Air Minister Kept In Air

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30954, 10 January 1966, Page 12

Air Minister Kept In Air

(From Our Own Reporter)

TIMARU, January 9.

A new Cessna 185 aircraft carrying the Minister of Civil Aviation (Mr McAlpine) spent about five minutes circling the Mount Cook airstrip on Saturday while its pilot tried to get the wheels down.

Mr McAlpine jokingly referred to the incident to explain why he was late at the opening of the gliding cham-

pionships at Omarama. “We could not get the wheels down in the aircraft,” Mr McAlpine said Mr McAlpine was one of four passengers in a flight to the Tasman glacier. The others were Messrs W. Walters. Director of Operations, of the Civil Aviation Administration. H. Skilling, of the

C.A.A. operations branch in Christchurch, and D. Jones, president of the New Zealand Gliding Association.

The aircraft was owned by Mount Cook Air Services, Ltd., and piloted by Mr H. R. Wigley. Mr Wigley said in a telephone conversation from the Hermitage this evening that on the return flight from the glacier the aircraft’s new hydraulic system was slow to function and it took a while!

to get the skis locked up and the wheels down before landing.

“Even had we not got the skis up, we could have landed on the grass quite safely. There was no cause for concern.” Mr Wigley added. “It was the Minister’s’first trip to Mount Cook and his first trip in a ski plane and he was very interested,” said Mr Wigley., “We persuaded him to go up and land on the Tasman glacier.” The Minister had flown from Christchurch to Mount Cook in a DC3 aircraft where he was met by the C.A_A. officials before continuing to : Omarama. After his flight to the glacier he flew to Omarama in a C.A.A. Cessna 182 piloted by Mr Skilling, said Mr Wigley. ,