Inaugural Flight To Momona Airport

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29829, 23 May 1962, Page 15

Inaugural Flight To Momona Airport

When the airliner City of Dunedin dipped in long salute over Dunedin yesterday morning, it started a proud day for the thousands who watched from the ground. The Viscount was •’the city’s own,” it was making the inaugural flight into the new Dunedin airport at Momona. and it was the first commercial jet-prop aircraft to be seen in Otago at close quarters.

AU first impressions of the new airport were good. The lay-out is attractive, with an exceptionally convenient grouping of all airport services. The terminal floor area of 11,700 sq. ft. gives the lUusion of being larger than that for internal services in Christchurch because it is a b.g rectangle without pillars and has floor-to-ceiling windows <3200 sq. ft. of glass) without overhang as they face east. The effect is brightness and space.

A particularly satisfactory feature is that passenger documentation facilities are immediately between the coach bay and the tarmac doors, so that travellers can move straight through without crossing the adjoining public concourse and lounge. A mezzanine floor lounge further reduces congestion on the floor. On the ground floor there are also a cafeteria, canteen, shop, and other facilities for the traveUing public.

The five-storeyed control tower and adjoining operations offices are detached from the terminal so that s:aff there do not have to cross the passenger areas. All this should giv e freedom of movement at Momona. but interest yesterday was so intense that crowds thronging the terminal overloaded the cafeteria services, which were preparing also for a big reception in the evening. At 4.30 p.m. it seemed that the floor would never be ready for buffet tables to be set up. Staff gave up till the building could be cleared. Casual visitors and travellers to Momona will probably not appreciate all the difficulties in creating this new a rport on a hill-girt plain. There were first the problems of a site only 30 inches above sea level. Pumping is necessary for water supply.

treatment and storage; for sewerage reticulation and disposal; and for stormwater drainage. The new artesian supply has to be cleared of heavy impregnations of iron and stored in three 40.000gallon reservoirs. Sewage goes to oxidation ponds. Stormwater may have to be pumped off the runway at 10,000 gallons a minute by five pumps. In short, starting from scratch, engineers had to install utilities for a small town of 250 (apart from flying needs) with only electric power laid on from outside. 18 Miles To Dunedin Momona's biggest handicap is the 18 miles to Dunedin. This means that passengers report in town 65 minutes before flights leave. The bus trip takes 40 minutes. The Viscount yesterday was over Dunedin 45 minutes after leaving Christchurch But distances have not dampened Dunedin interest in the airport. Ten thousand inspected the terminal on Sunday, thousands poured through the Viscount and a Friendship yesterday, and 400 official guests attended last evening's reception.

By accident or design, the National Airways Corporation had a number of coincidences on the inaugural flight. The aircraft was. appropriately. the City of Dunedin. With the corporation's chief pilot tCaptain A. C. Kenning) at the controls was Captain M. Pirie. who took delivery of the Viscount in England last July and received the arms of Edinburgh to be mounted on a bulkhead. Yesterday he received the arms of Dunedin to be similarly mounted. The Christchurch district senior hostess (Miss Lorraine Dyer), on cabin service, was boro on a farm close to Momona. Among her passengers were her father. Mr Douglas Dyer, of Christchurch, and an uncle. Mr Spencer Dyer, who together formerly operated dairy factories in the area. Her father 'earned to fly at Taieri in 1936 with some of the top N.A.C. officials on board. But the most excited first arrivals by air at Momona were Sandra Sloss, aged 13. of Omihi. returning to Columba College (her third

air trip this year) and Zandra Wilson, aged 10. of Dunedin, returning to St. Hilda’s School from holiday. Zandra was enjoying morning tea and magazines in flight when she w-as told of the significance of her journey.