OVER THE ALPS

Northern Advocate, 5 June 1924, Page 5

OVER THE ALPS

AVIATION (ACHIEVEMENT. GREYMOUTH TO CHRISTCHURCH. ALTITUDE OF 8000 FEET. CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. Captain Buckley and Mr Harrington, a mechanic, made a flight from Greymouth yesterday afternoon, landing at the Wigram Aerodrome at 4.10 o'clock. Captain Buckley said that they had a very good trip, although they weie above the clouds when passing Mount Eolleston. After passing Mount. Rolleston the avaitors struck cleai weather, being able to see the mouth of the Otira tunnel. At this time they were flying at an altitude of 8000 feet. After passing Arthur's Pass they glid cd down to 6000 feet, at which height they continued their journey until near the Wigram aerodrome. —Press Assn.

PIONEER FLIGHTS. ■ The exploit of Captain Buckley constitutes one of t'he few flights which •have been left for New Zealand .aviators to accomplish in this countiy. The first aviator who attempted anything like a long flight in Canterbury was Lieutenant J. W. H. Scotlam . ■On March 6, 1914, he flew from Timn.ru to Christchurch, covering the distance of 98 miles in 125 minutes actual nying time. The journey took nnich longei than this. The aviator left limaru at 8.35 a.m., but at 9 a.m. he was forced, owing to engine trouble, to descend at Orari. The engine trouble took some time to rectify, and it was 3 20 p.m. before the aviator got under way again. He landed at the Addington Show Grounds at p.m. average speed for the flight out at about 47 miles an hour, deferring to this flight of Lieuteant Scotland the Lyttelton Times of March 7, 1914 said: —"Aviation in Christchurcn Tip to vesterday consisted of newspaper reports of flights in other places, mojinor pictures of aviators in no World and a few visits from more or less known flying men. No actac flights had been made and the mjsteiy of man's conquest of the an was s u a matter of theoretical belief to Ue city. Yesterday Christchurch entered into the ranks of towns which have seen actual aviation." The machine which Lieutenant ScOo land used was a small Caudron biplane, Lieutenant Scotland gave several exhibition flights in Chnschurch a J then went to Wellington, where/on March 25, whilst giving an exhibition flight, his machine Avas wrecked througn crashing into some pine trees at Newtown Park. Beyond a sprained thumb and a shaking the aviator escaped unhurt. A gusty, tricky wind was responsible for the accident. This the first aeroplane flight that nad ever taken place in Wellington. After thaccident Lieutenant Scotland expressed the opinion that Wellington was quite, unsuited for flying, and that the only suitable place in the neighbourhood of Wellington was the Hutt A alley. Another pioneer of aviation was Lieutenant J. J. Hammond, of e Royal Flying Corpt;. On January 19, 1914, at Auckland he piloted the Bleriot monoplane Britannia, presented to the New Zealand Defence Department by the Imperial Government, in its initial flight in New Zealand. The principal pioneer of aviation m New Zealand was, however, the late Mr C. M. Hill who, while in charge of the Canterbury Aviation Company's aerodrome at Sockburn, trained nearly 200 pupils for service in the Royal Air Force during the war. Mr Hill's untimely death robbed New Zealand of an aviator who would undoubtedly have pioneered ell the air routes in New Zealand. After Mr Hill's death it was left to Captain Euan Dickson to do much of the work of mapping out &ir routes. He flew from Christchurch to Invercargill and was the first aviator to fly across Cook Strait. On this trip, which was a flight from Christchurch to Wellington in one day, he was accompanied "by Mr C. H. Hewlett. Mr J. C. Mercer, of Christchurch, a pupil of the Canterbury Aviation Company, achieved the distinction of flying from Timaru to Auckland in one day. Captain L. M. Isitt, who is at. present in charge of the Wigram Aerodrome at SocKburn, and other officers have helped to exploit other air routes. In the North Island a great deal has been done for aviation by the Walsh Bros., from their seaplane base at Kohimarama, Auckland. Captain Buckley has done a good deal of flying in New Zealand, first with the South Canterbury Company, later with the Canterbury (N.Z.) Aviation Co., and latterly r,n his own account.