Harvard treat grounded

Press, 17 November 1987, Page 1

Harvard treat grounded

By

DAVE WILSON

Rain has no respect for air force rank as the Commander of the Air Command of the Canadian Defence Forces discovered at Wigram yesterday. The Royal New Zealand Air Force Historic Flight had planned a special treat for Lieutenant-General Larry Ashley — a flight in the Air Force Museum Harvard. But threatening low cloud and a disrespectful downpour of rain at the crucial moment meant the mission was a scrub, Jargon that any pilot would appreciate. General Ashley, touring Wlgram during a week-long official visit to New Zealand, had to be content with sitting In the cockpit of a vintage Tiger Moth and inspecting the museum’s static exhibits. He was plainly impressed by what he saw. “This is a national treasure, you have a world class museum at Wigram? he said. In the museum restoration hangar he was shown the work on several old aircraft and one outcome from the visit is likely to help the Air Force in assembling its recently acquired Corsair fighter. Co-operation of a more serious nature has also been discussed during the visit with General Ashley saying there was much to benefit Canada and New Zealand. Air training and cost effectiveness in running a modern air force are two areas where the respective air forces have been able to trade ideas. “In Canada we are hard pressed to reduce the budget while maintaining a credible defence force. “This is a valuable opportunity to discuss cost effectiveness, aspects of air training and other defence structure subjects.”