Well, quite a few visiting aircraft from the States explain the number of N registered aircraf here.
There are 3 that come to memory that are based here.. a certain Global Express, F2000 and F900 at AA..
Reason is that it is cheaper in certain aspects to keep the aircraft N registered as maintenance now comes under FAA regs instead of NZ regs. If you are using the aircraft for only Pt 91, it makes sense to keep it on the N register and therefore abide by the FAA rules.
You now don't need to do a complete C of A check and also it makes reselling the aircraft easier. (To enter the a/c on to ZK register.. you damn well need to take it apart and allow the NZ CAA to inspect it..)
However you also need a FAA approved engineer and approved FAA repair station.
This also means you cannot do any charters in NZ, well.. your allowed one a month... as this opens a nasty can of worms that every corporate pilot in the world runs away from... cabotage...
(no.. it's not a form of coleslaw...)
