AERIAL PAGEANT

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 46, 18 November 1929, Page 13

AERIAL PAGEANT

FOURTEEN MACHINES COMPETE KEEN PUBLIC INTEREST PROPER ORGANISATION LACKING All roads led to the Rongotai aerodrome on Saturday, and a great crowd assembled to witness the first pageant of the Wellington Aero Club. While hitherto New Zealand had been reproached for its tardiness in regard to aviation affairs, the pageant marked a new step forward. and it should act as an incentive to further organised efforts in the same direction, to the greater growth of public interest. Here were gathered an array of fourteen ’planes, from till parts of the country, in themselves an object lesson tts to the types of machines in use and the latest advances in structural details. But in the roaring swoop of these great birds, as they climbed into (he blue or' manoeuvred down to an accurate landing, was greater exhilaration. The efficiency of the ’planes and the pilots, the power and performances of the machines—the whole impressive spectacle was one of which man had but' dreamt only a few years ago. A sharp contrast was this brave sight of ’planes in formation sweeping the heavens at a dizzy height, with the days when men looked up only at the birds and spent laborious days and nights searching for the secret of flight. Those first contraptions which sought to soar above the ehrth, while wonderful in their day, were almost pitiful in the mind’s eye before these present-day conquerors of the air. Fine But, Windy Day. During the week visiting ’planes had been making their way to the airport at Rongotai. and although there were many misgivings for the weather the night previous, the day broke fine. However, a fairly strong wind was blowing, and this did not prove’an asset. It caused the abandonment of the scheduled slow race. Owing to Captain Buckley’s accident at Blenheim with his Gloster Grebe ’plane it was also impossible to hold the aerial battle which was to have taken place between the two machines of this type. However, Captain Burrell in the remaining Gloster Grebe gave a very fine exhibition of stunting. The other ’planes contributed to a good display of flying in all its branches, from formation and trick flying to exhibitions of bombing operations. Some Disappointment Expressed. While the Wellington Aero Club is a new body with no previous experience in regard to air pageants, there was nevertheless some dissatisfaction by the public over the manney in which matters were conducted. Many did not even know when an event was under way, and considerable confusion existed in the course of the afternoon’s programme, despite the efforts of the announcer. Mr. T. W. Hislop opened proceedings by introducing the Mayor (Mr. G. A. Troup), who. traced the history of the aerodrome and birth of the club. Towards the conclusion of the Mayor’s speech Captain M. C. McGregor, of Hamilton Airways, taxied his green and yellow ’plane gently up to the official stand. The Mayor, finishing his speech, donned a flying helmet and disappeared into the front cockpit. After an itu revoir from the Hon. T. M. Wilford, the engine whirred and the machine taxied off downfield, to the accompaniment of a burst of music from the band. At the southern end of the aerodrome the Moth turned and raced forward to soar steadily into the wind. After li graceful circle it started back to earth again, wheels and skid touching in unison in a perfect landing.

Warming Up. Away down (be field where the machines were ranged in line abreast, propellers glittered into action as the pilots warmed up. One by one they crept forward, the Gloster Grebe leading, followed by Mr. O. .Cottrell’s orange and black Moupcoupe. Next came Messrs. Goodwin and Chichester's Avro-Avian, and tho shiny bine Wakefield gift Moth of tlie Marlborough Club in close attendance, the idea being to give the spectators a view of the typos of the machines participating. Captains McGregor and Gibbons thou took off in the Hamilton Airways machines, as did Captain Park in the Avian, and the landing competition was commenced. Machines were required to take off separately, gain 1000 feet, and land after,throttling down at 1000 feel, and gliding to the ground without using the engine. Small flags were arranged in ,-t circle with a white central "bull.’’ and the winning pilot was he whose machine came to rest nearest the centre. Captain McGregor made the second attempt, to descend in an almost vertical spiral, apparently on to the circle. Captain Holt, in .the Avro-Avian, also received the applause of the crowd by coming to rest in close proximity to the flags. Other machines followed in succession. Captain Park, in the Monocoupe, scoring another “inner.” Bombing the Car. The landing competition having been concluded, the Canterbury Defence Moth (Captain Mercer) and the Wakefield gift machine (Captain Chandler) set out in pursuit of a fairly harmless-looking baby ear which they bombarded with small bags of flour. It did not seem as though any of the bags of flour used as projectiles scored :• direct hit. although the Canterbury ’plane went very close wit h a couple of its "eggs.” At Hu's juncture the two Moths expected from Auckland put in an appearance. Piloted by’ Captain Euan Dickson. D.S.C.. D.F.C., and Captain Seabrook, A.F.C., they had left Auckland at (>.20 a.m., taking 2hrs. 55min. to make Now Plymouth. On the trip down ■ severe head-winds and squalls were encountered, and rain delayed the departure from New Plymouth. They took off again at 12.45, making a fast trip down, with a following wind, in 2A hours. Formation Flying. The formation flying by five 'planes, led by Captain McGregor, at'a height of about 2000 fAet, presented a fine showing as they made a steady circuit of (he aerodrome and finally split up to form a circle and stunt before landing. Prior to the bombing, Captain Burroll went aloft.in the powerful Gloster Grebe single-seater fighter, ascending to a great height when the pilot fired a series of Verey lights. This was ‘

stated on the programme as the signal for the estimate to be made iu the height-judging competition. Consequently practically all the spectators filled in the forms which they had bought during the early part of the afternoon. It is at all times a difficult thing for a novice to guess the altitude of a ’plane, but when he has at the same time to guess which machine it is that is making the altitude the thing ceases to be a serious competition, and that was what happened, because after the formation flying Captain Seabrook went up with Miss Doris Mitchell, and on attaining a much lower height than tha. reached by the Grebe a red parachute was released. And so some of the public estimated- the Verey lights and some the parachutes, and the result was a general mix-up. The Aerial Derby. As far as the Wellington Aerial Derby was concerned, the race, from the public point of view, was nothing of the kind. Instead of being flown in laps by' two or three machines at a time, which would at least have given those watching some indication of how matters stood, the ’planes were let go one after the other, at halfminute intervals, the course being shortened from 10 to 4 miles. The result was that a great majority of the public present were unaware that the Aerial Derby was on until it was all over. The event bore no resemblance to a race whatsoever. Fine Exhibition of Acrobatics. On account of the loss of Captain Buckley's machine, the aerial battle was called off, and the slow race was abandoned because of the bumpy going in the high wind. Probably the event on the programme which appealed most to everybody was the fine exhibition of aerobatics by Captain Burrell in the Grebe. With powerful motor roaring so that the ground beneath trembled, he left the aerodrome to give a great display of stunting. Rolls, half rolls, loops, spin and falling leaf, vertical bank—all the more familiar stunts on the airman’s repertoire he executed with deft precision, to dive, at 160 miles an hour, skimming the ground, and loom powerfully skyward again. It was indeed unfortunate that the other machine was wrecked, an Captain Burrell’s performance gave a good idea of the thrilling spectacle an aerial battle between the two would have provided.

Bombing Display.

Shortly after five o’clock, the ’last event on the programme, the bombing of the old “concrete structure at the end of the aerodrome, was carried out. A trio of machines left the field and circled slowly in formation until they were over the house. Boom! Boom! Columns of dust and earth shot skyward as the detonators rang out. The house had been missed by about 20 yards. Again the ’planes came round. This time there was no mistake. A terrific explosion ensued, and thick dust shrouded th. house. It seemed as though only one or two sticks and stones of the building could remain. When, lo I the smoke cleared, and there was the old structure, still intact, and to the casual observer, very little less dilapidated than before. However, the effect of the bombing was lost to a certain extent by tho fact that the machines were by no means over the house when the mines laid there were explodecf—although there were a few spectators who really believed that the wind had blown the bombs over in the right direction. Taken as a whole, as far as performances qf 'planes and pilots were concerned, it must be said that the pageant has done a tremendous amount to impress the people of Wellington with the immense strides which aviation has taken duriug the last decade in the matter of manoeuvring, low lauding speed, and general But as entertainment, the affair came far short of expectations, largely through lack of proper organisation. Trophy Winners. The Lloyd Cup for the lauding competition' was won by Captain M. C. McGregor, D.F.C. and bar, who also carried off the Stewart Dawson Cup for the Aerial Derby. Placings in the latter event were as follow Captain McGregor (Hamilton Airways Moth), 3min. 33sec., 1; Mr. Douglas Mill (Aerial Survey and Transport Co. Moth), 3min. 57sec.. 2: Captain N. H. Barlow (Canterbury Moth), 4min. losee., 3.