"IDEAL TRIBUTE."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 207, 2 September 1936, Page 9

"IDEAL TRIBUTE."

MEMORIAL SCHEME.

WORLD'S GREATEST AIRMAN. STATUE AND BUILDING. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDXEY, August 27. The announcement that the Federal Government intends to transform the Mascot aerial terminus into a memorial of Kingsford Smith has been received throughout Australia with widespread approval. The collective conscience of this country is still troubled by the conviction that we neglected the greatest airman the world has yet produced while he was alive and that we have been inexcusably tardy in paying him due honour after death, and this proposal, piit forward a fortnight ago by Sir Archibald Parkhill, has certainly appealed to the public imagination. Mascot is not yet even a main station on the Imperial Airways route, being for a number of curious reasons superseded by Cootamundra. But it is the central station and starting point for the most important aerial services in the Commonwealth and it will always remain associated in the public mind with "Smithy" and his wonderful achievements, so that the Federal Government's scheme was sure of a cordial reception in New South Wales.

The memorial lias been planner! on a comprehensive and imposing scale. It is to consist of an administrative building, to be erected at a cost, of £40.000 and including a special memorial gallery on the first floor. Mementoes of Flights. Here an area of 600 square feet will be devoted to the display of valuable souvenirs and mementoes of the great aviator's flights, and two other areas of 300 square feet each near the vestibules will also be used for similar exhibits. Within this memorial area will be erected a statue of Kingsford Smith "in n, characteristic attitude."

The Mascot terminal is to be known | officially as the Kingsford Smith Aero- 1 clrome and every effort is to be made "to bring Mascot into line with other leading airports of the world." I It is gratifying to learn that those I who were most closely associated with "Smithy" are convinced that he would have approved of the Defence Department's proposals. Beau Shiel, who was personal assistant to Kingsford Smith, thinks, that the administrative building "would provide an ideal tribute for i 'Smithy,'" who, in characteristically j Australian fashion, thought all public memorials ought to have some utilitarian purpose. i Lady Kingsford Smith told a "Daily Telegraph" interviewer: "It is a grand. gesture. The naming of such an important aerodrome as Mascot after him will associate his name with avia- j tion for ever, and I think it is the kind ■ of memorial that he would have liked." i On the other hand, it is only fair to point out that some of the comment | lias been a little discordant. Most of j the adverse criticism is concerned with I the present condition of the Mascot aerodrome, which certainly suggests that j before putting up a £40,000 administrative buildig it would be well to do something to the landing. Criticism of Mascot Facilities. On this subject Mr. G. McClusky, who is general manager of the Kingsford Smith Air Service, and therefore speaks with some authority, told the "Sydney j Morning Herald" that Mascot does not, even come up to the standard of coun- j try aerodromes. Cootamundra, for instance, has a far better landing place j equipped with boundary lights and with j efficient service. At Mascot the only , lighting is provided by the hangars in , the form of obstruction lights, except • that the Civil Aviation Department displays one solitary light on its building. Mr. McCluskv's conclusion is: "Instead of the expenditure of £40,000 on a | building, I feel sure that Sir Charles | Kingsford Smith would rather have seen . the aerodrome made safe for flying,, with proper runways, boundary lights; and night flying facilities." I quote this I for what it is worth, and no doubt it ■ is valuable testimony as emphasising! the urgent need for improving the con- j dition of the Mascot landing area, if j this aviation terminus is to be worthy of its purpose, and of our great city. It is interesting also to note thai the'

| Federal Government, abandoning for ' once its attitude of detachment and aloofness, has explained through Sir A. , Parkhill that it is prepared to co-operate ■ with the various public bodies and organisations which have been advocating the erection of memorials to Kingsford Smith, and is willing to receive suggestions from theni. This applies particularly to the proposed statue, and it is intimated that a competition will be arranged and a valuable prize offered i for the successful design. In fact, it < seems that the Defence Department is now sincerely anxious—in the words of a recent "Sun" editorial —"to make the | Kingsford Smith aerodrome worthy of the man whose name it will bear for all future time."