AERODROME PROJECT

Chronicle (Levin), 11 May 1946, Page 4

AERODROME PROJECT

' , COUNTY COENCIL ASRED FOR SUPPORT ©EPUTATION STATES PLANS ' .. At the monthly meeting of the Horowhen.ua County Couneil yesterday a deputation" from the Levin Aero Club, consisting of-Dr. S. J. Thompson and Mr. " E.. R. Winkler met the couneil in order to request! financial. support .from it to the.j extent of £100, which was half - the | •amount required annually for the j r.ental and flyihg* rights- of the area j j of ground-in Tararua Road,- Levin, used-. during the"«war as an . aero- . drome by the R.N.Z.A.F. In putting the- request to the j couneil, Dr. Thompson, explained j that although there had been no| airfield in Levin before- the - wai?, j there had been considerable interest I shown by local residents in avia-j tion, and many had joined in the-l [ activities of the Manawatu Club. | ' The position .now was that there j j were large numbers of highly train.- 1 |ed ex-service pilots, who wished toi i mahitahi the standard they had j reached during the war. In addi-i cion, there were many young menj und women with no flying' experi- i fence who were keen to" receive train- | [ng. Aero clubs were seldom financial : enough to provide their own. aero- | drome, and in many instances were j assisted by local bodies; in Welling- j ton and Palmerston North the City ; Councils were responsible for the administration of their airfields. Dr. Thompson went on to say that Ithe land over which the club required the flying rights fulfilled the crequirements of • the Civil Aviation ^Controller for a "B" class aerodrome, having ; runways . in . the directions of the prevailing winds 3500 feet in length. This enabled aircraft of an eight to ten passen-. ger type to be operated. s- The matter was somewhat urgent, said the speaker as an early decision was required by the Public Works Department as the land was due to be handed back to the leaseholders in June. If this was done, the area would be re-fenced, and all drains and water races restored to their original state. It was, therefore, necessary that the couneil give its immediate attention to the request. The Levin Borough Couneil had already decided to grant the other I £10.0 necessary. i Dr. Thompson displayed to the {meeting a map of the area,. and ; a'xplained that it was of a size suit- ! able for aircraft of a much larger Itype than the trainers used by aero j clubs, and also that for safety purIposes, the regulations in regard to | airfields were very stringent — runways for training must.be- at ieast ! 2500 feet long. The club's represen- { catives had approached the Civil i Aviation authorities' with a ' view to iobtaining Government assistance, • but it was eonsidered by the author- { it-ies that the field nad so little uselas an emergency aerodrome that it Idid- not merit official maintenance ! as such. I Three important points outlined |by the speaker as being ample | justification for the council's sup- ; port .were, firstly, that there was an aerodrome ready for use, an opportunity the district could not afiord to pass ; secondly , flying as- a means of transport was being used increasingly, and an -aerodrome could be irega-rded as.an amenity of equal importanee as roads and railways; tand thirdly, the keen work by the laero clubs before the war had proi vided the Air Force with a core of | instructors, without whose assistj ance the air efiort of the country ; would have been delayed by sev- ! eral months. The thanks of the ; country were due to the clubs for l this eontribution to the victory, i Dr. Thompson went on to say that i club members could not be expected i to go to Palmerston North for their j training. The cost of travel in i addition to flying fees would be too : much for the majority of the club-'s ' members. It was expected that j "pupils ' would be • drawn from a | radius of 12 to 15 miles of Levin, i and from Shannon find Otaki, so that a large proportion of the councry population would benefit. Other sites had been thoroughly inspected by the club offieials and Civil Aviation authorities, and it was eonsidered that the present aerodrome occupied the most suitable area available. Dr. Thompson concluded by referring to the reputation of the couneil for progressive administration, and in asking for the support of that body, he hoped that it would take this opportunity to further the cause of modern transport. Cr. Jenkins tlien asked the deputation if the field was to be used in the week-ends only. Dr. Thompson replied that it would be used on evenings by the club, and would be available for landing by any aircraft at all times during the day. There were no night-flying facilities. At this point Mr. Winkler informe'd the couneil that a sum suffieient for the purchase of an aircraft had been offered by local residents. Mr. Monk aske'd if there were no^ training facilities at Paraparaumu Dr. Thompson explained that there were none at present, but that in any case Paraparaumu- was not the centre of an area which wouldprovide a majority of. trainers. It was too far away. Cr. Jenkins asked whether the Government paid any subsidy to aero clubs. Dr. Thompson informed the couneil that before the war the Government paid £25 to a club for each pilot trained to the standard required for an "A" license. This scheme is no longer in operation. but it is expected that the Government will resume this subsidy as part of the defence programme. In Australia the subsidy was £35. : In reply to a further' question by Mr. Monk, Dr. Thompson stated that the plan of the aerodrome had been approved by the Civil Aviation "Board. Before the deputation withdrew, Mr. Monk thanked ' it for

! a most interesting discussion and informed it that the decision of , the couneil would be made known' I after due consideration. j As a result of a discussion in com- . ! mittee, it was decided by the counj cil that it would. not be prepared to- . { consider the applieation for a grant i until further information was submitted by the club. in regard to a definite arrangement as to terms with the occupiers of the properties concerned.