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ADF-SERIALS
Australian, New Zealand & Papua New Guinea
Military Aircraft Serials & History
 This site is devoted to providing as complete a record as possible of aircraft operated by the ADF, NZDF & PNGDF.
Included where known are brief summaries of the history and current status of aircraft employed in Australian New Zealand & PNG Military Service.

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RNZAF Miles M.54 Aerovan 4
NZ1751 & NZ1752
     
 

 
     
  Introduction  
     
 
Serial c/n Aircraft history
NZ1751 6428 Previously G21-3.
Arrived Wellington by sea October 1949 and BOC at Shelly Bay on 23 November 1949 for aerial topdressing trials with RNZAF.
Operated by the Research and Development Flight which was a part of No.41 Squadron based at Whenuapai.
Offered for sale by GSB tender number 4280 dated 06 November 1950 with a total flying time of 67 hours.
Sold to "Paul and Gray" from Whenuapai on 06 April 1951.
Entered the New Zealand Civil Aircraft Register as ZK-AWV with Airwork NZ Ltd. on 16 April 1951.
The C of A was issued to this aircraft on 21 May 1951.
Leased to New Zealand Railways for freight charters and also used for other freight work.
 Positioned to Wellington on 02 November 1951 in preparation for a supply dropping mission in the Tararua Ranges.
While parked outside a hangar it was picked up by wind gust and thrown against hangar.
The aircraft was written off and the remains were returned to Christchurch for use as spares for the other Aerovan.

Miles Aerovan NZ1751RNZAF Photo
NZ1752 6427 Previously G21-4.
Arrived Wellington by sea October 1949 and BOC at Shelly Bay on 20 January 1950 for airborne magnetic survey work in association with DSIR.
Operated by the Research and Development Flight which was a part of No.41 Squadron based at Whenuapai.
Offered for sale by GSB tender number 4281 dated 06 November 1950 with a total flying time of 103 hours.
Sold to "Paul and Gray" from Whenuapai on 28 September 1951.
Entered the New Zealand Civil Aircraft Register as ZK-AWW with Southland Aerial Fertiliser Ltd. (Hewett Aviation) on 16 November 1951.
The C of A was issued for this aircraft on 16 November 1951.
The aircraft proved unsuitable for topdressing and was converted for freight and passenger work with a ten seat cabin by Airwork NZ Ltd.
Used for sightseeing and freight work in the South Island.
Written off at Ranfurly on 26 February 1954.
The aircraft was flying from it's base at Mossburn to Roxburgh, but fog closed the airport there and the alternates.
The pilot headed for a farm strip at Ranfurly but the aircraft ran out of fuel and was force landed in a turnip patch half a mile short of the runway.
The aircraft was badly damaged and was deemed unrepairabled.
Remains returned to Christchurch with the fuselage later being used as a caravan.
 
     
Aircraft Photo of NZ1752 | Miles M-57 Aerovan 4 | New Zealand - Air Force | AirHistory.net #415295 
Miles M-57 Aerovan NZ1752 pictured at Wigram (via https://airhistory.net/photo/415295/NZ1752)
     

Author: Ivan Prince (Updated by Brendan Cowan)

Sources: AHSNZ Journals. The Super Men by G. Alexander and J. Tullett. NZ Wings September 1972/August 1989. "Taking Off" by R. Waugh, https://rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/14215/miles-aerovan .

Emails: Martin Edwards, Brendan Cowan,

Converted to CMS 22nd September 2025

Updated 20 April 2022