MODERN AEROPLANE FOR WELLINGTON

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 130, 26 February 1937, Page 10

MODERN AEROPLANE FOR WELLINGTON

Business Man’s Purchase

USE TO BE ALLOWED TO AERO CLUB A Miles Whitney Straight low-wing monoplane has been bought by Mr. Harold Edwards, Wellington, for use in his business as a builder and contractor. Mr. Edwards has contracts in many parts of the country requiring bis personal inspection and supervision and he will use the aeroplane for quick travel from town to town This is the first instance in New Zealand where a business man has putchased bis own aeroplane with the intention of operating it himself in the ordinary course of business. Mr. Edwards gained his Hying licence at the Wellington Aero Club, and he is one of the club’s stanchest supporters. He >b an experienced and capable pilot who has made flights in Moths to most of the aerodromes in New Zealand. He has consented to his machine being used by the Wellington Aero Club for training and general purposes when he does not require it. Under this arrangement the club has agreed to maintain the aeroplane and to pay Mr. Edwards a percentage of the fees earned by it. The machine is of the same type as that ordered recently for inspection and survey work by the Public Works Department and that bought for the advanced training of pilots by the Canterbury Aero Club. It is a cabin monoplane, with side-by-side seating for two, with provision for two control columns. With a D.H. Gipsy Major engine, it has a maximum speed of 145 miles an hour and a cruising speed of 130 miles an hour, with a range of 570 miles. Flaps to reduce forward speed in landing and to help in the take-off are fitted and the machine takes off in 145 yards and lands in 100 yards. Mr. John M. Gamble, Wellington, the New Zealand agent for Phillips and Fowls Aircraft, Ltd., advises that, the aeroplane will be shipped by the Port Townsville about the middle of April, and it should be ready for flying near the end of May.