PIONEER PLIGHT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19468, 29 October 1937, Page 4

PIONEER PLIGHT

INLAND PATEA ROUTE GISBORNE-PALMERSTON N. E.C. AIRWAYS PILOT’S .TOP. ALTERNATIVE TO GORGE Pioneering work of considerable importance was cai'ried out yesterday by Squadron-Leader T. W. White, senior pilot of East Coast Airways, Limited, when he flew from Napier to Palmerston North by way of Kuripaponga, the Inland Patea district, and down the valley of the Rangitikei River to the Manawatu plains. On this flight Squadron-Leader White confirmed his own impression that the route offers an acceptable alternative to the regular line of flight which will be used by the company in operating the GisbornePalmerston North service which commences to-morrow.

In ordinary circumstances, the company's ’ planes will fly across the line - df the' mountain range'fallowing the route of the Manawatu River, to reach Palmerston North. For the greater part of the year this route is negotiable at all times in daylight. There are, however, days when the visibility may be interfered with by low-lying cloud or fog over the southern Hawke’s Bay district, and it is for occasions such as this that the alternative line of flight will be reserved. Reversion to Old Route When the Inland Patea route is used, the most modern type of transportation will be reverting in some respects to the days of bullock-wagon freightage. The Inland Patea formerly was the route by which wool and produce from the Taihape district was brought out for shipment at Napier, ‘ and Kuripaponga, now a deserted village on the 'old wagon road, flourished as the stopping place of the wagoners passing to and from the inland district.

There is a large area of tussock country at a level of about 2000 ft., held in large blocks by sheepfarming companies, and offering good deershooting sport to Hawke’s Bay stalkers. This tussock country lies in a saddle through which the old road penetrated the mountain range, and which now offers a comparatively easy route to Ihe planes of East Coast Airways.

In his passage through the saddle yesterday, Squadron-Leader White was not obliged to seek an altitude above 3000 ft., and weather conditions there were excellent for flying.

Iligh-Country Clear of Fog

It. is believed that at times when the Hawke’s Bay plains are obscured by low-lying cloud or fog, the high country is generally clear of obstructions, and that by flying through the Inland Patea and down the course of the Rangitikei River, the company’s schedule will be maintained without interruption.

Interest in the extension of the East Coast Airways’ flight schedule to include a daily Gisborne-Palmers-ton North return trip is shown by the number of inquiries received by the company since the announcement of the extension was made in the Herald. Not only in regard to the first passenger flight on the route, but also for a period of a week or two ahead, the company is assured of good patronage for the longer journey.

Officials of the company entertain no doubts of the success of the venture, which is bound up with a wider scheme of intensive development of air travel in New Zealand.

Radio Equipment on Order

Though for the immediate future the planes will continue to operate without the advantages of radio, the company has given an order for the supply of radio installations which in the course of a few months will equip the De Havilland Dragons to work on the direction-finding system, which is being installed in the major aerodromes in all parts of New Zealand. The plane installations will be completed, it is expected, before the radio beacon which it is proposed to establish at Darton Field is ready for operation.

The establishment of the Darton Field radio beacon is in the hands of the Public Works Department, officers of which are now investigating alternative sites'" convenient to the Gisborne aerodrome. Officers of the Air Board are collaborating with the Public Works Department in locating the most suitable site for the beacon, which, when in operation, will permit of night flying and the running Of planes on schedule in foggy weather.