The Pioneer’s in Australia were up for sale about 2 years ago, they stayed on the market for ages.
There were two along with quite a considerable spares package, I seem to remember.
Last I heard the had basically been dumped in a field and left, possibly put up for sale at scrap value.
I havnt heard anything since.

I will see if I can find the ad and post a scan of it here.

There is also one hiding away in Australia, awaiting a rebuild..

Hi Guys,

Its getting late here in NZ, and Im off to work in the morn.

I work for Croydon Aircraft Company so will give an update tomorrow if I can regarding DH86 bits, Im a bit slack also and have been meaning to put together a bunch of pics to post so everyone can see what we are up to.

Anyhow off to bed for me.

As mentioned the max speed of the Dragonfly is approx 125kts (145 mph),
the stall speed of the aircraft flaps up is 50kts (58 mph) and 48kts flaps down (55 mph).

The takeoff weight, as mentioned also, has a big part to play with the takeoff speed.
The takeoff distance varies quite a bit with the DH90 as the T/O weight changes.

I cant really give an accurate figure on the takeoff speed as I dont really pay that much attention when I’m racing off down the airfield (It lifts of when its ready to), but it would probably be in the 52 – 56kt (60 – 65mph) range.

If you have any other questions I’ll see if I can help.

They are a stunning aircraft, and a good bit of fun.

May I ask as to why you are interested in the T/O speed?

I agree with PhantomII, there needs to be a bit more lateral thinking amongst the watchers, I am one of the first ones to admit that the Spitfire and Mustang are fantastic aircraft and without them the War may have taken a few, rather unpleasant, turns.
But as far as underatted aircraft go the russians win hands down, from the early Polikarpovs (very advanced for their time) through to the Yak’s and Lavochkin’s, leading the charge with speed and agility far outreaching most of the others.
One aircraft I forgot, which probably deserves a mention, is the Romanian IAR-80 and 81, from all reports an excellent fighter.

As you can see Im a little biased towards Soviet aircraft, a little strange for a “Colonial” but I just love the look, simplicity, functionality of the aircraft.

Plus the fact the Soviets had some great pilots, seldom mentioned, including the “Night Witches”.

I hope this rekindles the thread a bit.

Hope this doesnt deviate from the thread to much but, were there any aircraft doing a flypast at the services around that you know of ?

I flew No.2 in a two ship Tiger formation for a local service.

Its good to see the numbers attending services are ever increasing, and the younger crowd are present also.

Lest we Forget

Hi everyone,

It was a fantastic show as always, and it seems Omaka had the pick of the weather for most of the country that weekend.

Just for everyones info the photo with the Proctor and the Dominie, the other rather attractive blue aircraft is a DH90 Dragonfly not a Dragon (the Dragonfly is often confused with the Dragon or the Dom).

Please keep the photos coming, they are great.

It was a shame that we couldnt have had a Tiger Moth, Moth Minor, Gipsy Moth and the Dragon to complete the early DH lineup.

We enjoyed bringing the aircraft up from Mandeville, as we dont often get the chance for such a nice public outing.
We hope to make it a much more regular occurance.

Ryan
Croydon Aircraft Company
Mandeville NZ