TRIP IN MOTH PLANE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 4803, 1 February 1936, Page 5

TRIP IN MOTH PLANE

BY KING COUNTRY RESIDENTS. OVER NORTH ISLAND. Mr. H. T. Morton, with Mr. E. Innes Jones as a passenger, started from Rukuhia aerodrome on Wednesday in a Moth plane for Palmerston North. The route was over Te Kuiti to the coast at Awakino and thence to New Plymouth, where they landed for lunch. Taking off from New Plymouth, the plane then set a course down the east side of Mount Egmont following the road to Eltham, and from thence across country to Wanganui, where a landing was made for refuelling. From Wanganui to Palmerston North a tail wind was encountered, and the flying time was half-an-hour, including a search for the aerodrome, which was a scene of activity at the time the party arrived, where one of the big De Haviland biplanes of the Union Air Line had just previously landed from Christchurch. On Thursday the return trip was made to Rukuhia, via Taupo. Between Taihape and Taupo flying conditions were bad, heavy cloud banks being encountered. Having picked up Taupara Mountain, a landing was made at the Taupo aerodrome for lunch and refuelling. The final stage of the journey was down the Waikato River as far as Arapuni and direct to Rukuhia. The total flying time for the whole trip was 6% hours. During the journey a number of moving pictures were taken and these, will make interesting souvenirs of one of the most comprehensive air flights ever taken over the North Island.