The Wanganui Chronicle MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1928. TASMAN FLYERS’ TOUR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 71, Issue 220, 17 September 1928, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1928. TASMAN FLYERS’ TOUR

r pilL FLYING SPIRIT of New Zealand, which has been

so sadly apathetic, will, it is hoped, be stimulated by the tour now being made by the airmen who successfully negotiated the Tasman. It has been an interesting commencement, at all events. At Blenheim, Kingsford Smith and his colleagues were welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd of no fewer than 5000 people—an enormous gathering for such a town—and were entertained with wonderful warmth by the Mayor and Council, and by the president and members of the Marlborough Aero Club. Blenheim is the one town in New Zealand that has, above all other towns, seriously interested itself in aviation, and its residents must have been gratified at hearing the praise of the great Australian airmen, who heartily congratulated them upon their enterprise in forming an Aero Club and declared that no other town in Australia or New Zealand had shown such progressiveness. It will be an additional pride to the people of Marlborough that, weather permitting, Ihe visiting airmen have decided to commence the return flight to Australia from Blenheim on September 30. The example of Blenheim and the inspiration of Kingsford Smith’s tour should create a really warm interest in aviation right through the Dominion, so that towns will be found rivalling each other in seeking membership for aero clubs. Hitherto, the Dominion as a whole has been extraordinarily backward in air matters. Now is the opportunity to fan the ashes of apathy into the flames of activity.