AIRPORTS OF TARANAKI

Taranaki Daily News, 19 November 1930, Page 9

AIRPORTS OF TARANAKI

; ACTIVITY AT BELL BLOCK . VISITOR FROM SOUTH YESTERDAY. FIVE MORE PLANES DUE TO-DAY, BOMBING SQUADRON ON FRIDAY. Air Port of New Plymouth. . Arrival Yesterday. 11 a.m.—All metal Moth, Flight. ° Sefgt. Simpson, from Christchurch via Hawera. Departure Yesterday. Noon. —All metal Moth, Flight. Sergt. Simpson, for Auckland. In Port. .. j Moth, Western Federation No. 1. Moth, Western Federation No. 2. Expected Arrivals. i To-day (-0.30 a.m.).—-Auckland Aero Club Flight of five Moths, Fly-ing-Officer Allen, from Auckland. Friday (2.30 p.m.).—No. 1 Bombing Squadron of five machines, SquadronLeader Seabrook, from Auckland, Projected Departures. To-day (3 p.m.).—Auckland . Aero Club Flight, for Auckland. |3 Saturday (2 p.m.).—No. 1 Bombing Squadron, for Hawera and Hastings. Is the time far distant when as a matter of course the Taranaki Daily News will be conducting, alongside its shipping col" umns, aeroplane notices similar to the above for the airports of New Plymouth, Hawera and possibly other towns in the province ? Probably it is not. Thanks largely to the-aero clubs at New Plymouth and Hawera Taranaki is fast achieving prominence in /the world of aviation in New Zealand, and probably never before in the Dominion, with the exception of the headquarter ’dromes at Auckland and Christchurch- and individual special .air pageants, has any airport had such a variety of arrivals and departures as are (scheduled for the airport of New Plymouth this week. The week’s activities are an impressive illustration of the new era in transport. A long step has been made in ths annihilation of time and distance, and that Taranaki has occuupied an honourable place in the van is borne out by the After staying at Hawera. on Mondaynight Flight. Sergt. Simpson, chief engineer at Sockburn, arrived. at the Bell Block aerodrome at 11 a.m. yesterday en route from Christchurch to Auckland. He was flying a new all-metal Moth machine. After re-fuelling at Bell Block he left shortly before noon for Auckland, where he arrived at 2-.30 p.m. To-day if the weather is suitable there will be great activity at Bell Block. An Auckland Aero Club flight of five Moth machines under the command of FlyingOfficer D. M. Allen is scheduuled to leave Auckland this morning on a “cross-country flight” to New Plymouth. The pilots will be Mr. W. Stevenson, Mr. R. Boucher, Mr. R. A. Kirkup, Mr. T. Philcox, who will be accompanied by Mr. R. J. Copley, and • Flying-Officer D. M. Allen, who will-carry a passenger. The proposed visit to New Plymouth is the fourth of a series of weekly flights being undertaken by the Aero Club with the double purpose of encouraging aviation in country centres and of giving members experience in cross-country flying. It will be the last Auckland Aero . Club cross-country-flight for three weeks. The pilots are men who qualified at Auckland for their “A’* tickets. The machine Mr. Stevenson is piloting is the same all-metal Moth that passed- through. New Plymouth yesterday on its way north. The president of the New Plymouth Aero Club (Mr. G. M. Spence) has communicated with Flying-Officer Allen suggesting that the two Moth machines at Bell Block meet the visitors at Waitara and that the combined flight of seven machines circle over the town of New Plymouth before alighting at the Bell Block aerodrome, so that the residents may have their first opportunity of seeitjg a number of planes aloft at the same .time. It is not known whether this suggestion can be carried out, as Flying-Officer Allen has not yet had time to reply. If the machines leave Auckland at the appointed time they should reach New Plymputh at about 10.30 a.m. It is. Mr. Spence’s intention to accord the visitors a short official welcome: at the aerodrome, and subsequently to motor them either to Mt. Egmont or to the oil wells at Moturoa. The flight is expbeted to leave Dell Block about 3 p.m. on the return journey to Auckland....

The next scheduled visit of importance is that of the No. 1 (Bombing) squadron of five ■ machines from Auckland on Friday. Weather permitting, the formation will leave Hobsonville at 10 a.m. on Friday, and will fly, direct, to New Plymouth, arriving between 12 noon and 12.30. Therefore, with the .two, federation planes, there should be seven machines at Bell Block on Saturday next, .and the New Plymouth Aero Club is arranging for exhibitions to be given. The flight of the squadron is one of the first organised movements of a .unit of the New Zealand Air Force and the squadron is calling at the various defence stations on its way to Hastings. The planes are expected to leave New Plymouth at 2 p.m. on Saturday for Hawera and Hastings.