AVIATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 April 1932, Page 5

AVIATION

AIRMAN’S HEART FAILURE

[BY CABLE —PBESS ASSN. -COPYBIGHT.]

LONDON, April 9.

Arriving at Seaview, on the Isle of Wight, in a seaplane, from Rochester, Eustace Short, aged 52, a partner in the firm of Short Brothers, seaplane builders,, alighted normally on the water. A launch went alongside, and found him dead in the cockpit. He was under treatment for heart trouble. His death is attributed to a seizure, which must have occurred in the last stages of the descent, for he made a perfect landing, but he failed to taxi in, so the launch went out, and found him dead. He was one of the leading figures in British aeronautical research. He was a member of the family which was famous as being first in ballooning and then in aircraft construction. He recently planned high altitude exploration by a balloon, and had hoped to reach a height of from 15 to 17 miles, and so beat the record of Doctor Piccard, the Belgian, who went up ten miles in a balloon. SEVEN ITALIANS KILLED ROME, April 8. Two officers and five men were killed when two manoeuvring bombing planes collided at Lonate-Pozzolo.

TIMARU AIRPORT OPENED.

TIMARU, April 9. Designed to be the central South Island base for future commercial air transport services in the Dominion, the Timaru airport, established by the New Zealand Airways, Ltd., was officially opened this afternoon in the presence of several thousand people by the Mayor, Mr. T. W. Satterthwaite. The conditions were overcast and light rain fell, but the programme, which included a number of novelty events, in addition to an aerial display, was put through without interruption. A Timaru Derby resulted in an easy win for Squadron Leadei* J. M. Findlay, of Canterbury Aero Club. Flight-Lieut. J. C. Mercer was second, and PilotOfficer J. H. Smith, of Southland, was third. Twelve planes participated, all from the South Island, with the exception of Flight-Lieut. J. D. Hewitt, who came in from Auckland to take part in the pageant.