ONERAHI AIRPORT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23275, 18 February 1939, Page 14

ONERAHI AIRPORT

NATURAL ADVANTAGES

progress of work

USE OP MODERN PLANT

INSPECTION BY MINISTER

[BY TELECRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] WHANGAREI, Friday

Under mechanised methods, tho Whangarei airport, which was inspected this afternoon by the Minister of Public Works, the' Hon. It. Semple, is rapidly talcing shape. Addressing local representatives and members of the Airport Board, Mr. Semple stated that 110 aerodrome in tho Dominion moull possess the natural advantages of that at Onerahi. The site being levelled was a plateau with si!:a frontages on two sides 120 ft. below it, and thus provided a natural take-off of exceptional value to aviation.

Originally the idea had been discussed of constructing the airport on an area to be reclaimed from the harbour on the south side, Mr. Semple added. Here there would have been the handicap of fogs and endless trouble with drainage. The site chosen was unique in the Dominion. Miracle of Efficiency Situated about five miles east cf Whangarei, on the north side of the harbour, the airport covers an area of about 113 acres, which originally had been surveyed into town board sections. After the Minister's visit IS months ago, preliminary negotiations were promptly put in train, and to-day the district engineer, Mr. R. H. Packwood, is able to report that the contract for shifting 200,000 cubic yards of soil, for' which seven and a-half months was allowed, is well abreast of schedule. About 75 per cent of the work has been completed. Engaged on the job are two 12-yard carry-all scoops and tractors, besides motor-driven land levellers. The giant scoops are a miracle of efficient expedition. Twelve yards of soil is scraped off one surface in the matter of a minute or two aid distributed evenly on another, the wide tyres of the machine doing much toward consolidation as they move. Three Long Runways

The aerodrome will have three runways.* One of lllovds. runs north-east and south-west, the direction cf the prevailing wind. The other two are 960 yds. and 730 yds. respectively. The local authorities contributed £12,000 toward the total estimated cost of the work, £45,000. The employment of this site involved the removal of 23 dwellings and a few other buildings, and also meant the absorption of the tennis, courts and football and cricket ground. The football and cricket clubs have been supplied with playing areas in the vicinity, and the tennis club is to bo provided with new courts in one of the finest situations players could imagine. They have been cut out of the bank on the east side of the aerodrome. Behind them rises a fine bank of bush. To the east there is a magnificent vista over the blue waters of the harbour to the battlemented heads.