PLANE LONG OVERDUE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18764, 22 July 1935, Page 6

PLANE LONG OVERDUE

LEADING AMATEUR 51LQT AKITIO-HASTINGS FLIGHT SIX MACHINES SEARCHING (Special to th« Herald.) HASTINGS, this day. Aviation circles in Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu and the Wairarapa were stirred to unusual activity to-day in the search for Mr. Hamish Armstrong, of Akitio, near Dannevirke, who left his homestead yesterday morning intending to fly to Hastings, and wtio failed to report at the latter point during the weekend. Six aeroplanes were out searching for the missing machine this morning, and a wide area of country was being examined from the air, while search parties were being organised to cover the territory in the. neighborhood of Tabapau. where Mr. Armstrong was last sighted from the ground.

The fear that gathering fog had forced Mr. Armstrong of! his course into unfamiliar country, and that he hadi been forced to land on unprepared ground, with possible injury to himself and damage to his machine, was uppermost in the minds of those in close touch with aviation in the three districts. Mr. Armstrong was an unusually steady pilot, and had wide experience in the handling of his plane, a- Moth which lie purchased in England in 1929 when visiting the United Kingdom.

The missing flyer is looked on by fel-low-officers of the Territorial Air Force as giving an excellent example of steadiness and ability in the handling of aeroplanes. He was the first private individual,** so far as is known, to maintain and fly hi> f own machine, and in the course of territorial flying, had handled 1 every type of machine kept by the Government at VYigram aerodrome for the training of New Zealand’s Air Force pilots. His brother, Mr. Brian Armstrong, is also an able and experienced flying man, and holds a commission in the Territorial Air Force.

PLANE HEARD OVER- ONGAUNGa Mr. Hamish Armstrong left his home- N stead at Akitio at 10 o’clock yesterday morning, when the weather conditions were rather unpropitions. His plane was heard over Ongaonga, near Waipnkurau, about 11 o’clock, and again over a timber mill on the Makarora River, in the Whakarara ranges. Owing to the low ceiling, the plane was not visable from the ground, but there was nothing to indicate to those who looked out for it that the machine was in trouble. The-mill mentioned is about 10 miles from Ongaonga by airline, .in the direction of Hastings. When the plane failed to arrive at the Hastings aerodrome, there was no immediate concern, but as the day passed without word of Mr. Armstrong, fears began to develop, and telephonic inquiries were set afoot. A number of station properties were communicated with, in the hope that the missing flyer had been able to get down in familiar surroundings, but none of these inquiries produced any .information. It was finally concluded that Mr. Armstrong had exhausted 'i’s petrol supply seeking a suitable landing-place, in view of the adverse weather conditions, and that he had had to make the best _ of landing-conditions somewhere iu an isolated part of Hawke's Bay. SEARCH PARTIES ORGANISED This morning three aeroplanes ow r ned by the Hawke’s Bay and East Coast Aero Club were dispatched to search for the missing machine, and two planes from the Wairarapa dub joined the seardt early, the pilot-instructor of the .Manawatu club, Mr. Duthie, taking the air later in tins- morning and setting otf for Takapau, where it was believed some clue to the whereabouts of Mr. Armstrong and his plane might be secured.

Organisation of ground parties. -was commenced likewise, but tha operations of these parties were not initiated, pending the receipt of some information from the searching planes. These latter wero expected to narrow down the search by eliminating a considerable area in which the plane, even if damaged, would be visible from the air. Mr. Ilamish Armstrong is known to many parts of the North Island, having used his machine freely in travelling about the country. He was one of tho best amateur pilots in the Dominion, if not the best, and ho knew the airlines and landmarks on all the recognised routes between major towns of tne Island. He will be remembered in the Poverty Bay district as a regular visitor here, having flown to Gisborne and on up the East Coast on a number of occasions .

The possibility that he might have landed in the neighborhood of a friend’s homestead, and spent the week-end there without advising aviation headquarters in Hastings about his change of plans is discounted by 'his known insistence on the rule' that pilots setting out for an announced destination should avert concern and expense by notifying any change of route. The circumstances in which he and his plane disappeared on Sun-, -lay appear to justify the activity notvp being manifested on his behalf.