Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 27, 2023 12:20:27 GMT 12
Where does this record stand at now? This is from The Press, 18 December 1974:
'I WOULD DO IT AGAIN'
(N Z Press Association! INVERCARGILL. Dec. 17.
“I would do it again,” a Southland Aero Club member, Peter Orr, said tonight with his feet safely back on earth after circumnavigating the country in 16 hours, 30 minutes, in a Cessna 182 with another Invercargill pilot, Phillip Kean.
The borrowed aircraft skimmed low over Invercargill Airport flanked by a privately owned Commanche and an aero club Cardinal, watched by more than 150 friends, relatives and aero club members. It landed at 9.47 p.m. The two are believed to the first to circumnavigate New Zealand in a single-engine plane in one day.
For Mr Orr, aged 35, an oil company representative, and Mr Kean, aged 23, a farmer, the flight from Invercargill to Cape Reinga and back provided many new experiences, but for the most part it was uneventful, Mr Orr said.
“We struck rain only at Cape Reinga, on the east coast of the North Island and at Dunedin on the homeward run when Phillip was forced to come down to 200 feet,” he said. “But for the rest of the time the weather was fine and we flew at an altitude of between 10,000 to 14.000' feet”
The Cessna covered the 2350 miles in 15 hours 52 minutes of flying time. Mr Orr was extremely happy about its performance. It used only about 160 gallons of fuel on the trip.
“We took on 47 gallons of fuel at New Plymouth, 48 at Tauranga, and 47 at Timaru, and the tank was half-full when we landed,” Mr Orr said.
The worst moment was when they were flying over water before reaching the west coast of the North Island.
“We were 90 miles out to sea, and if we had not sighted Mount Egmont within half an hour we planned to turn right to Ohakea. But then up it popped, like a great ice cream cone.”
The two men said they made the flight to build up their flying time and to complete what they saw as an endurance test.
Mr Orr said that he would do it again but it had to be in a single-engine aircraft.
“A two-engine plane would do the trip too quickly; there’s no fun in that,” he said.
'I WOULD DO IT AGAIN'
(N Z Press Association! INVERCARGILL. Dec. 17.
“I would do it again,” a Southland Aero Club member, Peter Orr, said tonight with his feet safely back on earth after circumnavigating the country in 16 hours, 30 minutes, in a Cessna 182 with another Invercargill pilot, Phillip Kean.
The borrowed aircraft skimmed low over Invercargill Airport flanked by a privately owned Commanche and an aero club Cardinal, watched by more than 150 friends, relatives and aero club members. It landed at 9.47 p.m. The two are believed to the first to circumnavigate New Zealand in a single-engine plane in one day.
For Mr Orr, aged 35, an oil company representative, and Mr Kean, aged 23, a farmer, the flight from Invercargill to Cape Reinga and back provided many new experiences, but for the most part it was uneventful, Mr Orr said.
“We struck rain only at Cape Reinga, on the east coast of the North Island and at Dunedin on the homeward run when Phillip was forced to come down to 200 feet,” he said. “But for the rest of the time the weather was fine and we flew at an altitude of between 10,000 to 14.000' feet”
The Cessna covered the 2350 miles in 15 hours 52 minutes of flying time. Mr Orr was extremely happy about its performance. It used only about 160 gallons of fuel on the trip.
“We took on 47 gallons of fuel at New Plymouth, 48 at Tauranga, and 47 at Timaru, and the tank was half-full when we landed,” Mr Orr said.
The worst moment was when they were flying over water before reaching the west coast of the North Island.
“We were 90 miles out to sea, and if we had not sighted Mount Egmont within half an hour we planned to turn right to Ohakea. But then up it popped, like a great ice cream cone.”
The two men said they made the flight to build up their flying time and to complete what they saw as an endurance test.
Mr Orr said that he would do it again but it had to be in a single-engine aircraft.
“A two-engine plane would do the trip too quickly; there’s no fun in that,” he said.
