OSCAR GARDEN

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXI, Issue 9, 22 December 1930, Page 10

OSCAR GARDEN

GUEST OF H.B. AERO CLUB ENTERTAINED AT DINNER. DESCRIPTION OF FLIGHT. Mr Oscar Garden, who arrived in his “Kia Ora” ’plane at Hastings at noon on Saturday from Gisborne, was the guest of the officers of the Hawke’s Bay and E.C. Aero. Club at a dinner in the Grand Hotel on Saturday evening. Captain Haig was also a guest of honour. Mr T. E. O’Dowd, vice president of the Hawke’s Bay and East Coast Aero Club said that since the war there had been many very wonderful flights by aviators of many countries, and people were wondering where New Zealanders came in until Mr Oscar Garden, by his daring and courage, brought honour to both his home town and his country. He congratulated him on his performance, remarking that it would greatly stimulate air sense and enthusiasm in aviation. Mr Garden thanked his hosts and briefly described his flight from England to Australia. “I thought I might as well get my 80 hours’ flying for a “B” license on a journey to Australia as flying around England,” he said. “The first two days after leaving Croydon I had 500 miles of fog to plough through, and as I had not had much experience of such conditions before I had a pretty rough start. At Constantinople I had some trouble over my passport. En route to Aleppo I ran out of petrol and alighted in a ploughed field amongst about 20 Arabs. I walked along the railway line until I came to a telephone box with an Arab policeman in charge and phoned for assistance. Returning to the ’plane I found about 200 Arabs gathered around it. I was thirsty and tried to indicate my condition, but all I got was hard boiled eggs for about two hours. Darkness came on and I was making preparations for camping under the ’plane when fuel arrived by motor-car.”

MET MRS BRUCE. Continuing he said that the next day he left for Baghdad and thence for Jask where he caught up with Mrs Victor Bruce. He met with misfortune at Jhansi. In the dark he could not locate the aerodrome and landed in a ploughed field, the machine turning upside down. The propeller and rudder were damaged and he had to take off a wing to right the machine. He had to wait four hours in pouring rain until dawn, then tow

the machine by rope to a better place for taking off. The two miles they towed it took four hours. He had a bad trip to Calcutta from Jhansi on account of the ’plane’s wings being injured. Mrs Bruce caught up with him at Calcutta owing to the repairs he had to make to the machine. On the way to Rangoon he met eight New Zealanders. Between Rangoon and Singapore it rained most of the time. “The hottest part of the trip,” said Mr Garden was between Wyndham and Alice Springs, in Australia. The bumps were bad—so bad in fact, that a suitcase was sent through the cockpit cover of the machine. “As you know,” he added in conclusion, "one of the main purposes of

my flight was to encourage aero clubs in N.Z. and I hope that it has done some good in this respect. I wish your club here every success.”

MR ROACH'S ENDEAVOURS. Mr Roach, in proposing a toast to aviation, said that it had always been his endeavour to do as much as possible for aviation in this district, and he hoped that the time was not far distant when Hastings would have a larger aerodrome. The present ground was too cramped, and hampered by the heavy wires in close proximity. Aviation was progressing by leaps and bounds, and he was proud to be associated with one of its pioneers in the person of Oscar Garden. He also wished to pay honour to Captains Chambers and Haig. Captain Haig, in response, said that the dreams of to-day were becoming the reality of to-morrow. Oscar Garden was an example. His flight was prompted by a chance remark, and his vision of bridging England and Australia soon became realised. It was not done for sensationalism. It showed the public that the aeroplane was not such a bad method of locomotion. The progress of aviation was not generally realised. In Australia they had a very efficient service. First there were the Gov-

eminent subsidised services, which suburbanised the towns and covered a distance of 5500 miles or about one fifth of Australia’s total railway mileage. They were granted a subsidy of three shillings a mile on flights to schedule. There was no subsidy on flights that did not run according to schedule. Secondly, said Captain Haig, there were the unsubsidised services flying a regular distance of 3000 miles. They were granted a bonus on all mail carried of 4s a pound. The extent to which aviation was carried on in Australia was illustrated by the fact that there were five mail services and two services doing 1700 miles a week. They were efficient too. Taken on a population basis Australia led the world in recognised air services.

AERO CLUB MOVEMENT IN AUSTRALIA.

Speaking of the Aero Club movement in Australia, Captain Haig said that there were 80 clubs in the country subsidised by the Government and six not. They flew about 15,000 hours a month on regular training work. He had been surprised to see the progress in the Aero Club movement in New Zealand. Organisation was the big thing. When an Aero Club was formed initial enthusiasm roped in a large number of members, but the Australian experience was that very often a big percentage failed to renew their subscriptions. Membership meant a big thing to a club. A membership of £700 meant an assured income of say, £700 a year. “Sometimes,” said Captain Haig humorously, “flying members are a contingent liability to a club. Wheels come off the 'planes and machines get damaged.” Continuing, he said that in the endeavour of get new members and keep those they had, the social side was developed. Bridge parties, etc., were held. To rope in new members they had to extend their activities. To fill in time when no flying was carried out a Glider Club was formed, attached to the club. It brought in quite a good income. They also had a model aeroplane section, and a charge was made for instruction. In-ter-school competitions were run under the auspices of the Aero Club, and the children were made interested in aviation matters. All wore roped in as associated members and were bringing in an income to the club. The model aeroplane section thus had a definite place in aero club affairs. For one thing it taught the children initiative. The importance of the Aero Club movement should be recognised. It furthered means of transport and maintained the prestige of the British Empire. The community of Hastings were to be congratulated on their Aero Club and on their president (Sir Andrew Russell) and honorary committee.

Captain Chambers, briefly responding to the toast of aviation, said that

flights such as Chichester’s and Garden’s did more for civil aviation than any other thing in the world. PIONEER OF AVIATION IN H.B. Mr W. C. Whitlock said that it had been his privilege to meet two pioneers in aviation, Mr Oscar Garden who was now being honoured and the late Capt Russell, who brought the first ’plane to Hastings. Captain Russell was the pioneer of aviation in H.B. Bringing his 'plane down from Auckland to Hastings he had two forced landings between Auckland and Gisborne and one between Gisborne and Hastings. He arrived about four days behind time. Oscar Garden was not that much out in the trip from Croydon to Australia. That showed the remarkable advance that had been made in aviation since those days. Captain Russell was the pioneer aviator of H. B., and without ddetracting from the merit which was due to Mr Garden he would like to see a tribute paid to those earlier New Zealanders whose work in aviation made such flights as Mr Garden’s possible. Those present stood silent for a minute as a token of respect to the memory of Captain Russell. Mr R. D. Brown proposed a toast to the ladies, emphasising the wonderful part they had played in aviation. Mr H. M. Campbell, M.P., responding on their behalf.

Captain Haig proposed a toast to the chairman, committee, instructor, and engineer of the H.B. and East Coast Aero Club.

DEPARTURE FOR WELLINGTON. Mr. Garden left this morning about 8.15 for Wellington. He will stop for one hour at Dannevirke and a similar period at Masterton en route, arriving in Wellington this afternoon. Yesterday Mr. Garden visited the Longlands aerodrome between 2 and 3 o’clock and after spending half an hour there, he and Captain Haig proceeded to Tunanui where they were the guests of Sir Andrew Russell for the remainder of the afternoon. Captain Haig flies from Wellington to Auckland to-morrow to catch the Sydney boat, while Mr. Garden proceeds to the South Island to his home for Xmas.