AERO CLUB FINANCE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17125, 4 December 1929, Page 6

AERO CLUB FINANCE

THE GROUPING PROPOSAL GOVERNMENT CRITICISED (Special to the Herald.) CHRLSTCHUROH, this dqy. Though Wing Commander Grant Dalton, Director of Air Services in New Zealand, stated in Wellington yesterday that the maximum .subsidy for any one aero club district would be £SOO, no matter how many new clubs came into existence in that district, it. appears from an explanation given to a reporter to-day'By Mr. P. R. Climie, secretary of the Canterbury Aero Club, that the share in the. 1 subsidy of these minor clubs would die more or less in-

direct. / . ' T . . f ' ' Mr. H. H. Barlow, a member of tne Canterbury Aero Club, expressed the opinion that the subsidy of £SOO would not be adequate if other clubs came in on it too. The Government was not doing enough for civil aviation. “There is nothing now to us in Wing Commander Grant Daßoft’s statement,” Mr. Climie said. “It was previously announced by the Minister of Defence, the Hon. T. M. Wilford, that the. Government could not subsi<disc every individual, club. At the present tiriie only three of the New Zealand aero clubs are subsidised, Auckland.' Marlborough, and Canterbtitv. For each of these the maximum amount obtainable is £SOO on a basis of £25 for each pupil training up to 20. If other fdubs come into-existence in any of - these 'three districts, as ~ the Miiti'stefTwis. already told us, they 1 didst make arraug'effieutß; with fhe. already existing and subsidised Clubs for the training of their pupils. The question of the grouping of clubs in the various districts is very largely in the hands of the clubs themselves. While the Government is desirous of bringing about grouping, a basis on which it could be done has not yet been settled. The subject of grouping in Canterbury since the formation of the small club at Ashburton, is one already under consideration.”

“To expect a large district like Canterbury, in which may be included Ashburton and possibly Timaru, to train all those who wish to be trained would require at least four machines and two instructors, Tho subsidy of £SOO would not be adequate, I am convinced, to help us carry ou the work on such a. scale,” said Mr; Barlow. “Even with our own members it is not a simple matter to keep things going. I don’t think the Government is doing enough 'for civil aviation. _ It is leaving far tod,much to the sporting instinct of the public. Apparently the Government docs not want more than 20 men to be trained each year bv any club.V y. . . f