SOUTHERN CROSS VISIT

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1932, Page 15

SOUTHERN CROSS VISIT

WHANGAREI ARRANGEMENTS. PROVISION OF LANDING GROUND. Whangarei, Dec. 19. Advice has been received by Major G.' A. C. Cowper, pilot-instructor to the Whangarei Aero Club, from the Aviation branch of the Vacuum Oil Company, Limited, Wellington, that, provided the original itinerary is adhered to and satisfactory landing arrangements can be made, Sir Charles Kingsford Smith will arrive in Whangarei in the Southern Cross about January 21. Whangarei will be the first town visited after the arrival of the Southern Cross in New Plymouth. A meeting of the committee of the Whangarei Aero Club was held this afternoon, when Major Cowper, Messrs. R. K. Trimmer and A. D. Jack were appointed to wait" upon the Whangarei Harbour Board to-morrow with a request that a portion of the board’s reclaimed land about one and a-half miles from Whangarei be made available for /the occasion. ■ ; " ' This area is ■ ideally ■ situated and comprises about-100 acres of land suitable for the landing of a machine such as the Southern Cross. The area required for the machine is about 600 square Yards. Very little requires to be done to the Harbour Board’s land, only the removal of a fence and a few small alterations which Major CoWper estimates will cost about £l5; Major CoWper states Whangarei is very fortunate in being one of the few towns ;in New Zealand possessing such a splendid -landing ground in close proximity to the town, and the visit of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith will provide the necessary fillip to the newly-formed Whangarei Aero Club.