FIJI AIRMAN HERE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 900, 18 February 1930, Page 7

FIJI AIRMAN HERE

TAKES PLANE WHEREVER HE GOES TO TOUR N.Z. BY AIR Wherever Mr. N. S. Chalmers goes he takes his Gipsy Moth airplane with him. He brought it out from England and took it to Suva, Fiji, where he did some flying, but as conditions were not good there he brought it to Auckland last evening by the Tofua. While in Auckland he hopes to do some flying at Mangere and other centres. Mr. Chalmers is a barrister and solicitor. He lives on the island of Ba, about 150 miles out front Sura. Flying in Fiji is fascinating, he savs. His longest flight was one of IS hours to Levuka. The reefs off the coasts look like huge quantities of creme de menthe which have been poured out into the ocean—a lovely green in the iridescent blue. Every assistance was given Mr. Chalmers by the Fiji Government, but the strong winds and the lack of grounds do not make for good flying conditions. There is a growing in terest in aviation in Fiji, and Cartain Fenton, a former Royal Air Force pilot, has been sent to Sydney to take a refresher course. The new Governor of the Crown Colony, Sir A. G. Murchison Fletcher, has promised to subsidise commercial flying, and this should give aviation a better footing there. Mr. Chalmers will join the' Auckland Aero Club during the four months he proposes to stay here.