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Equipment As the result of the activities of a special Purchasing Mission which extensively toured Pacific bases, a considerable amount of radio, meteorological, and airfield •equipment was obtained from American military surpluses. Much of this is still awaiting shipment, but it is hoped that the bulk of it will reach the Dominion within the next few months. A central Repair Depot and Radio Store has been established at Shelly Bay, Wellington, where radio equipment will be serviced and tested. A sub-store is also being established in Fiji as being the most convenient point for distribution to the other island stations. To simplify maintenance and reduce the range of components which must be held in the sub-store, steps are being taken to replace much of the existing equipment in island stations with units of a standard type. The equipment being replaced is, in the majority of cases, in good order and will be suitable for reinstallation in internal .stations, where maintenance problems are much less acute than in the tropics. General The decision to transfer the responsibility for the control of aeradio facilities to Air Department has led to the establishment of an Airways Division in the Civil Aviation Branch to administer the service. The Airways Division should be functioning -fully by June, 1947. Radio Licensing and Airworthiness The organization in regard to airborne radio equipment was not altered during the year and continued to operate satisfactorily. Twenty inspections of aircraft radio installations were made, and in each case a certificate of airworthiness was granted, some of these certificates being of a temporary nature only. There were seventy •failures of aircraft radio equipment, and steps' were taken to eliminate the possibility •of their recurrence. Four applicants were examined for Aircraft Engineers' Licences in Category " X," Section VII, all of these being successful. SECTION V.—AERODROMES AND RELATED GROUND FACILITIES 1. Internal Aerodromes The period 1946-47 has been one of transition from war to peace conditions, with the ■primary aim of rehabilitating civil aviation and laying the foundation for expansion both of commercial services and club flying. In addition to aerodromes in use before the war, Kaitaia, Kaikohe, Onerahi (Whangarei), Tauranga, New Plymouth, and Paraparaumu are now in regular use by ■commercial air services. Regular aero club activities have been revived at Mangere, Rukuhia, Tauranga, Opotiki, Gisborne, Napier, Hastings, Waipukurau, Masterton, New Plymouth, Stratford, Hawera, Wanganui, Milson, Omaka, Nelson, HarewOod, Timaru, 'Taieri, and Greymouth, with a number of other aerodromes used as subsidiary bases for dub training and flying. By the end of the period, all former civil aerodromes which had served as temporary R.N.Z.A.F. stations during the war had reverted to civil control, with the qualification that at Rukuhia, New Plymouth, Paraparaumu, Harewood, and Taieri the R.N.Z.A.F. retained control over certain buildings and facilities originally provided from War .Expenses Account. During the war, responsibility for control and maintenance of all aerodromes — -except Rongotai—was assumed by Government, and administered by the Air Department largely through the agency of the Public Works Department. This arrangement continued through 1946-47 except for a few minor aerodromes which reverted to localbody or aero-club ownership and control. Future policy regarding the control and

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