets, typically more than a week's work to remove and reattach a Mooney wing. Being re-rigged;
Much better... ZK-DBK not far off its test flight, a good rescue of a very nice aircraft that could have been headed for the junkyard. Now restored to health, ZX-DBK should be good for many more hours of active life.
Assistance for Homebuilders: For people who would like to construct a Kit/Experimental class aircraft, but are a little daunted by the size of the task, Leading Edge Aviation can provide assistance. Even once all the structural things are finished, connecting the wires and cables on a modern aircraft is a big job, as the photo below shows. If you are tempted to tackle a kit/experimental and would like to discuss ways to lessen the load, phone Bryn Lockie, 021 681 900, to discuss options.
Behind the instrument panel on a well equipped modern aircraft. For examples of Electronic Flight Information Systems (EFIS = Flight Computer) installations, click here Or, If you've run out of time to complete an existing project and would like to get the aircraft into the air a little faster, Leading Edge can assist with any phase of construction... airframe (aluminium, glass fibre or carbon fibre), engine installation, avionics and wiring, control system installation, painting, certification, registration, and flight testing.
Bryn Lockie and Simon Lockie unpacking a container of Cessnas from the USA Contact: Bryn Lockie, Ph 021 681-900 for anything to do with BRS whole-aircraft parachutes and Leading Edge Aviation Ltd. (For Avgas or Mogas at West Auckland Airport (Parakai), contact Simon Lockie 0800 FlyWest) Return to West Auckland Airport Home Page |
