PLANES OVER CITY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 139, 13 June 1940, Page 11

PLANES OVER CITY

AIR FORCE TRAINEES

FORMATION FLIGHTS

Today the people of Wellington were given a. front-seat view of one of the more spectacular sides of the Royal New Zealand Air Force training scheme when two groups of planes from Woodburn, Blenheim, spent the best part of an hour—from noon onwards —flying in formation over the city.

The roar of many engines overhead soon attracted general attention. Balconies and roof-tops soon became crowded with spectators while many more in the streets paused to watch the display in the sky. The calm and sunny day made conditions excellent for the airmen, and the two groups of machines were a fine sight as they soared and wheeled in the sunlight. The first group to appear consisted of nine Vincent biplanes flying in formation of threes, with three more similar machines some distance behind them. Later seven Oxford Airspeed monoplanes. appeared. They are the latest type of training machine in New Zealand and look spectacular in flight.

All machines were from No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School, Woodburn, and the majority of the pilots were pupils under training. They circled the city and suburbs several times.

General attention was attracted by the evolutions of the three Vincent machines following the main group. They circled over the centre of the city in very "tight" formation. On occasions their wings appeared to be overlapping. The co-ordination of their flight was perfect, as could be seen when, as they turned, the sunlight struck the fuselage of all three machines at the same instant.

The planes flew over all parts of the city and suburbs and the harbour. They also disappeared two or three times into the haze in the direction of the Hutt Valley. They made their first appearance from the direction of Lyall Bay, and about an hour later headed for the South Island again from the same locality.

A decree nisi, on the grounds of adultery, was granted by Mr. Justice Ostler, in the Supreme Court today, to Dorothy Nora Wood (Mr. R. Hardie Boys) against George Lawrence Benjamin Wood. The petition was undefended.