Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, along with the rest of NZ,
has a rich history in early aviation
pioneering.
Many
folk from this area of ours,
almost from the turn of the
last century have been trying to
get "up up and away "
via all sorts of elaborate
contraptions, built from
whichever, whatever was available
locally....from broomsticks,
bed linen, piano hinges, bicycle
wheels, home-made engines,
and even way back in 1907, a
variable pitch prop and ailerons
! ! !
( Now that 's pretty cool ! )
Our located records only go back
to 1907, but even prior to 1900
"seeds" were germinating for
sure,
and it was remarkable that so many local
folk back in those times were well
"up with the play"
with the rest of the world's aviation
developments, so far away in our little
New Zealand.
Mr. O'Brian of Taradale New Zealand
Mr. O'Brian of
Taradale.
Little is known about the fate
of this machine, but it demonstrates
the ingenuity of the early pioneers.
1916. "Tye"
Husheer and his
home-made glider.
The first man to "get off
the ground" in Hawke's Bay.
Napier port Dec.
1917.
Curtiss B seaplane doing
passenger flights.
Pilot (right) is Mr. Vivian Walsh.
Can anyone tell us
who
the passenger might be...or
the name of the passenger ship?
More on this Napier visit later.
1917. Entrance to
harbour?
Pandora Bluff in background?
Another confirmation
please...anyone?
The BERTRAM
OGILVIE story.
Kingsford Smith
and Southern Cross.
1930s. East Coast Air
Services'
DH Dragon "Huia" at the
underground fuel tank park
Beacon's Drome, (now HB Airport).
Photo - Trevor Crabtree.
The
SOUTHERN CROSS Visit to Hawkes Bay
Saturday
21st. January 1933. (CLICK PICTURE FOR
MORE)
Possibly
one of the last two flights into
the Riverbend Road area, Napier.
Close to where Bertram
Ogilvie was
experimenting with his aircraft
from about 1907.
Avro Avion G-NZEE
Riverbend Road airfield.
1928.
Francis
Chichester (left) with
Napier's Mayor
J.Vigor Brown.
The other
visit (1928 or 1929) was by Air
Survey & Transport Co Ltd
with the first civil aircraft
imported into New Zealand.
G-NZZAT- a De Havilland Cirrus II
Moth,
on a sales and joyriding
'exercise'.
The pilot was probably Doug Mill, the NZ
agent for De Havilland.
These are
the only aircraft we have records
of using the Riverbend Road
airstrip.
Tui
Homebuilt - Dannevirke
The
Tui home-built, constructed by Fred
North, takes shape during 1929
in the garage of Osgood & Drury, High
Street, Dannevirke.
After final completion in Auckland, it
was inspected
on behalf of the Defence Depimagesment.
The Inspector said there was not a
machine in the country
that could compare to the Tui as far as
perfection was concerned.
The
Tui, powered by a 3-cylinder Szekely
radial engine, takes off for its first
flight on 4th. January 1934 from a farm
at Whenuapai.
Tui
at Mangere...Sir Charles Kingsford Smith
autograph.
Sir
Charles Kingsford Smith in the cockpit
prior to flight.
Tui ZK-ADV at
Mangere, made by Mr. Fred North,
plane-maker extraordinaire.
