PARACHUTE ESCAPE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 24 February 1931, Page 2

PARACHUTE ESCAPE

ODD QUALIFICATION FOR THE CATERPILLAR CLUB Flight-lieutenant V. J. Somerset- Thomas, who has been appointed instructor in navigation and flying at the Wigram Aerodrqme, has the distinction of being probably the only man in New Zealand to have membership with the Caterpillar Club, which is surely one of the most oddly-constituted clubs in the world. The essential qualification for this club is that an airman must have 'got away from a broken aeroplane in mid-air on a parachute (says “Tho Press”). The club was founded in New York, but has now been extended internationally. There are only about 100 members in the world. Flight-Lieutenant Somerset-Thomas qualified for admission about a year ago in Egypt, when his machine suddenly broke down at a high altitude and he was forced to make his escape by parachute. “They said that the air in Egypt was too rare, but it worked all right,” ho told a reporter of “The Press.” He wears on his blazer a small golden caterpillar, which is the club’s insignia. The name was suyggested by the characteristic mode of descent of a caterpillar on a cobweb. Flight-Lieutenant Somerset - Thomas was born at Auckland, New Zealand. He went to England before the Great War to join the Royal Navy, in which ho reached the rank of Lieutenant-Com-mander. In 1922, however, he was seconded to the Royal Air Force, in which service he has done eight years flying. For the last three years and a half ho lias been an instructor in flying and navigation at the No. 4 Flying Training School, Egypt. All the pupils from New Zealand attend this school which is tho largest in tho world. He has been sent to New Zealand on loan from the Admiralty for the next five years, although he hopes to stay here permanently. For the first few days after the earthquake, Flight-Lieutenant Somerset-Tho-mas was actively engaged in piloting the emergency air service between Wellington and Napier.