DUAL DISTINCTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27580, 23 December 1950, Page 8

DUAL DISTINCTION

Air Crossings Of The Tasman The inauguration of the municipal airport at Christchurch as an international field this week was a particularly gratifying event for Mr H. M. Mackay, of Dunedin, who has had a close association with New Zealand’s air services since the very earliest days. The first passenger to cross the Tasman by air—he flew back to Australia with Sir Charles KingsfordSmith on March 26, 1933 —Mr Mackay also had the distinction of being among the passengers of the first aircraft to come from Australia to the new Christchurch airport. He arrived on the Constellation airliner at the beginning of the Week, and flew on to Dunedin later in the day. His actual flying time from Sydney to Dunedin was shr 35min, which he considers is the record for the trip. A staunch protaganist for a rounddrip air route from Sydney to Auckland, through New Zealand and back across the South Tasman to Hobart and Melbourne, Mr Mackay expressed pleasure that the South Island is so much nearer to having an established air link with overseas. He considers that it will be to the great advantage of the island, and particularly to tourists and business men.

Mr Mackay has been spending some time in the Cape York Peninsula area of Australia—a sportsman’s paradise, he calls it —on a hunting trip. Crocodiles were his party’s main quarry, but the district also offered kangaroos, snakes, dingoes, wild pigs and game as targets. Some of the crocodile skins which he obtained are at present being tanned in Brisbane.

While in Australia, Mr Mackay had an additional (and undesirable) excitement in the form of a forced landing in an Anson aircraft. The pilot landed the machine in broken country with considerable skill and the passengers escaped unhurt. At Bundaberg, he visited the mother of Bert Hinkler, one of the many pioneer airmen who were intimately known to Mr Mackay. Mrs Hinkler, who is aged 84, is still living a most active life and resisting all attempts to have her driving licence cancelled. One of her most prized possessions is a huge volume of clippings of her son’s exploits, a gift from a Brisbane newspaper.

Being a country which was extremely well suited to air travel, aviation had taken immense strides in Australia during the last few years, said Mr Mackay. The recent rail strikes in Australia had been something of a windfall for the airways as many people had been induced to try flying as the only available mode of transport. They had become “ converts,” and formed a surprisingly large addition to the ranks of confirmed air travellers. It was unfortunate that all aircraft should be booked up in New Zealand at the present time, he remarked. Otherwise, the New Zealand air service might have benefited similarly.