AEROPLANE DAMAGED

Taranaki Daily News, 20 February 1933, Page 5

AEROPLANE DAMAGED

ACCIDENT AT RONGOTAI.

MARLBOROUGH’S BAD LUCK.

Caught in a down draught from the Rongotai hill after taking off, the Marlborough Aero Club’s three-seater Simmonds Spartan machine crashed at Rongotai aerodrome early on Wednesday evening. The machine was piloted by Mr. A. E. Willis, who had with him as passenger Mr. R. Morrison, but neither was injured. The aeroplane, which arrived from Blenheim on Monday, was leaving- on the return trip when the mishap occurred. The pilot took off normally over the entrance gates to the aerodrome, but a strong northerly wind was blowing at the time and the drift took him to the right of his course. He found himself heading straight for a house near the entrance gates. He made a turn to the left, but the down draught caused the machine to get out of control. To regain control he endeavoured to complete the turn to the left, but as he had lost height the wing of the machine, whiclj was steeply banked, struck the ground. The wing dragged along the ground for a few yards and then the machine tilted up on its nose, breaking the propeller, and came to rest on its side. Under the circumstances the machine got off remarkably lightly. The engine escaped serious damage, but one wing suffered and the tail-plane was broken off.z The fuselage was built in Wellington, and that good workmanship had been put into it is evident from the fact that neither the pilot nor the passenger was injured. Mr. A. W. Nisbet, secretary of the Wellington Aero Club, told a Post representative that the down draught at Rongotai in a northerly was very tricky.

The Marlborough Aero Club is now without an aeroplane. The Spartan machine was purchased to replace the Gipsy Moth which crashed on the Miramar golf links a few months ago. Squadron-Leader N. E. Chandler, pilot-instructor to the Marlborough Club, was to have arrived at Wellington on Saturday to inspect the damaged machine.