AERIAL ACTIVITIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 486, 16 October 1928, Page 1

AERIAL ACTIVITIES

BLENHEIM RETURNS TO NORMAL AVRO-AVIAN TO FLY NORTH (Special to THE SUN) BLENHEIM,. Monday. Blenheim’s next aerial activity now that the Southern Cross has gone will centre round the arrival in a few days of an Avro-Avian machine, piloted by Captain George Bond. This airplane has recently been assembled at Christchurch and is the first of its type in the Dominion. It is a similar machine to that flown by Bert Hinkler on his flight from England to Australia. Mr. Douglas Mill’s Moth may visit Blenheim at the same .time. The work of demolishing the hangar which housed the Southern Cross has commenced, and in a couple of days the fences will have been repaired and everything returned to normal. Before their departure SquadronLeader Kingsford Smith and FlightLieutenant Ulm handed to the secretary of the Aero Club an autographed letter for Messrs. George and Louis Fairhall, the owners of the property. The letter placed on record the airmen’s appreciation of the generosity of Messrs. Fairhall in permitting their field to be used as an airdrome. The club proposes to have this letter framed and to present it to Messrs. Fairhall.

N.Z.’S CONGRATULATIONS “PROMOTING PROGRESS OF . AVIATION” Press Association WELLINGTON", To-day. One of the first messages to be received by Squadron-Leader Kingsford Smith after the Southern Cross reached Richmond was one from the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates. It read as follows: “New Zealand heartily congratulates you and your companions on the successful accomplishment of your return trip across the Tasman. We are delighted to know that you have arrived safely, and we extend our good wishes for your future efforts in promoting the progress of aviation, toward which you have already so largely contributed.’*