PILOTS MASTERY OF AIR

Taranaki Daily News, 10 June 1929, Page 8

PILOTS MASTERY OF AIR

STUNT FLYING EXHIBITION ASSISTANCE FOR N.P. AERO CLUB. DEBT ON HANGAR REDUCED BY £7O The debt on the New Plymouth Aero Club hangar will be reduced by the sum of £/5 as a result of the exhibition of flying given by Captain MacGregor, of Hamilton Airways, Ltd., at the Bell Block aerodrome yesterday. This amount was taken in admission money, and does not include the flight fees from passengers, which do not go to the funds of the Aero Chib. < The fame of Captain MacGregor as a stunt pilot had spread far and wide and motor-cars and buses brought a great crowd of people to the aero club's grounds. The pilot fully lived up to his reputation, and in-some of his flights, when he had more or less venturesome passengers ou board, he gave the most thrilling and spectacular displays ever seen in New Plymouth. At no great height from the ground he looped and rolled, diving almost vertically with such great speed that it seemed he would never flatten out before striking., the earth. The expectations of all were realised when after a preliminary flight around the ground the pilot commenced to climb in wide circles. When the plane had reached a sufficient height, the engine seemed to cut out and the machine to be completely out of control. Exclamations of dismay were heard from several quarters in spite of the fact that all knew the pilot to be an adept at stunting. It was the “falling leaf,” out of which, when more than one heart seemed to be in the wrong place, Captain MacGregor came to loop three times in succession, rolling and looping again before turning into the wind to land. One passenger had a thrill lie could not have been expecting when Captain MacGregor put the nose of the- plane straight at a haystack, rising at a sharp angle when he appeared certain to spoil the contour of the stack.

Both on Saturday morning and yesterday Captain MacGregor thrilled crowds of people in all parts of the borough with spectacular and graceful exhibitions of stunt flying over tht centre of the town.