Aviation buffs mark 100 years since first trans-alpine flight
The first trailblazing flight over the Southern Alps is being celebrated 100 years on.
Captain Maurice Buckley and mechanic Bill Harrington flew an Avro 504K (H5241) airplane – named Blazing Arrow – from Greymouth to Christchurch on June 4, 1924, pioneering aerial crossings over the Southern Alps.
It was an important new transport connection from the West Coast to Canterbury, aviation historian the Rev Dr Richard Waugh said.
The trans-alpine air service today was just as spectacular as the TranzAlpine railway journey, and was one of the great scenic scheduled flights in New Zealand, he said.
“The 100th anniversary of the brave airmen crossing the mountains ... certainly needs to be acknowledged – and celebrated – as another Kiwi transport milestone.”
The aircraft was used for the first flights on the West Coast, and was a key feature of the British and Intercolonial Exhibition, a small world fair held in Hokitika between December 15, 1923 and February 2, 1924.
Buckley, who served with Britain’s Royal Naval Air Service in World War I, was 28 at the time of his pioneering West Coast flights.
He and Harrington left Greymouth at 2.20pm, after a delay due to weather. They reached a height of about 8000ft, and landed at the Sockburn Airfield in Christchurch about 90 minutes after takeoff, Waugh said.
“The first trans-alpine flight was a start to the revolution of air travel to come.”
The Avro 504K was the first plane on the West Coast. It arrived in New Zealand in 1920, and was taken to the Coast by rail – travelling through the new Otira Tunnel – in late December 1923.
It was wheeled around to a garage on Revell St in Hokitika, then to the beach, where it was used for quick scenic flights. Members of the public paid 10 shillings each for a 10-minute flight.
The plane flew more than 500 passengers up and down the West Coast before Buckley and Harrington attempted the first trans-alpine flight.
The plane was returned to the New Zealand Defence Force in Wigram, Christchurch, in 1924, but crashed and was written off in February 1926.
Waugh said the anniversary of the first trans-alpine flight would be marked by Air New Zealand and by some festivities at the
Hokitika Airport terminal.
The Greymouth Aero Club is also planning a special commemorative flight, depending on the weather.
President Dave McMillan said two pilots would take the same journey in a Cessna Cardinal exactly 100 years after the first.
“It’s a pretty staggering feat,” McMillan said of the 1924 flight.
“We fly over there now and think nothing of it, but they didn’t have electronic navigation instruments. They followed the road and railway – and planes weren’t as reliable as they are today.”
Tom Williams from Greymouth and Murray Bowes from Hokitika are planning to take off from the Greymouth Aerodrome at 1.30pm on Tuesday, land at the Christchurch Aero Club in West Melton, and then return home.
The Greymouth Aero Club’s clubrooms will be open to the public during that time.
“The Cessna Cardinal has been on the Coast for 52 years but it’s a lot more upmarket than the original aircraft,” McMillan said.
Air New Zealand regional affairs manager Jason Dawson said the first aerial crossing of the Southern Alps was an important milestone in New Zealand’s aviation history.
“A century on, we’re proud to be continuing the legacy by flying customers from coast to coast.
“Our crew on Tuesday’s services between Christchurch and Hokitika will be taking a moment to acknowledge those aviation pioneers.”