The Cost Of Air Force Expansion

[Dave Homewood]

This article from the PRESS newspaper dated the 10th of JULY 1939 gives a fascinating insight into the amount of money that was being allocated and spent just before the war in the RNZAF's vital expansion plan. Thank goodness they got a head start on the war with all this infrastructure:

LARGE SUM FOR DEFENCE

TENDERS TOTAL

£216,085

AIR FORCE TO RECEIVE

BIG SHARE

£28,641 FOR GODLEY HEAD

Expenditure amounting to £216,085 for defence purposes is notified in the Gazette in a list of tenders passed by the Public Works Department. The expenditure for air defence totals £152,592, and for other defence services £63,493. The sum of £28,641 is allocated for the Godley Head defence works. Details are as follows: —

Taieri Aerodrome, temporary timber hangar and annexe 11,457
R.N.Z.A.F. Hobsonville, guard house 1,594
R.N.Z.A.F. Ohakea, stopbank 1,319
R.N.Z.A.F. Hobsonville, administration building 5,940
Tophouse Aerodrome, formation, etc. 5,707
Westshore Aerodrome, erection residence 1,600
Wigram sewerage extension 709
R.N.Z.A.F., Whenuapai, removal and re-erection of cottage 465
Invercargill Airport, plant, excavation (two contracts) 2,153
R.N.Z.A.F., Wigram, instructional gas chamber  370
R.N.Z.A.F.. Hobsonville, airmen’s dormitory blocks 5,708
Woodbourne (Blenheim) Aerodrome, temporary timber hangars 22,970
Woodbourne Aerodrome, airmen’s dormitory 10,095
R.N.Z.A.F., Hobsonville, motor shed and garages 1,799
R.N.Z.A.F., Hobsonville, store alterations 5,242
R.N.Z.A.F., Wigram, reading work 1,672
Gisborne Aerodrome, surfacing, etc. 701
Gisborne Aerodrome, filling, etc. 561
Tauranga Aerodrome extension 9,382
R.N.Z.A.F., Blenheim, officers’ and sergeants’ mess and dormitory block 16,560
R.N.Z.A.F., Ohakea, standby set-house 2,965
R.N.Z.A.F., Wigram, single quarters and alterations, etc. 2,235
Tauranga Aerodrome, metalling 950
R.N.Z.A.F., Ohakea, reading, etc., bomb store area 2,646
R.N.Z.A.F.. Whenuapai, officers’ mess and quarters 33,177
R.N.Z.A.F., Hobsonville, stand-by set-house, etc. 3,186
R.N.Z.A.F., Wigram, engine test house 1,429
Defence Department, Trentham, carpenters’ shop and timber store 3,913
Godley Head construction, defence works 28,641
R.N.V.R., Dunedin, new headquarters 8,363
Burnham Military Camp, ordnance store 22,576

--------------------------------
Total ... .. £216,085

[Dave Homewood]

Where was Westshore Aerodrome? I have never heard of that before.

[Dave Homewood]

To answer my own question that was apparently Beacons Aerodrome, at Westshore, Napier.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Some old die-hards in Napier still call it Beacons Aerodrome.

However, there was a second aerodrome next to the Ahuriri estuary between Pandora and Westshore, back in the 1930s.

It later became an industrial estate with rail access from the adjacent Napier-Gisborne railway line.

It would be a distance of only about a mile in a straight line between the two aerodromes.

I've seen a couple of photographs of that second aerodrome somewhere....possibly in the museum at Napier.

East Coast Airways must have occasionally used it, because one of the photos I saw had one of their DH.84 Dragons in the picture.

[Dave Homewood]

Yes the older aerodrome was called Embankment. It was the main airport, but was temporarily closed in 1936 and all traffic moved to Beacons including airline services, aero club activities, etc., while Embankment was to be done up. However it was later decided to leave everything at Beacons and develop that site instead.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

The photographs were right under my nose in a book stashed in one of my bookcases, and there were actually THREE aerodromes in Napier around that era.

“Early Risers — The Pioneering Story of Gisborne and Hawke's Bay Aviation” by Richard J. Waugh, John King and David Phillips is the book.

On page 20 is an aerial photograph of Napier showing the three aerodromes: Riverbend Road Airfield, Embankment Aerodrome and Beacons Aerodrome.

On page 21 are two more images, the first an aerial photograph of Embankment Aerodrome with an East Coast Airways DH.84 Dragon parked in front of the Napier Aero Club hangars; then a second photograph taken from ground level showing three DH.60 Moths (one from Hamilton, and the other two presumably local) and two NZ Airways Spartans from Timaru parked next to the hangar and clubrooms. You can clearly see a Napier Aero Club sign on the hangar. The buildings look substantial, so it would appear that the Napier Aero Club was well-settled in at Embankment Aerodrome before they moved to Beacons Aerodrome (which is the current Hawke's Bay Airport, formerly known as Napier Airport). Perhaps the move was made after the government spent the money developing Beacons Aerodrome, as mentioned in the first post of this thread.

[11SQNLDR]

Very interesting thanks gents - as a Hawke's Bay lad I've learned something new today

[Dave Homewood]

This is from the NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 1 JUNE 1936

NAPIER FIELD TO CLOSE

TEMPORARY GROUND ARRANGED

The closing of the Napier aerodrome will shortly take place for a period of 18 months, during which the Beacons aerodrome, or emergency landing-ground at Westshore, will be used by all aeroplanes visiting Napier, including the East Coast Airways passenger aeroplanes when the service resumes. Arrangements are to be made by the Napier Airport Board for shelters and facilities at the Beacons aerodrome in preparation for the closing of the main aerodrome within six months.

This is from the EVENING POST, 1 OCTOBER 1936

Napier's Aerodrome.
Leveling and drainage work at present being carried out at Napier's main aerodrome adjacent to the Westshore embankment will take at least six months yet to complete, reports the "Daily Telegraph," Napier. The work was started twelve months ago. ..The whole area of the aerodrome is being leveled so that there will be a very slight down grade from the centre to obviate the collection of surface water in the wet season. About thirty men, employees of the Public Works Department, are at present engaged.

This is from the BAY OF PLENTY TIMES, 4 DECEMBER 1936

Napier Aerodrome.
The Napier aerodrome, in all probability, will not be ready for use for another two years, according to advice received by the Napier Airport Board from Mr A. Dinnie, district engineer to the Public Works Department. The letter also stated that the removal of the telegraph and power lines was a matter for the Board to arrange with the Post and Telegraph Department and the Power Board. Mr T. AV. Hercook, Chairman of the Napier Airport Board, said it was expected that the necessary fueling facilities would be available at the Beacons aerodrome in the near future.

This is from the AUCKLAND STAR, 30 OCTOBER 1937

NAPIER AIRPORT.

DEVELOPMENT PLAN ON 'QUAKE-RAISED LAND

GOVERNMENT SCHEME.

(By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) NAPIER, this day.

Plans which have been drawn up by the Government aviation authorities for the lay-out and development of the principal Napier aerodrome should provide Hawke's Bay with facilities rivaling any in New Zealand. It is proposed to develop what is known as the Beacons aerodrome, on part of the 7000-acre block of land which was formerly the bed of the Ahuriri Lagoon, but which was raised by the earthquake, and is now being brought into cultivation for subdivision into some 300 small farming lots.

The smaller aerodrome established by the Napier Aero Club on 'quake-raised land, formerly the bed of the Inner Harbour, is also to be retained as a secondary ground. The Small Farms Board has agreed to release 520 acres of the 7000-acre block to the Napier Airport Board, and that area will be available for development as the principal aerodrome on the East Coast, following the lines of the lay-out as forwarded by the Director of Civil Aviation, Whig-Commander T. M. Wilkes.

Aircraft will have the use of four large runways, from east to west, of 1450 yards, north-south 1400 yards: north-east to south-west 1620 yards, and north-west to south-east 1530 yards. The hub of the aerodrome will be a pear-shaped area bordered by hangars and buildings to house the aeradio equipment. Other buildings will include a substantial administration block, and i adjoining them will be a semi-circular tarmac 100 feet wide. The provisional hangars will occupy two areas measuring 200 feet by 100 feet. With virtually an unlimited area of flat land adjoining the aerodrome, future expansions will present no difficulty should it ever become necessary. The plans now in use. however, will provide an airport of adequate size and sufficiently well equipped to meet the needs of both defence and commercial flying for many years to come.