AIRPORT NEED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 234, 2 October 1937, Page 17

AIRPORT NEED.

AUCKLAND QUEST. LOOKING TO FUTURE. THREE-WAY DEVELOPMENT. CIVIL AND MILITARY AIMS. (NO IT.) While t lie immcdiato concern of Auckland is to find a suitable site for an nprodrome, which will be capable of handling tho air traffic of the transTiisinun commercial lino and other likely civil aviation developments of the future, the city's development from the flying angle is necessarily three-way. It, has hern pointed out that the likelihood is that for the next five or six years trims oceanic flying to this country will be carried out with big flying bouts. Facilities have therefore to bo provided for these to land on Waitemata Harbour.

At the same time a beginning has to be mado na soou as possible with the equipping of a flying field that will rater for the civil aviation needs of the city for as far into the future as vision will allow. Side by side with this civic endeavour will be the equipping of a military aerodrome in keeping with tbe Government's development of aviation as Now Zcalund's first lino of dcfcnec. Military Aerodrome. The need for that development was apparently inadc clear to the Government, both as the result of the confcrcnccs attended by the Prime Minister, the lit. Hon. M. J. Savage, while he was in England, and the reports of the experts who viewed the position in this Dominion. It is known that there is great activity in this branch of the Defence Department at present, and though, necessarily, there is secrecy concerning some of the steps being taken in this regard enough information has been released to show that within the next year tho nir branch will be completely reorganised, and very greatly extended.

Auckland is to have a military aerodrome covering something in tho region of 300 or 400 acres, and it has to bo placed strategically. In the selection of this site—the consideration of which is being regarded by the present special committee of inquiry in Auckland side by side with the civil project—tho military aspect as well as tho ordinary aviation aspect will be watched.

Intensive Public Works surveys in the region of Mangere Central hint that this area will be the location of the military field, but it may be that the results of the investigation now being made will alter the position. That, however, is a matter for Government decision, and has interest to Auckland mainly because of its likely effect on the choice of a site for the civil airport. Were the suitable sites restricted in number it might be that the military needs would have first place in consideration. Future Requirements. That k fortunately not so. The fast' that thero are 10 sites (in addition to the already established aerodromes at Mangere and Hobsonville) available] in and about Auckland for development as aerodromes, while raising problems of choice gives a guarantee that the city can (and will) provide first-class accommodation for civil aviation. All would rcquiro a considerable expenditure of money to fit them for the purpose intended, but it will be money well ex-1 pended if it brings to Auckland the terminal of the trane-Tasman service ae well as that of Pan-American Airways. Even more important will be the selection and equipment of a site that will meet, all tho likely requirements of the future.

That is the major difficulty of aerodrome development at the preseat time. An aerodrome that answers all demands of modern aircraft may within a few years be made obsolete and unusable by some new development. Aviation has arown beyond the bounds of early imagination within the past 20 years and the time is not far distant when 150-ton liners will bo winging the skies.

Flying Approaches. One of the main considerations that has to be borne in mind is that Auckland must not develop an aerodrome that is limited in capacity by natural surroundings—as is Rongotai aerodrome, Wellington. That is one of the reasons why the Point England project was not regarded enthusiastically by Auckland aviation authorities.

The principles that will guide the investigating committee in its choice are four-fold. The first is proximity to the city. The second is the need for good flying approaches. The third is the capacity of the site chosen to be extended as needed in the future; and the fourth is the engineering aspect. Proximity to the city is an important point, and that is the major objection to the present aerodrome at Mangere. Like all transport services a flying service has to give as much convenience to its clients as is possible, taking all cir-i cumstances into consideration. Passengers will not want to be landed miles out in the country with a long road journey to be taken in addition to the journey by air. # | That distance is comparative, however, For instance, the straightening of the road, the bringing into operation of a railway railcar, or some other method of shortening the time taken to get into the city might easily make Mangere the choice of the committed if it finds that in other particulars it is the most suitablo placc. j Engineering Aspects. Good flying approaches is the most important point. 'Planes may be coming in at all times and in all weathers and they need clear approaches for safety, however efficient the pilots. Bound up with that is the third consideration — development in the future. That has already been dealt with. At the moment the committee is asking for an angle of approach of about one in twenty, and it realises that the development of bigger, faster craft may require an even flatter approach than that. The engineering aspect covers the amount of work involved, the nature of the soil and the question of drainage. The amount of work involved includes levelling and all other details having a bearing on the cost—-for there is a limit there. The most suitable soil would be of a gravelly nature, like that offering in Canterbury. It provides a good surface with natural drainage. The clay soil of Auckland, generally speaking, is the most suitable, but there is a question of choice. Tarmac or concrete runways may eventually have to be provided to cater for heavy 'planes, and drainage is an engineering problem that has its solution mostly hi the question of cost.