Designer to oversee U.K. airship

Press, 25 March 1980, Page 4

Designer to oversee U.K. airship

PA Auckland Mr Pat Monk, the aircraft' designer who made New Zealand a force as a manu-i facturer, is off to Britain to oversee the construction of a 100-passenger airship. His plans for a New Zea-land-designed and built air-, ship to carry this country’s i exports and imports will go. into abeyance for two years while he is away. | The airship on which hep will work is planned as a short-range inter-city airship p for Europe. It will be builtj:

on the Isle of Man by a ! company called Thermo-Sky-; ■ships and it has already! aroused widespread interest: jin Europe. Mr Monk will leave in a week to recruit design staff, in several countries. His 1 two-year contract with the; company will begin at the; end of April. “Don’t write me off as aj dissatisfied Pom.” he said; ■ this week. “I am coming back in two vears. The only ’thing I'm selling is my car:, [everything else is going into ' (storage.

,i “This is a golden oppor-| tunity to gain the experience! ;and background knowledge.: i for the New Zealand air-1 ship. It will go ahead.” I Until recently Mr Monk was the chief designer fori ■Aerospace Industries in; Hamilton. He has been the ! linchpin in the production of I three Hamilton-made aircraft! which have sold round the! ; world: the Airtourer, the 1 military Airtrainer, and several versions of the Fletcher' .agricultural aircraft. [ I He redesigned the Air-J ! trainer almost from scratch?

(from Australian plans. The : I Fletcher has been progressively modified over the (years so that it is a differ- 1 lent aircraft from the one! jfirst built nearly 30 years! lago in California. | Mr Monk’s interest in air-1 ships began, after initial; [scepticism, about four years' !ago. With backing from a: I group of businessmen and 'others, known as the Chart-1 well Turst, he launched a! ’design and study programme t land became more convinced | that the airship was the’ answer to New Zealand’s!

■[future freight-transport ■problems. -[ Among several designs ■'considered was that of a :[4som airship to fly to the “American west coast and Europe. It would have been! built in New Zealand. The ’plans and study are held byAerospace Industries. Mr Monk said that'when he returned to New Zealand he hoped to bring together a strong design team 'to make a final assessment of the project. With backing, 'it would then go ahead.