AVIATION

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26639, 26 January 1952, Page 3

AVIATION

For all concerned with or interested in aviation in New Zealand and toe South Pacific WHITES AIR DIRECTORY (Whites Aviation has now become an indispensable source of information. The fifth edition, covering 1951-52, lists concisely the organisations concerned with civil aviation, and also gives details of airlines, aeradio stations, and registered aircraft. The historical review of aviation in New Zealand and toe South Pacific has been brought up-to-date, and emphasises toe rapid development in a comparatively new phase —toe topdressing of hiU country and marginal land from the air. This development is reflected in the listing of 28 aerial work operators, all companics performing aerial farm work such as topdressing, seed bit poisoning and weed killing. There is less mention of the Royal New Zealand Air Force in toe directory because aU mention of its organisation is prohibited under imtructions issued by toe Director of Intelligence and Security. R.N.Z.A.F. directorates and their senior officers, and information about stations, are not given.as in earlier editions, but, surprisingly, there is a full list of the aircraft types in use. As the existence and position of R.N.Z.A.F. stations are publicly known, and toe names and appointments of a number of senior officers can be found elsewhere in the directory, the purpose of the security measure is not clear. Brief biographies of personalities in New Zealand and South Pacific aviation are given in .the "Who’s Who” section. Some of toe information is out-of-date, either because of lack of cooperation by toe subject or the editor s failure to make the necessary revisions. There are errors and omissions in other sections of the directory which emphasise the need of most careful checking of details in a publication designed to be authoritative.