AEROPLANE ON PLAINS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5468, 30 August 1929, Page 2

AEROPLANE ON PLAINS

KAIHFRE SETTLERS VENTURE. FLIES OWN MOTH. The exploits of airmen and the rapid advances in all branches of aviation have been so featured in pipers and motion pictures that undoubtedly many people overlook the far* that comparatively few rural inhabitants have seen an aeroplane and know that flying is quite common. These two aspects were demonstrated nt Kaihere on Wednesday when Mr J. D. Hewett, a well-known settler, flew in his newly acquired Moth plane from Auckland to transact some business in connection with the sale of his farm, and practically all the inhabitants of the Kaihere district turned out to see him arrive.

Mr Hewett is not a novice at flying; having had thirteen years’ experience. He was a captain in the Royal Air Force during the war, and afterwards in India, and has attended all the refresher courses since his return to New Zealand. For the last six months or so he has been associated with the Goodwin-Chichester concern, and is now partner with Mr Douglas Mill in the Air Transport and Survey Co., Ltd., Auckland. His machine is a new de Haviland Gipsy Moth, and carries the marks Z.K.A.A.R beneath its wings. Or. Wednesday he flew from the Hobsonville aerodrome to Kaihere, taking 55 minutes on the journey and carrying his son Peter as a passenger. Mr Hewett had first proposed arriving at about 10 a.m., and by 9.30 a.m. Kaihere residents commenced to assemble at Mr A J. Macdona’d’s paddock at. the top of Mangawhero Road, where he intended landing. Word eame from Auckland during the morning that the departure had been pos pbned until after lunch, but the crowd continued to increase until at about 2 p.m’ Mangawhero Road was busier than it had ever been before. At 3.30 the dr’ft home began in earnest, and when word was received at 4.10 p.m. that he was on his way there were only a dozen or so adults remaining. Almost immediately the plane was seen as a small speck which gradually increased in size. It circled over Mr Hewett s farm and then over the land- • ing fiehi, where a windbag had been erected for the flier’s guidance. Switching off. he glided gently down and made a beautiful landing, afterwards taxi-ing up to where the crowd had assembled.

Greetings over, Mr Hewett responded to the numerous requests for rides, and those who could not wait were assured that there would be plenty of opportunity the following day or two. Although Mr Hewett states that a field 300 yards square is necessary for absolute safety in taking off and landing, his handling of the Moth on Wednesday gave the impression that in case of necessity an area the size of a tennis court would suffice.

People who went for a short flight said that the sensation was as though sitting in « stationary .motor-car, except when the plane banked to turn. There was no bump at taking off or landing, and unless the ascent was steep there was nothing whatever to give a feeling of seasickness. Spectators had a good oppo’tunity of examining the machine, and many were surprised to find that it was so small. With one wing removed, as can. quite easily be done, the Moth could be housed in an average-sized motor garage