AEROPLANE USEFUL ON HILL PROPERTY

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30366, 15 February 1964, Page 7

AEROPLANE USEFUL ON HILL PROPERTY

Mr A, C. R. Robinson, of Mount Palm, Rotherham, believes that on a hill property property, an aeroplane is a worthwhile investment. Mr Robinson gained his licence to fly back in 1934 after .being taught by one of the pioneer figures in. Canterbury flying, the laite Bert Mercer. For the North Canterbury man flying was purely a hobby, but two years ago he had the opportunity of buying an Auster which had been used for aerial topdressing. Acquired at a cost of £BOO, it is now virtually standard equipment on the 5000 acres property ranging from 500 ft to 2300 ft in the Lowry hills range and carrying 6000 head of halfbred sheep, including 4200 ewes, and about 400 head of mainly Hereford cattle. Mr Robinson’s 23-year-old son, Brian, also has a licence. He has been flying ’ since he was 16, when he. was still a student at Christ’s College, and is a partner in the aircraft. At lambing time on the hill country, the Auster is. found particularly useful. Mr Robinson says that it takes a man

on horseback a full day to get round riding a distance of about 20 miles. Wirth the aeroplane it is possible to take a look in about 20 minutes. Ait this time the aeroplane is used to observe what is going _on and if sheeip need attention the property’s utility vehicle is taken out on the tracks that cover the country, but very often it is not necessary to do this Mount Palm is 75 miles from Christchurch and the aeroplane has been extremely handy when a piece of farm machinery has broken down. It has been possible to fly to Harewood to pick up a spare part. The return journey occupies only about an hour and a half. It is about a 35 to 40 minute hop to Harewood. Mr Robinson is a member of the North; Canterbury Electric Power Board, and be frequently flies to the Rangiora airport, a journey taking 25 to 30 minutes, where he is picked up by another board member who takes him to the meeting. He can be back for an early afternoon lunch on his property.

There have been many other instances of how the aircraft has been useful. “Last year, when . I was in the middle of heading wheat, I received a message from a farmer in the Rakaia Gorge asking me to come and sei-, ect my rams as soon as possible,” Mr Robinson said. “I arranged a day and we left home at 7 a.m., landed on the strip at the Rakaia Gorge property at 8 a.m., selected our rams, left for home again at 11 a.m., were back again at noon, and resumed heading in the afternoon. “After the December floods last year we were anxious about the condition of some of our floodgates on the hills. The tracks were too wet for riding but by using the plane we were able to inspect them from the air. We found two washed away, one on a boundary fence, and we repaired them much sooner than would have been possible otherwise. “At the same time we delivered half a sheep to my neighbour’s shepherd whowas unable to get meat because he. was cut ofl by flooded creeks.” Suspecting that a gate was open on one of the division fences recently, Mr Robinson’s son went out in the plane with the shepherd and found it to be open. If they are not satisfied with a muster and tallies are short, the plane . has been used to locate missing stock and is frequently used to count cattle. It is also an excellent means of checking feed conditions. The . Robinsons have an 800-yard strip on. the property and a hanger for their silver Auster, which has a red tail and blue lettering. By now Mr Robinson wonders why more . farmers do not use aeroplanes in their farming. He says . that the plane does 16 miles to the gallon and maintenance and running costs would be very similar to those for a mediumsized car.