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THE FLYING SERVICE.

CAREER FOR YOUNG NEty ZEALANDERS. i PROGRESS AT CHRTSTCHUROR FLYING GROUND. ' Of the many training centres In New Zealand possibly the least known is at a little spot called Sockburn, almost a suburb of Christchureh, where the still hours of very earJ.v morning gee young New Zealand aviators nraparing for their entry into the nation's airfleet. This ground is not under military discipline, for the training of flying cadets ia New Zealand has been left to private enterprise, but the men, none the less, will be regularly drafted into the fighting strength of the Allies. Mr. C, W. Hervery, secretary to tho Canterbury Aviation Company, Ltd., speaks hopefully of -the. work that is being done at the Can'terbury Aviation ground. The company, was floated as the result of a very enthusiastic meeting of Christchureh-citi-zens, in order to assist in the training of men who are destined to be the most urgently needed in tho final issue of the wan. The work has gone ahead, and the company is already achieving the worthy object of its founders. While in Wellington, Mr. Hervey 'hopes to enrol many pupils for the flying course at Cliristehurch. He states that in the southern city any wrong ideas regarding the hazards of aviation have.been dissipated by the wonderful control of the machines displayed bv the instructor (Mr. C, M. Hill) and hfs. pupils. ■ The course opens to any young man a «ne career, having demonstrably less ridks ■than are encountered in the regular forces. The fee at Canterbury is £IOO, and the pupils reside in special quarters at the aerodrome during their six or eight weeks' training. Upon passing his flying tests, the pupil receives a grant in New Zealand of £75 on ■behalf of the British Government, and ig sent Home at the Army Council's *xpensc to undergo his extended training in the Royal Flying Corps. Eight pupils, Mr. Hervey said, had already qualified, and were about to start for England. The first pupil to enter the Canterbury school, and tho first to .gain his pilot's certificate, was Mr. E. F. Wilding, younger brother of the Iftte Captain Anthony Wilding, the famous tennis champion. The early pupils of the school, drawn from different parts of the North and South Islands, had shown a wonderful keenness in their work, and had done great credit to their instructor. Major Sleeman had particularly conh mended tho instructional methods of Mr. Hill, laying stress on the importance of the frequent ascents and descents ensurd by the system of short flights practise! over the extensive manoeuvring ground at Sockburn. Tho flying ground, Mr. Hervey said, lay just five miles from Christchureh bj t tramline, in an ideal stretch of flying country, which had been most favorably commented upon by experts. The actual landing ground was much more extensive than that at Hendon, and tho Canterbury Park racecourse alongside afforded an additional clear stretch of landing country for any pilot who might have to make a hurried descent out of bounds. The hangars, standing on the edge of an unfeoced stretch of some .hundred and fifty acres of land, contained a very well-equipped workshop, where 'the pupil was instructed very fully in engine work and the-details of aeroplane construction, as new machines were built. Tho air fleet consisted of three complete machines, and two others in the making. A Bleriot monoplane,, is used, not for flying, but merely to "taxi" about tho ground, to give the pupil an idea of the controls and the rather unconventional ways in which a machine will behave on its runners. This machine Is identical in, type with the monoplane on which Louis Bleriot made ■liis astounding cross-Channel flight on July 25, MMW. It was experimented with by a Frenchman at Christchureh before the war, but never made a sustained flight. The second machine js a llato model Caudjron dual-control biplune, the safest type of aeroplane afloat, fitted with a fiO h.p. Anzani engine. In this machino the pilot (Mr. C. M. Hill) takes up each pupil, and by means of the dual control, marked..input either !,

seat, the pupil is quickly initiated into the mysteries of flying, and ia somctmes controlling the machine before he is aware of the fact. The third machine is a Caudron typo biplane, fitted with tha 45 li.p. Anzani engine used by Scotland in his pioneer flights in New Zealand. This biplane was actually cowrtructed down to the laat detail by the pupils, under the direction -of Mr. J. -G. Jackie, the company's mechanic, and it proved to he a machine of exceptionally good gliding qualities and absolute stability. On it all the pupils of the school have passed their pilot's tests so far, and the passing of six pupils in 3% hours on the dame machine is claimed as a record for any school. Mr. Hill has looped-the-loop on this machine. The company has two Anzani engines of 100 h.p. -each on the water, and biplanes of the Gaudron •type are building at the aerodrome, for their reception.

Questioned regarding the possibility of aeroplane construction in New Zealand, ;Mr. Hervey replied that he did not think thei idea was feasible at present, since the impossibility of standardisation and extensive production, apart from«ioabil-

ity to moke engines, put the industry dut of the question as a war-winning measure. He added that it was doubt-

ful even whether the output of aeroplanes in Britain or America could be stimulated by local funds, as the factories there were working at their fullest capacity. But New Zealand could supply aviators of a splendid type, as the schools at Auckland and Chrtetohurch had proved. Concentration on, man-

[power for the air lleets would he. aore (profitable than dissipating time and energy on toe production gf $ ma-

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19171031.2.56

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, 31 October 1917, Page 5

Word count
Tapeke kupu
964

THE FLYING SERVICE. Taranaki Daily News, 31 October 1917, Page 5

THE FLYING SERVICE. Taranaki Daily News, 31 October 1917, Page 5

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