AIRMEN AT BLENHEIM

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10685, 3 September 1920, Page 7

AIRMEN AT BLENHEIM

AERODROME PROPOSALS CAPTAIN DICKSON" ON 33NCOTJKAGBMENT OP AVIATION. (From Our Special Correspondent.) , BLENHEIM, September 1. "Busy" is scarcely tho word ,to describe Captain Dickson's daily round in; the air since his return from Welling-: ton. Yesterday over 60 passengers were carried for short flights over the town and suburbs. The deputy-Mayor opened the "ball, and was followed by the Commissioner of Crown Lands, the organiser of the Progress Committee and Jlis wife. Members of the committee, leading business men and farmers, with their wives, were all in the air, and would have repeated the flights . had there not been a demand for seats in too 'plane, which it will take day* to satisfy. , The weather is typically fine and clear, and the views of, the jsoenery from above are delightful. ■■■■''''';'-.. AEKODBiQME FOB MARLBOROUGH.. Naturally the subject of an aerodrome for Marlborough has been' discussed keenly, and Captain ! Dickson's opinion sought. In an interview he states:— , "Flying in New Zealand at present i* not a paying business unless yon. have some definite work for your machines to carry out. An aeroplane, such as the one' I am flying, now costs, all told, about £2OOO. This is the smallest machine ithat is practicable. . Then there are your hangaTS and workshops.•■•You must have more than one machine and several pilots. That means fairly heavy overhead expenses,' and at present, too,: the Government is not showing much inclination to subsidise flying. If the object is purely to encourage flying, and the promoter* are prepared to lose money for a few years, then tho matter is in 'another light, and the advertisement the enterprise would bring to the province would bo a Ibenefit. There would always be' the difficulty, however, of securing good pilots. That, is one of the greatest tTimculties in aviation. - . ',/y • IMPORTANT PROPOSALS;- '; "What I would Suggest would be for the Blenheim municipality and/ other bodies to set apart an area of* level, clear ground for aeroplane work. Thcii, if private individuals in the province wish to fly their own 'planes : they would be' sure of a regular landing-place here, and they could travel to and from their farms by air. Such an area would be a boon to visiting airmen, too, and would help materially in the work of Unking.: up Blenheim with the South and North by aeroolan© service. I. may say that I-have "recommended-Blenheim as the hopping-off plate in tho; cross-Strait, flights. . Picton has too many hi-gh bills, and Nelson is too far away. "There are many matters to be considered in connection with. an aerial port between Blenheim and Christchurch. On my present trip I have noted a number of flat areas on ihe route, and later on I shair motor through and spend several weeks in' examining these and reporting on tho amount of work that would be required to.make them fit foi landing-places. It is necessary to have extra landing-places" for use in case ol a forced landing. Otherwise. the • machines would crash with damage to themselves and the pilots."' - •• ' • TO LEAVE TO-DAY. Captain Dickson will move on on Friday after giving stunts in the air to-day. He was enntertained by the motor industry, Borough Council, and business men. On the flight to Knikoura, a Blenheim lady will hare the third seat, and a letter mail will be carried to Christchurch.