Aucklanders Build Plane

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 466, 22 September 1928, Page 1

Aucklanders Build Plane

MODELLED ON SOUTHERN CROSS

Wing-Span 22 feet: Cost Only £2OO

HANDICAPPED by lack of money and working in their 11 spare time only, two young Aucklanders have built a light airplane similar in design to the Southern Cross.

THE young men are brothers, Ernest and Arthur Everson, of 9 Sentinel Hoad, Herne Bay. “The plane is built entirely of New Zealand material, with the exception of the engine, which is out of a motorcycle,’* they told The Sun to-day. “All the woodwork is of New Zealand kauri iyid it is built on the Fokker design—the wing over the top, and all the weight underneath.” The monoplane weighs 3001 b and is considered to be about as light as any machine yet turned out. The plans, which were drawn up by the elder brother, Ernest, who is a draughtsman in the employ of an Auckland architect, were submitted an ex-Air Force officer, who was perfectly satislied that the machine was of ,an excellent type. The wing span from tip to tip is 22ft Kin, the length is 17ft 6in and the height uf the machine is sft.

The young men state that the machine cost no more to build than an expensive motor-bike, and they could turn similar planes out for about £2OO, about a quarter of the price of a Moth. The machine is built entirely on the safety principle.

Five months’ work have already been put in, but the engine has yet to be built in and one or two minor details attended to. The young men expect to have their plane in flying order in time for Labour IDay. An old billiard-room in their home at Herne Bay has been utilised as a workshop, and the machine is housed there. It can readily be taken down and re-assembled outside. “We have spent all our wages on the machine and we haven’t even had enough to buy cigarettes or go to the pictures,” said the elder brother. “However, we want to make this successful and maybe we can build and sell them to other people who want a good light machine at a low price.” They contend that though other planes have been assembled or partially built in New Zealand, they do not know of a single instance where one has been built entirely of New Zealand materials. The machine will be named “Evo,” which was a school nickname conferred on the elder youth. “We always had an ambition to build a plane and now we’ve done it,” they concluded enthusiastically.