AERO CLUB FORMED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 72, 10 May 1946, Page 5

AERO CLUB FORMED

A REPRESENTATIVE MEETING STRONG DISTRICT SUPPORT PROPOSAL OF AMALGAMATION A most representative meeting numbering over fifty residents from town and county met last Wednesday evening in the Borough Council Chambers for the purpose of discussing and if deemed advisable to form a new Aero ‘Club in Whakatane for the purpose of fostering aviation in the district. It was unanimously decided after some deliberation to form a club in Whakatane to be known as the Whakatane Aero and Gliding Club.

Opening the meeting Mr H. G. Warren said that it had been convened by Messrs. T. Jordan, M. Len:nie and Johnson who had waited upon the Chamber of Commerce at its last meeting and enquired the prospects of establishing or of reestablishing an interest in aviation. As a result the meeting had been called under the active sponsorship of the Chamber. He read the minutes •of the last meeting of the Bay of Plenty Aero and Gliding Club which had taken place in 1939. Operations ©f Old Club Mr Magnus Lennie'was provisionally voted to the chair and invited Mr F. H. Stewart to outline briefly the history of the original club. In •doing this Mr Stewart emphasised the necessity of purchasing an area of land for development as an aerodrome before any approach should be made to the public. He mentioned the purchase of an Avro machine in 1939 by the old club which unfortunately had never been made use of. However a certain amounttof gliding had been carried out with varying success at Ohope. The club had ceased to operate with the war. Mr C. H. Brebner mentioned that intensive investigation had been carried out in endeavours to discover a landing field. In the early days of the old club the Government had .promised a grant' of £17,000 providing the local bodies undertook to find the ground. As most people were aware this had never been done. Recently he had been investigating an area on the Sandhills which he thought could be secured at’a small cost and developed at an approximate cost of £14,000. He agreed that it was high time the district possessed an aerodrome it was vital and essential to the town’s development in the future.

A.T.C. Co-operation Mr Whitworth speaking for the A.T.C., said that his organisation was prepared to extend the utmost co-operation to the club and possessed equipment which could be made available for training. Officers Elected The election of officers resulted as under: — Patron: W. Sullivan, Esq., M.P. President: Mr C. H. Brebner. Secretary: Mr Hamilton Morgan. Vice-president: Mr Magnus Lennie. Committee: Messrs. H. Carter, S. Stewart, E. B. Brown, Hills, T. Jordan, J. Curtis and Dr. Akel. Club Captain (held over to enable the committee to bring down a recommendation for endorsement at the next general meeting to be held in a fortnight’s time). Suggestion From Tauranga Mr Baines, vice-president of the Tauranga Aero Club, who attended the meeting with Messrs. Garland •and Needham of the same club, gave an outline of what happened a‘: that centre where a civilian club had been operating for nearly a year. He strongly urged that the Opotiki, Whakatane and Tauranga Clubs amalgamate in order to establish aviation in the Bay. The financial burden would then ,be shared in the matter of providing an instructor for training pupils. The club had spoken for two Tiger Moth planes one of which' was available almost at once. A full-time instructor and .ground engineer was in view and would be commencing duties in the near future.

The visitors answered a number of questions with regard to training and financial obligations, intimating that for dual instruction the fees had been fixed at £3 10s per hour. A number of speakers Considered this figure somewhat excessive but it was pointed out that it would prob-

ably only obtain for the first year when the initial establishment costs had to be met. On the motion of Mr Garth Morgan a vote of appreciation to the two ladies present was carried in view of their interest and future activities in the social sphere. Before the meeting dispersed Mr J. Creeke mentioned the genuine interest of both the Borough and County Councils, which bodies he said, however were deeply concerned with the rating problem. Any effort to launch a new loan for an aerodrome at the present juncture would be highly unpopular with the ratepayers.