MARLBOROUGH AIR PAGEANT

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 128, 24 February 1930, Page 12

MARLBOROUGH AIR PAGEANT

A GREAT SUCCESS •’ AIR CUP TO V. H. BARLOW Dominion Special Service. Blenheim, February 22. Between six and seven thousand people packed themeslves along the northern sides .of the half-mile square Woodbourne aerodrome this afternoon, to see the second pageant of lire Marlborough Aero Club. . . More than a score of machines participated, including qiie Gloster Grebe, one D.H.ul), three Bristol fighters, and three Gipsy Moths from Wigram aerodrome. Wellington participants were: FlightLieutenant G. C. Stedman, the Wellington Aero Club’s pilot-instructor, who flew the club's Simmonds Spartan; Mr. F. C. Chichester, iu his Gipsy Moth; Mr. G. D. M. Goodwin, who sat in the cockpit of his Avjx> Avian; Flight-Lieutenant G. H, Bolt, also in an Avian; and Mr. O. B. Cotterill, who flew his own Monoeoupe solo. Weather conditions remained excellent all day. Throughout the afternoon 1< hght-Lieu-tenant M. C. MacGregor and au A pilot from Blenheim, Mr. Clouston, kept the spectators enthralled by their displays of aerobatics. Even when the crowd was melting away MacGregor, who has been called “The Man Who Would Rather Fly Than Talk,” was still looping and rolling and spinning around in his yellow and green Gipsy Moth, ZK-AAS. Ladies Do Welk The ladies did quite well in the early competitions. Miss Arolia Clifford won tlie zero hour competition, which carries with it Mr, M. R. Dix’s cup for the visiting pilot who landed at Wourbourne Aerodrome nearest to 3.45 p.m. on Friday, and she also succeeded, after deadlieating with Miss Pauline Bennett, of Blenheim, in the landing competition for club-trained pilots. The only man to secure a place in the event was Mr. D. G. Grigg, of Christchurch, who crept into the third position. The landing competition for B license pilots was keenly contested by the visiting aviators, and resulted in FlightLieutenant M. C. MacGregor winning the event and the Furness Rose Bowl. The all-transport race, in which the competing pilots had to run, ride in a motor-car, dismount, get into their machines, and fly a certain distance was productive of feverish haste and much excitement, particularly at the finish. MacGregor again carried off the laurels in this event, by a sensational sprint at the finish, just crossing the line ahead of Flight-Lieutenant J. C. Mercer, of Canterbury , _ The Thomas Renwick N.Z. Air Cup, which is valued at 70 guineas, was contested in a race b.v the victors of three heatg, and the final of the competition also provided a stirring finish. Tlie cup was won b.v Flight-Lieutenant N. H. Barlow. of Christchurch, with Flight-Lieu-tenant Bolt (-Wellington) second, and Flight-Lieuttenant/ T. W. -White, of Hawke’s Bay, filling third place. MacGregor also started in the final, but was compelled to climb over a Hawke s Bay ent-'nt, who cut in. and thus he lost alt his chances in the race, and stunted for the crowd's edification while the other contestants were flying their course. The slow rjicc, which was the last event on the long programme, was turned into a consolation race for those pilots who had not gained a victory during the afternoon, owing to the lateness of the hour. This went to Flight-Lieutenant G. H. Bolt, of Wellington, with Mr. J. C. Chichester second. . Three Bristol fighters from Wigram and a trio of Gipsy Moths, also Air Force machines, gave excellent displays of formation flying as they wheeled around the sky, and “Frightfulness, or Bombing the Baby,” as the official programme described the event, in which the airmen endeavoured to bomb a moving motor-car with small bags of flour, and a height-estimating competition, revived memories of the Wellington pageant of November. “Colonel Sandbags” made a parachute descent from one of the New Zealand Air Force machines, and this was the first occasion in which a descent by a military parachute has been held in the Dominion. Unfortunately a layer of light clouds prevented a section of the spectators troin seeing the parachute actually open, though all saw it gliding gently to earth, a couple of paddocks away from the aerodrome. The programme was carried out without a hitch, and the remarks of both spectators and pilots indicated that all believed that it is the best pageant that had yet been held. The credit for this is due chiefly to the secretary of the Marlborough Aero Club, Mr. G. J. Branimell, and to the instructor, Captain N. E. Chandler. Detailed Results.

Detailed results are as follow Zero Hour Competition, to be won by pilot landing at Woodbourne closest to 3.45 p.m. on Friday—Miss Aroha Clifford (Canterbury), 1. . Landing Competition, for Club-tramed Pilots (Jackson Cup).—Miss Aroha Clifford (Christchurch), 1; Miss Pauline Bennett (Marlborough), 2; D. G. Grigg (Christchurch), 3. Miss Clifford and Miss Bennett both made excellent land; ings in the circle and tied. In the fly-off Miss Clifford’s effort was adjudged a shade better than that of Miss Bennett. Landing Competition for-B (commercial and Air Force) Pilots (Furness Rose Bowl). —M. C. MacGregor (Hamilton), Gipsy Moth, 1; D. Mill (Auckland), Gijisy Coupe Moth, 2; G. Bolt (Wellington), Avro Avian, 3; N. H. Barlow (Christchurch), 4. All the placed men landed within the circle, and only shades separated the second, third, and fourth men.