Obituary Mr C.G. Fantham

Press, 10 November 1986, Page 2

Obituary Mr C.G. Fantham

A former Safe Air chief pilot, Mr Clifford George Fantham, has died in Blenheim. He was 72.

Mr Fantham, who was born in Tinwald, worked for Safe Air from 1951 to 1976, and was appointed chief pilot in 1964.

He was educated at Kaiapoi and Papanui and during World War II served from 1942-45 with No. 5 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, in the Pacific. Based at Fiji, his main

responsibility was ferrying troops back to New Zealand in Catalina flying boats.

He was also a flying instructor at Harewood and Ashburton on Tiger Moths and Dragonflies.

After the war Mr Fantham was an instructor for the Canterbury Aero Club in Whitney Straights and for a short time after that he flew topdressing planes. In 1953, after two years with Safe Air, he became a captain.

In 1955 he went to Britain to bring back to New Zealand one of the first Bristol Freighters used by the airline.

He became Safe Air’s flying operations manager in 1967 and remained in that post until his retirement in 1976. In late 1984 and 1985 he was involved in rebuilding the fibreglass Spitfire replica destroyed by fire outside Christchurch’s Brevet Club.

He is survived by his wife and a son.