Findlostaircraft.co.nz
This site is dedicated to all those families of the people that have tragically disappeared on flights in and around New Zealand. I only hope that from all the effort in building this site and from all the effort of those taking part in this venture, that it will bear fruit in bringing ‘closure’ to their memories!
Gavin Grimmer
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Email: gavin@findlostaircraft.co.nz

John departed from  Bridge Pa Aerodrome, Hastings, at 8.00 am bound for Taupo.
The flight should have only taken an hour and he had three hours of fuel on board.
There were numerous sightings of it on track to Taupo, but also sightings as far  
away as the Tarawera area.
This aircraft was painted bright yellow so it should have been easy to spot and yet it
has never  been found to this day.
Missing: John Dennis Tacon - age 22
7 June 1947
De Havilland Tiger Moth ZK-AJV

In the 1960’s, a person was lost in the bush somewhere in the area that this aircraft disappeared, and he came across what was obviously this aircraft hanging in the trees!


He eventually managed to find his way back out, but as he was lost at the time of  the sighting, he was unable to say where it was.


If you know anything about this, or who this person was, please get in touch with me.


On the 20th August, 2010, I was emailed by Chris Morris,“Something I wanted to mention, although you may already know of it”.

I didn’t know of it, and this is quite often the case why many people don’t come forward with information as they think that everyone already knows of it!

Chris had valuable information that I (at this time of writing) believe may turn out to be ZK-AJV.


A friend of his, Trevor Crabtree, who unfortunately died in 2007  had mentioned to him while they were driving along Willowflat Road (a year before he died) that many years ago, he had come across a Moth in the bush across the road from where they were at the time. He pointed to the area and said, “If the trees weren’t so tall, you’d probably see it from here!”


It’s possible that Trevor was the person who I have been looking for in my above request, and the story has changed a bit over the years - as they always do!

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(Maher Collection)

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