OSCAR GARDEN’S VISIT

Taranaki Daily News, 13 December 1930, Page 9

OSCAR GARDEN’S VISIT

. ARRIVAL AT NEW PLYMOUTH

RECEPTION TO YOUNG AIRMAN.

ENGLAND Td AUSTRALIA FLIGHT.

A large crowd welcomed the young "airman Mr. Oscar Garden, who arrived at the. Bell Block aerodrome yesterday

from Hawera. Great interest was taken

’ in the visit owing to Mr. Garden’s re- . cent flight from. England to Australia. During the afternoon a visit was made to Pukekura Park, where the Hawk© Cup cricket match was in progress, and the party was entertained at afternoon tea. A dinner given by the-New’ Plymouth Aero Club was followed in th© evening by a civic reception in the Empire Theatre. Escorted by four aeroplanes, the Kia Ora, Mr. Garden’s plane, was seen by the crowd as a tiny speck that passed along the white islands of clouds. The Kid Ora and three Moths, piloted by Flying-Officer I. Keith, Captain Haig and Mr. N. Isaacs, turned off towards ■ New Plymouth, where they circled before proceeding to Bell Block. The filth machine, a Desoutter monoplane piloted bv Major G. A. Cowper, did not fly over tie town but preweeded straight to the field and was first to land. The four ' Moths came from over the town in line and when over the aerodrome suddenly dispersed and Flying-Officer Keith led the way in-' He was followed by Captain Haig, Mr. Garden and Mr. Isaacs. Whbn the five machines were drawn upMnto tine Mr.‘Sarden was welcomed • by Mr.' H. V./.S. Griffiths (Mayor of New ■Plymouth). On behalf of the Aero Club' Mr. Gi M. Spence welcomed Mr; J' Qajden. : ,'?Sliprt.; ; .T e plies were given by Mr. Garden and Captain Haig. '■ An exhilarating exhibition, of stunting given by Flying-Officer lan Keith entertained the crowd.' < .GUESTS AT A DINNER. Prior to the civic reception in the evening Mr. Garden was the guest oi the New Plymouth Aero Club at dinner at the White Hart Hotel. Mr. G. M. Spence,' president, presided, and among others present were the Mayor (Mr. H. 'V. S. Griffiths), Captain Haig, aviation expert to the Vacuum Oil Company, Mr. E. Smith, of the Vacuum Oil Company, Flying Officer lan Keith and officials ,of the New Plymouth club. • In proposing tho toast of the visitors tlie Mayor said New Plymouth had look- • ed forward, for some time to the visit of Mr. Garden and Captain Haig, the exploit of Mr. Garden having roused intense interest. It had been hoped, indeed, that it would have been possible for them to stay longer to-day, if only for a few hours, so that Mr. Garden and his machine might have been seen by miny more prospective aviators. He was sure the visit wouid be the means of greatly developing the air sense of. the . inhabitants ‘of North Taranaki. .

As he would -be speaking at the reception .about his flight, Mr. Garden said, he would qot refer to it there.,. He - was very glad to be back in New Plymouth, especially at an aero club gathering, which he always enjoyed. Their ■ trip through Taranaki had been one'of the nyjst enjoyable so far. All hew -methods of transportation, said hir. Haig, had to attract public support and the interest of capitalists by : “ sensational ventures; Aviation had left that stage behind, however. He had . heard it said that Mr. Garden’s achievement was undertaken because it was . sensational, . But .that was not. true. He • .had had* objects ah flying from England, the first one being to get back to Australia as quickly as possible and the second to increase his flying hours and so' qualify for his B license. Tho&e • • were two very laudible Objects. If he /had, not flown to Australia he would have had. to fly across country in England for 40 hours to qualify for a license. Such flights a»his had shown that the aeroplane had a definite' utility value. If Mr. Garden was not a pioneer in the England-Australia flight he was a pioneer in" that he was the first man to pass in a second-hand motor-car for a second-hand aeroplane. Such a transaction should give the motor people something to think about; it was one of the signs on the wall. An aero club',' continued the captain, had a definite value in the community it served. One of its uses was that it aroused Civic pride and helped to keep a city abreast of the times. It had been found in Australia that the backbone of the clubs was the ordinary and not the flying member. If - a club ■ could get 700 or . 800 ordinary members at £1 Is each they represented a big asset and no liability. Therefore in Australia, they were doing their best to develop the social side of the clubs. .It had been found that the live membership to drop off unless efforts were .made to branch out beyond the ordinary objects of teaching flying. Thus a flight privilege had been included for the subscription of ordinary members. Other developments were model aeroplane and gliding sub-sCctions and lectures on engines and aerodynamics. These things, it was found, h-<>. greatly ••/• widened the field of interest.. ■ : CIVIC RECEPTION TENDERED. ' •In khfe. evening many people were pre- ■ ■'" se’nt in the Empire Theatre, where the :: civil receptionwas held. On the plat'lorm with Mr. Garden and Captain Haig .were the Mayor, Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Connett, Mr. and Mrs. F. Amoore, Messrs. G. M. Spence, F. T. Bellringer, Flying-Officer I. Keith and the members of the Aero Club committee. - The Mayor extended a welcome to Mr. -Garden and Captain Haig. When it-had been learned in New Zealand that ft' was Mr. ’ Garden’s intention' to fly to Australia his progress was watched With-deep-interest until he landed on Australian Soil, said Mr. Griffiths. The solo trip in the small plane would go down in history as one of the daring deeds of 1930. He regretted that Mr. Garden’s stay in New Plymouth was to be such a short one. As a representative of the country people in North Taranaki Mr. Connett, chairman of the Taranaki County Council, said the opportunity of inspecting ' the plane in which the great solo flight j from Britain to Australia had been made was appreciated. He referred to the pioneering work done by fliers such as Mr. Garden. It was by such means that the “air sense” was developed. While the flier had won.laurels for hini- ? ‘ self ho h*d perf6rmed a.-definite service t&NftwZealand. On behalf bf the aero club Mr. Spence • added a welcome. He referred to the development of the aero club movement in' New Plymouth. It was because it had progressed that they were able to have'with them Mr. Garden. The past two weeks had .been the crowning fortnight in the history bf the club. There had been the visit of the bombing squadron and then the six Auckland Aero Club planes had/inade a visit. The possibilities ,qf/aviation' became evident . when it was possible to have breakfast at Auckland, lunch at New Plymouth and diiiner at Auckland. The visit to New, Plymouth was one

of a series, said Mr. Garden. He was becoming rather tired of recounting his experiences. A few months ago he had gone to England with the idea of learning to fly. A car that he possessed was traded in for/a' plane, and he set off. ‘Although he was Always being, told it was a wonderful flight, yet he. was sure that any of the people .in the hall could have dope the same provided the facilities were available. There had been a number of difficulties on his trip through Europe and he had been detained two days at Constantinople. On leaving he had met trouble as he had to make a forced landing ‘in a field. It was difficult to make understood which he wanted, but eventually he got in touch with Aleppo by telephone. He returned to the plane, where about 200 Arabs were collected. However, he tied down the plane and went to sleep. At 11 o’clock the lorry with the petrol arrived. Mr. -Garden referred briefly to his journey to Bagdad and Bushire. At Bushire he was met by a resident who. had entertained Kingsford Smith. It was at Karachi that he experienced an accident, when his plane turned over and was damaged. From then on to Rangoon dnd Australia he .had a good run. Ffom B.ima, a town of 4000 people, none of whom talked English, to Wyndham was generally thought the worst part of the trip, but he had found that to Alice Springs was the most uncomfortable. He had had a very fine time in Australia, he concluded. A presentation of a cheque by the aero club was made to Mr. Garden by the president, Mr. Spence. Aero clubs in New Zealand were making great progress; said Captain Haig, and Australia could show New Zealand little in that direction. It was in the operation of airlines that Australia had most to teaeh. Last year 1,500,000 miles. were flown and each. week, the air liners covered 7000 miles. There appeared to be a lack of development of aerodromes in New Zealand. People could not be expected to aet into the air if there was nowhere to land. In Australia 'the building of. a new airport was considered by civic authorities of similar' importance to that of a park- -i?r A'