NO VISIT TO STRATFORD

Taranaki Daily News, 16 January 1934, Page 8

NO VISIT TO STRATFORD

TOUR OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS. SUITABLE AREA NOT AVAILABLE. Though every effort has been made during the past few weeks to find an area near Stratford that would be suitable for a landing ground for the Southern Cross no such field, to meet the needs of the big monoplane, is available and the Stratford Aero Club has had to advise Sir Charles Kingsford Smith that a visit to Stratford is not practicable at the present time. The Southern Cross would have required a runway of 700 yards in all directions with approaches only fence high. Likely areas were carefully inspected and several landowners were willing to have -ences removed if necessary, but in no case was the area both large enough and sufficiently smooth. Moreover the required runway could be secured only in one direction. “The fact that the Southern Cross cannot come to Stratford is another clear indication of the urgent need for an aerodrome here that will take any kind of machine likely to be used in New Zealand,” said the secretary of the club (Mr. D. E. White) to a News reporter yesterday.