An early Tiger Moth

I have been trying to establish when an accident occurred in the Patea River at Taranaki in New Zealand. It must have been in the early to mid 1950s and the aircraft in question was a Tiger Moth the numbers of which have been obscured by the people in the photo. The number is Z something AQ (or O) something. The plane was operated by the Hawera Aero Club and was based in Hawera which is not far from Patea. Our interest is because two of my uncles dived into the river and saved the pilots life. I am writing a biography of him and his brother and would like to get it correct. This must have been one of the earliest uses of aircraft by a farmer in the history of New Zealand aviation. [email]peter@gfb.co.nz[/email]

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