AIR TOURIST

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18387, 3 May 1934, Page 5

AIR TOURIST

VISITOR’S EXPERIENCE

GOOD FLYING FACILITIES

(Special to the. Herald.)

WELLINGTON, this day

Taking advantage of the facilities available in New Zealand ror aviation, an English visitor, Mr Allan BilbeRobinson, made an air tour of a large part of the North Island last, week, and expressed to your correspondent complete satisfaction with the service available to him.

“I was surprised at the interest shown in my little tour,” he remarked, “'but if it had been in England it would have been regarded as quite commonplace, for nobody would think twice about covering such a route by aeroplane.” Mr Robinson, who is a son -of Sir Thomas Robinson, a director of the New Zealand .Shipping 'Company, came tc the Dominion with his father, ami wishing to see Taupo and other parts of the North Island in a limited time, sought the use of an aeroplane for himself. Ho was able to charter a Gipsy Moth from the Wairarapa Aero Club, whose officers, he says, were extremely helpful in 'planning the tour and providing facilities. Leaving Masterton last Wednesday, Mr Robinson flow to Palmerston North, accompanied for this part of the trip by Flying-Officer Buckeridge, as the range was cloudy, He continued the tour alone, going on the next day to Wanganui and New Plymouth. His next objective was Taupo, and this was the only portion of the route which he regarded as 'being in the least difficult, for he could not see any possible landing ground on the way. However, the trip from New Plymouth to Taupo was completed in an hour and 35 minutes, and as he had circled round Taupo prior to landing,, he was met at the aerodrome, five miles out, by a car. The next stage, to Napier, was covered in. an hour, and this Mr Robinson regarded as a wonderfully fine scenic route. Approaching Lake Taupo from the west was also a fine sight, as the range has to be surmounted, and the visiting aviator came suddenly upon the great spectacle of the vast inland lake. From Napier the visitor flew to Dannevirke, and thence to Masterton, completing the circle in three days.

At every landing place, Mr Robinson found the necessary facilities, and a ready attention which he greatly appreciated. Weather reports were available daily by telephone along the route. “This experience,” he commented, “shows that New Zealand has developed practicable facilities for flying. Your aerodromes, contrasted with those in England, are somewhaton the small side, but quite suitable. You ask about the cost? Well, having been made a member of the Wairarapa Club, I was charged club rates, and found the cost of aeroplane touring in New Zealand compared well with that of England, where private flying ■•s becoming very general. The Brooklands Aero Club, of which I am a member. has 40 privately-owned machines, and the Gipsy Moth, so generally used in New Zealand, is equally popular with us, for it is extremely reliable, and is cheap to run.” Mr Robinson returns to England on the Rangitat'a, leaving Auckland on May 11.