VISIT BY R.A.F. COMET

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28268, 4 May 1957, Page 10

VISIT BY R.A.F. COMET

Public To Stay On Road The public will not be allowed on any part of the flying field at Harewood at any time today, when the Comet of the R.A.F. Transport Command arrives. This instruction includes a prohibition from the Aero Club area, from which the Christchurch public has become accustomed to view new aircraft, as in the London-Christ-church air race in 1953 and on the arrival of the Vulcan four-jet bomber last year. The airport authorities will ask the pilot of the Comet to park it as close as possible to Drury’s road, which is the airport boundary in that area, parallel to Russley road. This is purely a safety measure. A Civil Aviation Administration official said yesterday that regulations were specific in banning visitors from the flying field, but they had been “winked” at to some degree on earlier occasions. The public, however, had tended to wander beyond reasonable limits, and, during the presence of the American Globemasters, had roamed freely round them. There had been some “bad moments” when people were endangered by aircraft movements. For the public’s safety, the regulations would be strictly enforced today, he said. Anyone wanting a close view of the Comet should therefore walk along Drury’s road and watch from that boundary. At the request of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, a limited area of the airfield would be cordoned off on Sunday afternoon during the period in which it was hoped visitors would be able to pass through the aircraft. The plane is expected to arrive at 12.30 p.m.