AERO CLUB AT HAWERA.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 104, 4 May 1929, Page 11

AERO CLUB AT HAWERA.

ORGANISATION ADVANCED. AERODROME SITE SOUGHT. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent) HAWERA, this day. Efforts extending over a period of about twelve months were brought to fruition last night when the Hawera Aero Club was formed, and donations totalling almost £100 were received. At the meeting, which was convened by the Hawera Chamber of Commerce, there were over 80 present. Mr. H. G. Dickie, M.P., stated that the Minister of Defence (the Hon. T. M. Wilford) intended visiting Hawera on May 17, when it was hoped there would be something definite to put before him. Mr. C. Freyberg, a wartime pilot, stressed Hawera's important strategic position as an aerodrome site. Mr. J. W. Craig, another wartime pilot, said it was a natural sequence that there had to be a chain of landing grounds from one end of Xew Zealand to the other. In Hawera half a dozen grounds were in view, and the district was a very suitable one for a training centre. Mr. F. W. Latham said that the area required would be about 50 acres. The racecourse was not suitable for the landing of heavy machines, particularly commercial 'planes. Mr. W. G. Walklev said the committee had decided definitely that they could not afford to maintain a ''plane at Hawera yet. He estimated the cost of a hangar at £250.' The Mayor, Mr. E. A. Pacey, and the chairman of the County Council, Mr. J. B. Murdoch, gave assurances that their councils would assist the movement in every way.