SUCCESS OF PAGEANT

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 432, 13 May 1937, Page 6

SUCCESS OF PAGEANT

STRATFORD AERO CLUB AERODROME OFFICIALLY OPENED Congratulations On The Ground The success that attended the pageant at the Stratford Aerodrome yesterday was a tribute to the faith of members of the Club in its aims and objects, as they felt that once the opportunity of staging an aerial programme was given them, the support of the public would be forthcoming liberally. Yesterday’s experience will be great encouragement as well as a reward for all that has been done in the past in face of many difficulties.

Even the selection of Coronation Day for the opening had given rise to criticism in some quarters, but now the critics have ceased from worryjing and joined in the chorus of con|gra'illations. At the same time, it I was admitted, the officials were in luck as regards the weather vouchsafed them for the pageant. After a cold wet spell, the morning broke beautifully fine, and the sun shone brightly throughout a calm day. Despite counter-attractions in every centre of the province.. Stratford attracted visitors from all parts. The Automobile Association's service officer, Mr J. McKee, had a very busy time in parking the traffic at the airport, situlate about 2J miles by road front Stratford on the Esk Road via Flint Road. He reported to the. club’s secretary, Mr F. E Clarke, at four o’clock, that he had just completed his parking duties. 180° cars, 20 motor lorries, and 50 bicycles, having been attended to. These figures give an idea of the attendance of the public, and .show that about 56(10 were present. The gate takings totalled £213, a sum which will place the club on a sound financial footing. Aerial Acrobatics. The changing scenes on the aerodrome proved to be a great attraction. ’Planes were in the air Carrying out competitions or flights, in which all the acrobatics, known to aviators held the spectators’ keen at. ention. To many present, even the take.off and landing, of a 'plane were entirely new and novel. The presence of several machines in the air at one time, and the ease with which the pilots executed manoeuvres, will doubtless do more to increase airmindedness than any number of views of 'planes passing overhead. The arriv'd! of the Union Airway’s airliner was awaited wi'.b interest, and as it did not leave Palmerston North until one o’clock, there was a li.tle 'disappointment. However, once the big machine w'as heralded, and after encircling the aerodrome had glided to earth and taxied to the base, there was a rush to obtain seats in the passenger flights, which continued till the time of departure on the return journey at four o’clock.

All doubts concerning the fitness of the ground were set at rest by the reports of the airliners’ pilots, who expressed most satisfation therewith, and it was learned subsequently that the ground had been licensed for ail machines at present in use in New Zealand.' The lengths of the runaways are: North-east to touth-west, 650yds; east to wesit, 800yds, Parachute Descents. The parachute descents of Mr i George Pegley during the afternoon , were watched with intense interest |by the public. The first one from a i neight of about 2000 ft, was a success in every way. The conditions' were ideal, stated Mr Pegley on his descent. There was a remarkable calm in the upper regions, which was an uncanny experience for him. and he had an ideal descent. He landed a few hundred yards outside the aerodrome grounds, and, returned to the base in a few minutes. The atmospheric conditions changed in the interval and the second ascent wlas affected. It was considered inadvisable to try and make a record ascent of 5000 feet as intended; yet from considerably higher altitude than the first attempt, the parachutist made a graceful and successful descent. He w'as accorded applause on each occasion, but the general public was somewhat, cold in their re. ception of both spectacular feats. The Ciitzens' Band, under the conductorship of Mr A. J. Kelly, played selections during the afternoon. i On exhibition in the member.’ eni closure were the following trophies, I which were presented to ihe winners iat the club’s ball last night: White I Hart Cup, presented for competition by Mr and Mrs T. S'. Jones; Taranaki Aerial Derby Cup, won in 1933 by Mr B. Mercer, in 1935, by Mr C. Plumtree, and. in 1936 by J. R. Franklyn; the Franklyn trophy, presented by the New- Plymouth Aero Club for annual bombing competition; silver cup, and binocular*.

The President, Mr P. Thomson, was ent. all day, attending to -yhe gen--eral supervision of the programme. The Aero Club is to be cqiigra/tuhated on the management of the page* ant, the members of the various com. miiitees co-operating in their duties with commendable zeal. An interested specialoi’ was Mr J. C. Robins, of Stratford, who as president of the club for the first two years of its existence. bore the irlajor burden of its trials, and naturally was specially pleased to note the successful outcome of the pioneers’ efforts. The club was formed four years ago wiui a membership of 25. and to.day lias over 100 members. In Mr H E. Clarke, the club has a capable secretary, who did splendid work yesterday. Dustins, Ltd., of Wanganui, conducted the datering, and had a busy day. The announcements, which were broadcast by local service, kept >ihe public well informed of the activities and the programme events. Official Ceremony. On the official stand were Mr P. Thomson (president of the- Aero Club), Mr J. W. McMillan (Mayor of Stratford). Mr P. Skoglund (ex-Tqwn Clerk of Stratford), Mr W. .1. Polson, M, P. for Stratford, Mr F. E. CBarke (secretary to the Aero Club), Mrs R. Russell Kirkwood (Mayoress of Stratford), Mrs P. Thomson, Mrs W. J. Polson and Miss Anderson. Advancement of Aviation. Mr Thomson, in addressing the gathering; apologised for the absence of the Hoiti R. Masters, M.L.C., Mr T. R. Anderson, chairman of the Strait, ford County Council, the president of the Federated Western Clubs, and the Hawke’s Bay and Nelson centres, also Messrs Chichester and. Clarke, the well known • airmen, all of whom wished the Stratford Aero Club every success. When the early history of aviation in Taranaki was written, said Mr. Thomson, there would be three out standing dates. namely, April 11, 1933, when the Stratford Aero Club was first formed; September 14, 1934, when the Borough Coun_ cil passed a resolution to the freehold of the ground: and -.xay 12, 1937, when the aerodrome was opened. It was a great pleasure to him to welcome the Mayor of Stratford representing the Borough Council and the Ratepayers of Stratford

who had made possible the purchase of the lt meant a great deal in the advancement of aviation in Central Taranaki. Mr. Thomson paid tribute io the Government and the Public .Work s Department (especially the assistant engineer. Mr. J. E. Anderson), who had had control of the work on. -the ground; to the officers of the Niw Plymouth Aero Chib and members for their assistance at* the •opening. On behalf of the Stratford Aero Club he welcomed the pilots, visiting officers of sister clubs, others representing local bodies, and also the public generally, particularly Mr. Philip Skoglund, ex-town clerk of Stratford, who had come all the way from Wellington to be present. Mr. Skoglund and Mr N. H. Moss (borough solicitor) had carried out the financial arrangements for the purchase of the ground, and deserved much of the credit in connection with the project. Mayor’s Congratulations. The Mayor thanked the Club for giving him the honour of making the first take-off and first landing officially <>n the aerodrome. All thoF.e who saw (ho state of the ground two or three years ago, he continued, had probably believed it was impossible to drain it, and he admitted he too, thought it was almost an impossible job. But thanks to the services of the Public Works' Department engineers (Messrs Keller and Anderson) all would agree that it had been made into an up-to-date aerodrome. Mr McMillan,said the total cost was £7050, and the area was 230 acres, of which approximately 60 comprised the aerodrome, lie pointed out that it Was a farming proposition and a good one too. The interest on the outlay was- £493 2s 4d, and last year on a. 50.50 percentage with the farmer, the Council’s share was £4OB 6s Bd, which nearly paid the ini erest on the outlay. They would agree, he said, the aerodrome and farm was a very fine m

of the increasing ingenuity of man, but it revealed a history of research, experiments, and human sacrifice. The first aeronauts were mostly balloonists and the great names of Glaister. Flammarian and Montgolfier were still remembered as having studied the strud lire of currents of air and adventured into the then unknown element in the clumsy and uncont trolled devices of that age. Mi* Polson went on to detail the .steps that led to successful flights in heavier.t.han-air machines, mentioning Wright Bros, crude glider in IGOS’, the petrol engine. Farman. Bleriot, and Bleriot’s flight across the English Channel in 1909. Now the world was flown with less commotion and excitement than Bleriot’s flight aroused.

In 1909 Curtiss won the Golden Bennett speed Trophy at 47 m.p.h.. and in 1910 Radley, in a Bleriot monoplane, reached the then astonishing speed of 76 m.p.h. That was only a moderate speed to-day, but even so it was attained only after many sacrifices of human life; someone had to fly too high to discover what the dangers and weaknesses were. Debt to Pioneers. “Experiment followed experiment and sacrifice followed sacrifice,” Mr Polson continued. ‘‘We owe a tremendous debt to these pioneers of the air. as to all the other pioneers of progress who have Paid down their lives so that, civilisation may benefit. To-day the world travels by air and man has conquered the new The opening of the Stratford ‘drome provided Stratford with a place in the new programme of social development. It was not ahetad of its time; it had been costly to construct, perhaps, but it. was necessary. That necessity would increase with the years and the cost would never be less. Mr F4ls4h MmntemUd 1h444 wA4

ers particularly, and 20 years from now he was s.ure it would be a paying proposition for the people of Stratford. They had heard a good deal recently about the price of electricity in the borough and free milk schemes, and he felt sure that in 20 years’ time’Stratford would have free electric light and free milk, with perhaps a piece of lamb thrown in for Christmas. (Laughter and applause). In conclusion, Mr McMillan congratulated the Club on the success of the opening day and wished it every success. (Applause). Asset to Stratford. Mr Skoglund, in opening, expressed pleasure at being present, stating that on the occasion of such a red letter day in the history of Stratford he had felt, compelled" to come from Wellingt ni to be present among his old friends. It was always 'a. pleasure to him to come back to Stratford. he ?aid. He endorsed all that the Mayor had said about the aerodrome. He would like them to visualise the tta’.e of the ground when it was proposed to purchase the )area, which in lhe opinion of many people, .t was impossible to drain for the purpose of an aerodrome. There was also a financial tangle in connection with the proposal, and it was his duly, along with Mr Moss, to disenthngle the problem Fortunately they had been successful in the purchase under very favourable conditions, and he paid a tribute to Mr Moss’s service

in that connection. There was no doubt the aerodrome was a wonderful addition to the amen'ities of the Borough Council and the people of ‘the district benefited thereby. He foresaw the difficulties in preparing the ground, and he considered every credit should be given to the Public Works Department engineers and the men who had worked on the job. On behalf of the Mayor and himself he wished they would not forget the crowd of men who had worked with pick and shovel and wheelbarrows and had done wonderful work. They were to be congratul'ated by the Borough Council and the people of the district generally. Stratford had a- wonderful asset in the aero-drome, said Mr Skoglund, and he hoped that Stratford at in the past would continue to go on from success to success. As long as the people showed the same public-spiritedness as in (he plast thirty years he felt sure that Stratford would prove to be one of the jewels of Taranaki. (Applause) . Official Declaration. Mr Polson thanked the Aero Club for the. honour of officially opening the aerodrome. The condition ®f the ground was splendid, and he pointed out. that the passage of big airliner in taxi-ing on the ground was not discernible on the surface, which proved that it was an entirely suitable area for the plane to operate upon. “We celebrate to-day man’s con- , quest of the air; man’s greatest dream Eihce Icarus of mythology, fly_ ! ’ing too near the sun, mel'ted hs wax- i en wings and fell into the sea that bears his name. Perhaps some will remember that Dodolus, with more judgment and perhaps less dash, took care not to fly ! too high and escaped, so Mhat there is nothing really new in aviation except the internal combustion engine that made it possible,” he added. Aviation was merely a realisation

com cived the idea of an aerodrome at” Stratford, those who put it through, and more particularly those who did the work in inclement we;;-her. when the area was not the dry pioee of ground it was that day. The aerodrome wtu for commercial aviation, and it was to be hoped it would r. c ver be needed for war purposes, but if the wwrst happened no spot was so secure as an laero base. “We cannot blind our eyes to the war aspect,” Mr Polson said, ‘ and un. fortunately it is a tragic fact that the air is the modern means of war and preparaion. the best insuitmee of peace. This ground is part of that insurance, capable of being used for peaceful purposes. Let us. hone that as its usefulness increases so will its safety; that we will have no tragedies to blot ill' his ot-y and 'hat it will ever be the grefat use those who

•♦■planned it expect it to be. The best [wish I can offer is that these purposes of peace may be ever fulfilled : and its purposes of war. never.” ■ The Baud played the National Ani them, and the proce'ding’s closed with ; cheers tor the King and Queen on he call of Mr Thomson, and cheers for the Aero Club, proposed) by the I Mayor. Two competition l were held. Sixteen pilots competed for the bombing trophy, awarded on success-wLh two bombs, and the event WHs Won by | Mr .1. Reardon . Hawera). Mr J. R. I Franklin (Wanganui) 1 ♦•’r.g second .and Mr J. WaMs (New Plymouth) third. There were 20 competitors in | the senior landing event for ths I White Hart Cup. whirl resulted in a I dead-heat by M ?3srt Lambert f Auckland) and J. Reardon (HTwera) with >’ C. Plumtree (New I’-ymu ith) third.