WONZ 345 – Flying Boat Month – David Wilkinson

Guest: David Wilkinson, SAANZ President

Hosts: Dave Homewood

Recorded: 22nd of January 2026

Released: 8th of February 2026

Duration: 58 minutes 06 seconds

In this Wings Over New Zealand Show “Flying Boat Month” episode Dave Homewood speaks with David Wilkinson, who is President of the Sport Aircraft Association of New Zealand. He is also owner and pilot of a small fleet of aeroplanes, with his latest addition being a Taylor Coot flying boat that he has restored after it was close to becoming scrapped.

The Taylor Coot is a two-seat homebuilt amphibious aircraft designed by Moulton Taylor, who was famous for his flying car designs. David’s example, ZK-JST, was originally built in the 1980s by SAANZ stalwart and Life Member Alistair McLachlan, who had been an engineer in the Royal New Zealand Air Force and with Air New Zealand.

David talks about the history of the airframe and how he ended up acquiring it. He talks about the restoration process and the various upgrades he has made during the rebuild, including the installation of a bigger horsepower engine then before. And he talks about what it has been like to learn to fly the Coot, his first flying boat.

As well as the Coot, Dave also has his father Don’s Corby Starlet ZK-TOY, his Van’s RV-8, his Rihn DR-107 One Design, and a half share with Andrew Hope in the Pitts Special ZK-MPM.

The music at the end of this episode is Wild Flower by Joachim Karud.

Quick Links:

• Taylor Coot on Wikipedia

• Previous WONZ Show episode with David Wilkinson and Alistair McLachlan – WONZ 88

Photos below were taken by David Wilkinson unless specified.