NEW HUT TESTED

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33527, 7 May 1974, Page 2

NEW HUT TESTED

This six-berth, lightweight cabin was taken on a circuit of part of Nelson Airport yesterday morning. It passed this final test with flying colours, and the Forest Service, which had the hut built, will probably place orders for the mass production of the units for use throughout New Zealand. About six are expected for the Nelson district alone. The aluminium cabins

will be of immense value to the department, according to Mr P. A. McConchle, its building overseer in Nelson. Weighing only 16001 b, the cabins can be taken by helicopter to inaccessible areas for use by department staff, and flown out again when work in that area is finished. TRAMPERS, TOO They would have value, too, as extra accommodation for trampers using the Heaphy and Wangapeka tracks. In the flush of the tramping season, with little effort and almost at a moment’s notice, the alumi-

nium huts could be flown in to relieve congestion in accommodation huts. The cabin tested today is insulated, and lined with. decorative plywood. It has six bunks, a gas stove, a calipbont for hot water, gas lighting, and provision for a water tank on the roof. Additional accommodation — particularly for summer use — is provided by an aluminium awning which clips on the side of the cabin. The prototype was built In Nelson for about $3OOO by the coachbuilding firm of Roy Chapman, Ltd. — (F.0.0J1.)