AIRCRAFT FACTORY

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 157, 29 March 1939, Page 11

AIRCRAFT FACTORY

First In Dominion To Open At Rongotai

DE HAVILLAND CO. Production Of Light Aeroplanes New Zealand’s first aircraft factory will begin production at Rongotai, Wellington, within nine months. It will at first assemble machines imported from overseas, but will as quickly as possible make use of local materials as far as may be feasible. Though primarily concerned with the manufacture of light aircraft for civil training purposes and private flying, it will be prepared, if necessary, to cooperate with the Government’s plans for the defence of New Zealand. Yesterday, Major A. Murray Jones, a director of De Haviliand Aircraft, arrived at Wellington by the Awatea. He said that his company was now registered in New Zealand as aircraft manufacturers, had secured a site at Rongotai, and would set to work immediately to erect a factory. A manager, Mr. F. Buckingham, had been appointed, and would arrive in New Zealand shortly. He had himself come to make final arrangements, and to call tenders for the building, designs for which had already been approved.

The company intended to manufacture Tiger Moth and Moth Minor machines. How soon production would begin depended to a great extent on how soon the building would be completed. The site chosen was between the two main hangars at Rongotai, and that would be the main factory unless the demand was such that they were obliged to go out into the industrial area of Wellington.

It was expected that it would be possible to sell the New Zealand-assembled machines at about British parity, taking into consideration freight and exchange. It was intended as far as possible to bring into production whatever suitable New Zealand materials were available. It was obvious that it would be impossible to obtain the special steels required in New Zealand, and it was probable that the fuselages would be imported; but it should be possible quite shortly to use New Zealand materials for the manufacture and repair of wings. It was intended also to utilize New Zealand labour, the key man being imported from abroad, but the remaining hands obtained locally and trained. A big proportion of the staff would be New Zealanders.

The output of the factory would depend entirely on the demand for machines. It would not be possible to go into full production immediately from the start. The company’s Australian factory, however, was turning out 20 machines every six months, and within two years would be using entirely local materials throughout, including even the special steels required. This factory would co-operate closely with New Zealand, as, while there was always the possibility of Australia and New Zealand being cut off from England, they would never be likely to be cut off from each other.

Major Murray Jones said that though his company was essentially concerned with the manufacture in the Dominion of light aeroplanes for civil flying, it would, of course, be prepared to co-operate with the Government’s defence plans. It would produce whatever sort of machines were required. Its plans, he said, were subject to some extent to the decisions of the forthcoming British Air Mission talks in Wellington. Asked what was the position of his company in regard to the licensing of its imports by the Government', he replied, “If you want aircraft, you will have to import them, or import the parts for them.”