BUILDING AIRCRAFT

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 117, 20 May 1939, Page 10

BUILDING AIRCRAFT

RONGOTAI FACTORY *

DE HAVILLAND PLANES

MANAGER ARRIVES

The decision of the De Havilland! Aircraft Company to establish an overseas company in New Zealand—the sixth Dominion company—was announced at the annual meeting of the company on February 7. A more de^ tailed announcement was made in Wellington by Major Murray Jones, a director of the company, on March 28, and the architects began work upon the plans within days after that. Tenders for the factory closed this week, and this week also Mr. Hugh Buckingham, who will organise and manage the New Zealand company, arrived from England. There has been talk of aircraft manufacture in the Dominion for many years, but it never progressed beyond the paper outline, until this rapid series of decisions and events commenced. A tender will in ,all probability be accepted next week and the building will be commenced at once. How rapidly and to what ultimate extent the operations of the New Zealand company will expand could not be said at the moment, stated Mr. Buckingham • today. Much would depend upon the demand for aircraft. Factory plans would permit of a one, two, or three unit building—2oo x 100 feet, 300 by 100 feet, or 400 by 100 feetdepending upon decisions which would be made known within: the next week or so, but whatever the decision the first unit would be 200 by 100 feet (larger than the main hangar at Rongotai). WORKING UP BY STAGES, The first planes would be brought to New Zealand practically complete, said Mr. Buckingham; the next batch would be partially assembled, and so on, until at the end of twelve months the manufacture would be carried out in New Zealand to the full extent which materials and skilled labour permitted. Certain processes of manufacture, such as castings and fittings in metals of special tensile strengths, would not be attempted in New Zealand, nor would steel pressings be made here, for presses, jigs, and specialised tools, which could run into a hundred thousand pounds for a single type of aircraft, could not be justified on. a small annual output. However there was much to, be done in aircraft construction well1 within the economic scope of associated Dominion companies, and as the factory at Rongotai developed, starting with assembly, then passing on to assembly plus wing building, then to the complete assembly of pressings, castings, and New Zealand-built wings, tail surfaces, etc., the greater part of metal work, other than, special features, could very well be carried out in New Zealand. Engines will not be made here. New Zealand timbers^ said Mr. Buckingham, did not apparently offer very much for wing and tail-plane construction. The standards set were extremely high and only certain timbers could fulfil them. On his way to New Zealand through Canada he had discussed supplies and made arrangements for an ample consignment, but the possibilities of using New Zealand woods wpuld be gone into fully, though, as he had said, nothing very promising had so far been put forward.' . KEY MEN FROM ENGLANB. In its early stages of development the Rongotai factory would employ up to one hundred men, said Mr. Buckingham, depending always upon the mariner in which the demand for craft opened, a matter which he could not at the moment discuss.' Naturally, in the absence of previous work of similar nature upon any considerable scale, there would be a period during which it would be difficult to obtain the necessary number of skilled men, j and a certain number of operators! would have to be brought to New Zealand to carry on the first developments and to act as v instructors to New Zealano!ers. Some might remain in New Zealand permanently; others would return to the Home factory. THE FIRST TYPES. Tiger Moths, of which a huge number were being built in Britain and large numbers in other Dominion factories, and Moth Minors would first be built at Rongotai, but apart from the assembly and. manufacturing side the establishment of a New Zealand! associate company would be of substantial importance to both civil aviation, by making possible a degree of service not attainable without a local factory,* and to the air arm of defence in building a reserve of highly-skilled men.

De Havillands, said Mr. Buckingham, had developed as one of their most promising types a medium transport all metal, twin-engined plane, the Flamingo' type, and as air transport grew in New Zealand such types as this might be built at Rongotai, but such types would be assembled rather than manufactured.

With, the inclusion of New Zealand, De Havilland now have six overseas companies. The Australian company was set up in 1927, the Canadian company in 1928, the Indian company in 1929, the South African company ml 1930, and the Southern Rhodesiari company in 1935.

WHY RONGOTAI WAS SELECTED.

Though the Rongotai aerodrome is small, even for its present uses, without regard to the certain continued increase in air traffic, and the limited landing field would impose certain restrictions , upon the new company, Wellington yet possessed such distinct advantages that .the field disadvantage was more than countered, said Mr. Buckingham.

"In any case," he said, "there surely can be no doubt at all that Rongotai will be greatly extended in the near future. The position of Wellington guarantees its growing importance as the air centre of all New Zealand services."

Mr. Buckingham has been on the technical sales side of the de Havilland company at Edgware and Hatfield since he completed his workshop and theoretical training in 1929. He is well known as a demonstration pilot, holds a commercial "B" pilot's licence, and has wide experience of many types of civil aircraft. He has flown all over Europe and beyond on the company's business and on April 11, 1935, in a Comet monoplane he made the first flight from London to Paris in less than the hour. Latterly he has concentrated upon technical engine sales liaison. Shortly before leaving for New Zealand he was married at St. Paul's, Knightsbridge, London, to Miss Pamela Willins, daughter of Mrs. Willins and the late Mr. G. W; S. Willins, of London and Norfolk,