SCHEDULE FLYING

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 35, 10 August 1933, Page 12

SCHEDULE FLYING

RONGOTAI IMPOSSIBLE

NOT A CALL

FOR COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT

"Rongotai is not an adequate airport for Wellington, and I am very pleased that tho question is being taken up," said Mr. 11. M. Mackay, managing director of New Zealand Airways, in conversation with a "Post" reporter. • "The question is of real importance to Wellington, for without adequato airport facilities your city will be left behind. Bongotai is not, and cannot be made, suitable for the accommodation of machines used in serious commercial work. #"The essenco of all aviation is safety, and in commercial aviation safety comes first, second, and third. No one using sound sense and judgment would consider connecting up a commercial service with Wellington with the facilities you havo at present. After safety in commercial work comes regularity, for tho public have no~ interest in a service upon which it cannot depend, and an irregular service leads to loss of confidence. Bongotai can be worked by large machines under favourable weather conditions, but regularity of service from Bongotai is' out of tho question. That condemns the ground out of hand." . Mr. Mackay said that he had discussed the matter with Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, both while Sir Charles was in Wellington and in Australia during the recent visit lie made as a passenger by the Southern Cross, when considering types of machines to be.used for passenger work in New Zealand. "Sir Charles was rather perturbed about Wellington," said Mr. Mackay. "That was the only thing that worried him as far as New Zealand was concerned. I suggested to him the area at Porirua, but he replied that he had no knowledge of that locality and that without investigating it ho could not express an opinion, but he was doubtful of its suitability and utility on account of its position. "Sir Charles said that be had inspected Gear Island, both on the ground and from the air, and from those observations had come to the conclusion that it had many features to recommend it. It was, lie remarked, equally as handy to the city as Bongotai, and the difference in air travelling time would be negligible. His opinion, summed up, was that Gear Island was the place to concentrate upon, for it has substantial advantages over Eongotai." AIE, NOT GROUND, TROUBLES. It was perfectly clear to those with a practical knowledge of aviation, continued Mr. Mackay, that there was no cure for the disabilities, at Bongotai in merely extending the runway. The real difficulty, and danger, was in the air trap which resulted from the way in which the northerly and westerly winds swirl over Mount Victoria and across Evans Bay in a heavy downdraught. "If Bongotai is the ideal aerodrome that some people will tell you, why did Kingsfora Smith refuse to fly that Sunday afternoon when hundreds of people were anxious to go up? Ho is a man who has flown the world and presumably is not put off by trifles, but he decided flatly against flying from Bongotai, on account of the dangerous down-draught across Evans Bay." Mr. Mackay mentioned that he had twice had experience of this tricky air condition, once in a light machine piloted by Squadron-Leader White, one of the best-known and most experienced pilots in New Zealand and the pilot cßosen by Kingsford Smith to bring the second aeroplane across the Tasman this summer. "Rongotai is known among New Zealand pilots generally as a bad place," added Mr. Mackay. "It is not popular." Referring to the typo of machine moat likely to be used in the near future in the Dominion for serious flying, Mr. Mackay said that he had given particular consideration to the Avro 10, a ton-passenger machine practically identical with, the Southern Cross; in fact, a Fokker machine built under licence. Bongotai could not be considered as a regular point of call for such machines. He did not think that anything smaller than a ten-passenger aeroplane would 'meet tho demands in the quite near future, but even if a six-passenger machine was used, the disabilities would still remain, particularly as the tendency overseas was to develop such machines for very fast service, with consequent high landing and taking-off speeds, necessitating very long, run,"ways. "There is only one solution to regular flying connection with Wellington as things are: that is to cut Wellington out until an. aerodrome that can be worked regularly is available," said Mr. Mackay. NEW ZEALAND CONDITIONS EXCELLENT. "A lot has been said," he continued, "about New Zealand not being suitable for regular air service, but in my opinion—which is confirmed by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith—conditions in New Zealand are just about as ideal as is .practically possible. From Auckland to the Bluff nearly all the going is coast-lino work. In bad weather the coast can be followed when overland routes aT6 obscured and landing grounds are difficult to find. Tho Bell Block aerodrome at New Plymouth, the Wanganui aerodrome, and Wellington's aerodrome—as at Gear Island —lie very near the coast; tho Marlborough aerodrome is splendidly situated, and the Christchurch and Tiinaru landing grounds are approached directly, without the complications of obstructions. Green Island, at Dunedin, is again on the coast. From there on there _is overland flying, but not over very high country. The turbulent air conditions found in Australia, duo to heat, are not met with here, and machines today are so reliable that they will pass through almost any storm, providing landing grounds are readily picked up, as they are on or near the coast line. "I consider that the inquiry suggested to the City Council is of great importance to Wellington. It would be absurd if Wellington, tho Capital City, and placed midway in the length of the Dominion, was left out of the fast service that is bound to come, but that is going to happen if Wellington relies upon its present landing ground. It is not the ground that is at fault; extensions could be made,- more up-to-date facilities given, but nothing can be done to remove the dangerous conditions that.follow from the combination of high winds and nearby hills."