WELLINGTON AERODROME

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 104, 30 October 1933, Page 8

WELLINGTON AERODROME

(To the Editor;) Sir,—l regret to see by your issue of Friday that the Hon. Mark Fagan is endeavouring to get Government support for the proposal to reclaim land at the Hutt Estuary for the purposes of an aerodrome.' In the first place this area,', far from being a "bog" as described by Mr. Pagan in a previous issue of your paper, is an asset of great value to Wellington and its residents. lam sure thousands must enjoy every year the wonderful sunset effects on these sandy shallows to say nothing of the locality as a storehouse for students of natural history. The idea is gradually evolving that it is all to our advantage as a nation to encourage and provide facilities for the ; study of biology. Here we have at our door a wonderful area for the study of birds, marine life, and plant associations. Are we to throw all this away? ; ' ' j Much move could be said on the above lines but I will pass on to the second consideration. An aerodrome has been formed at Rongotai at considerable expense. Before it was formed the man in the street was of the opinion Jthat it was likely to prove unsuitable.. What do we find? Gusts of wind at Rongotai of over 80 miles per hour when Kelburn, the same storm, records 60; gusts of wind .. that pounce on an aeroplane rising from the ground and turn it over sideways like a we have the opinion of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith that Rongotai can never be made fit for commercial machines, not because of the ground area which might be enlarged but on account oftseriously adverse conditions in tne au. Gear Maria has been suggested as a suitable gi'ound; it might be the most suitable But if the air conditions about an aerodrome are all important, surely common sense suggests that before we nis hastily into any of these schemes thorough, examination testa. of the air conditions about those localities should be made. Wellington must certainly have an aerodrome suitable for all classes of machines, and it ought to have the best that can be found No doubt suitable tests could be devised and carried out by experts In the meantime I hope we may not be led into throwing away a valuable asset to find in the end that we have got something not much better than Rongotai.-I am, etc., M< HECTOR.