Tinpis,
We bought BYI from a retired farmer in Wanaka in 1990 and had it untill May 1997 when it had a short stint in Taupo, untill I purchased it again in Sept 97 ( should have bought a 185 then ) I sold it again in March 2002 and have had 185s since. It was a great machine and we had some fun times in it, although BYI with the sportsmans kit on it, was never as good at getting off the ground as old BJY was, without any fancy do-dads. Mind you, I had a friend fly three of us, plus a bit of junk out of Barn Bay in BYI once ( I wasn't game, and had a lot of respect for his experience ) and he made it all look easy! uphill as well!
I know BYI came in as a Rural ship brand new and was used by the owners as a sort of spiv ship and was not a topdresser. I think it was the first single engine IFR plane into the country? Could well be corrected there.
From there it had various owners including aeroclubs and also various prangs! (There but for the grace of God go I!)
When it was with Rural it was dark blue and red and white. There could well have been some pink paint there somewhere along the line.
P.S. Really enjoy reading the various threads about N.G. from you, C.C., Sarge and others. Keep it up.
A shot landing in the head of the Hunter, forget the name of the strip.
