New Zealand’s Air Survey Ship

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 44, 14 May 1927, Page 19 (Supplement)

New Zealand’s Air Survey Ship

Written for THE SUN by

G. K. Prebble.)

“Aviation in New Zealand is at a Standstill,” mutters the man in the street —and, since Mr. Coates informed the Imperial Conference that New Zealand had merely cultivated the airplane for its utility in the defence of the country, and not for commercial purposes, it appears that he is of the same opinion. The -Dominion is backward in avia tion. as compared with other coun tries: yet it has really gone a little further than the distance it has been credited with, and is building up slowly a small fleet of fighting and ordinary machines, the latest addition to the ranks being a D.H.50 cabin biplane, which arrived at Christchurch from the Stag Lane airdrome, in England, a few weeks ago. This machine is to be used for aerial survey work, tne camera being mounted in the floor of the cabin, where the operator has ample space to work comfortably and not be hampered in any way by the slipstream. When not used for photography the plane will carry four passengers.

Quite recently the military air service did useful work in the surveying of the Waimakariri watershed, the Southern Glacier region and an area for the North Island airdrome, and a few weeks ago a machine piloted by Captain Buckley flew' from the Sockburn airdrome in the South to the Oroua County in the North to conduct a survey. In this district, surveying by any other means than a plane has been considered an almost: impossible task, owing to the swampy

nature of the land. Flying is going to be of invaluable assistance in air survey work. At present the air survey pilot is somewhat or a rara avis, but sufficient evidence is now available to show that the method of carrying out surveys from the air has come to stay, and that considerable activities in this direction may be expected shortly. There is a shortage of qualified personnel to carry out any great extension of this work. It is possible to have these quickly trained if required, but, unfortunately, this 13 where the Government is lagging, for if a young man is desirous of taking up aerial surveying as a profession, his nearest training ground is Australia.

While it is true that a specialist i can always be found to deal with the I ground survey problems and thqpe involved in producing photographic maps in the drawing office, it helps enormously if the pilot also understands | these subjects, as he has the advantage | of having flown over the actual area I photographed, and is therefore in a j better position to know how to deni ■ with problems that may arise in the i preparation of a map. One may be accused of asking too j much of the air survey pilot, tut sur-h j pilots do actually exist, although they ! are few and far between. However. J any -good pilot who is prepared to I spend his spare time in preparing himI self for air survey work, should later | find his efforts rewarded. (Continued or. Page 22)