AEROPLANE DAMAGED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21462, 8 April 1933, Page 10

AEROPLANE DAMAGED

MISHAP AT THE CHATEAU I MACHINE \FROM AUCKLAND PROPELLER SMASHED TO PIECES [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT] CHATEAU. TONGARIRO, Friday Damage to the undercarriage and propeller of an Aviary sports biplane, owned and piloted by Mr. R. A. Kirkup and carrying a passenger, Mr. L. L. White, both of Auckland, was caused by a mishap as the machine was landing at the Chateau this afternoon. Neither occupant was injured. The right wheel struck a depression in the landing ground, the fairway of the golf course near the Chateau, and the aeroplane heeled over. Mr. Kirkup immediately switched off the engine, but the still-revolving propeller struck the ground and was smashed to splinters. . The pilot was able to straighten up the machine, but the undercarriage was damaged. Ihe fuselage and fabric, however, did not suffer, the stoel construction of the aero-

plane being an assisting factor. With the assistance of members of the staff at the Chateau the biplane was dismantled, trucked to National Park station and railed to Auckland for repairs. In the morning the machine had made a good flight from Auckland to Turangi, on the banks of the Tonizariro River, in less than two hours. After lunch it was planned to fly over Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe, but as they were obscured by clouds it was decided at the last moment to land at the Chateau.