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Post by ZacYates on Oct 11, 2020 11:17:58 GMT 12
Hi all,
I'm doing a bit of research about pre-war aviation in Wanganui and am struggling to track down details of a couple of pilots and their aircraft. I have these details from the 50th Jubilee magazine put out by the Wanganui Aero Club in 1979:
- Mrs G Richmond of the Hawke’s Bay Aero Club who landed an unknown Moth (maybe ZK-AAB?) at Westmere (just north of town) in August 1929
- GA Couper of a Palmerston North aero club who (again in an unidentified Moth) made the first landing at Landguard Bluff, site of the current airport, on 29/11/1930.
Can you help? Google is being very unco-operative!
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Post by errolmartyn on Oct 11, 2020 12:25:23 GMT 12
Hi all, I'm doing a bit of research about pre-war aviation in Wanganui and am struggling to track down details of a couple of pilots and their aircraft. I have these details from the 50th Jubilee magazine put out by the Wanganui Aero Club in 1979: - Mrs G Richmond of the Hawke’s Bay Aero Club who landed an unknown Moth (maybe ZK-AAB?) at Westmere (just north of town) in August 1929 - GA Couper of a Palmerston North aero club who (again in an unidentified Moth) made the first landing at Landguard Bluff, site of the current airport, on 29/11/1930. Can you help? Google is being very unco-operative! Zac, I suspect that the man you are looking for is Gerald Audry Cadogan COWPER. Cheers, Errol |
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Post by ZacYates on Oct 11, 2020 13:21:27 GMT 12
Zac, I suspect that the man you are looking for is Gerald Audry Cadogan COWPER. Cheers, Errol Thank you Errol! |
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Post by ZacYates on Oct 13, 2020 12:55:06 GMT 12
To make things easier for me, on closer inspection the "Gipsy Moth" Cowper flew looks an awful lot like a Desoutter:  Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr EDIT: ZK-ABX, sorted! Just need to track down Mrs G Richmond and the date of her flight:  Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr And I'm not sure how I missed this...  Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr |
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Post by errolmartyn on Oct 13, 2020 20:11:26 GMT 12
Zac,
'Mrs G. Richmond' will have been Mrs Catherine Mary Richmond who was granted her Pilot's 'A' Licence (No. 78) with the Hawke's Bay & East Coast Aero Club on 12 Nov 29.
Cheers,
Errol
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Post by thomarse on Oct 13, 2020 21:10:55 GMT 12
Hi Zac This brings up an interesting question - well, interesting to me, at least! Recently the NZ Civil Aircraft blog ran an item which featured the Piper or Taylor Cub ZK AGD - a long-time Wanganui resident - and mentioned that it was imported by Mr J R (Jim) Franklin in 1938 and used by the Wanganui Aero Club. You'd have to assume that it's the J R Franklin in those photos? nzcivair.blogspot.com/search?q=agdHowever, one J R (Jim) Franklin was also very involved in the Central Hawke's Bay Aero Club in Waipukurau about the same time, and as far as I know he was a local farmer. Is it the same bloke? |
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Post by thomarse on Oct 13, 2020 21:23:51 GMT 12
Sorry Zac, I've just found the same thing running on the BKU thread!
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Post by errolmartyn on Oct 13, 2020 21:36:31 GMT 12
Hi Zac This brings up an interesting question - well, interesting to me, at least! Recently the NZ Civil Aircraft blog ran an item which featured the Piper or Taylor Cub ZK AGD - a long-time Wanganui resident - and mentioned that it was imported by Mr J R (Jim) Franklin in 1938 and used by the Wanganui Aero Club. You'd have to assume that it's the J R Franklin in those photos? nzcivair.blogspot.com/search?q=agdHowever, one J R (Jim) Franklin was also very involved in the Central Hawke's Bay Aero Club in Waipukurau about the same time, and as far as I know he was a local farmer. Is it the same bloke? According to Leo White's Wingspread, James Robert Franklin was known as 'JR'. His Who's Who entry in the 1947 Whites Air Directory has him with the Wanganui Aero Club/Western Federated Aero Club in the early 1930s. It also states that he presented Central Hawke's Bay Aero Club its first aircraft, but gives no indication of date for this. Errol |
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Post by ZacYates on Oct 13, 2020 23:07:36 GMT 12
Zac, 'Mrs G. Richmond' will have been Mrs Catherine Mary Richmond who was granted her Pilot's 'A' Licence (No. 78) with the Hawke's Bay & East Coast Aero Club on 12 Nov 29. Cheers, Errol Thanks Errol, that's more time wasted thanks to typos in the magazine! I really do appreciate your assistance in decoding it. And in a few seconds I found it on Papers Past (link). You'd have to assume that it's the J R Franklin in those photos? That's my assumption too! He pops up in the 50th Jubilee magazine a lot. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 14, 2020 9:23:46 GMT 12
Zac that possibly was not a typo, her husband's initial could have been G. In the olden days wives were identified only by their husband's initials, for some weird reason.
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Post by madmax on Oct 14, 2020 10:38:14 GMT 12
JR (Jim) Franklin was a Whanganui farmer and founding member of the Western Federated/Whanganui Aero Club. It was he who was responsible for selecting the Club's Landguard Bluff aerodrome sight.
Franklin, a rather large gentleman found the J2 ZK-AGD to be somewhat under-powered with two adults on board and it is reported he gave himself a severe fright in it during a flight between Whanganui and New Plymouth when the weather deteriorated suddenly, prompting him to sell the aircraft after owning it for just two months. He replaced ZK-AGD with the first 50hp J-3 Cub ZH-AHD the following year.
Around 1940 Franklin sold he Whanganui property, purchasing another farm near Porangahau, Hawkes Bay. It is said that during the war he was allocated a fuel allowance in order to patrol the coast in AHD looking for suspicious shipping.
NOTE: ZK-AGD is a Piper, it was built completed in January 1938, sold as a Piper, imported as a Piper and registered as a Piper. ZK-AFQ was the sole Taylor J2 imported to New Zealand
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Post by ZacYates on Oct 14, 2020 13:22:40 GMT 12
Zac that possibly was not a typo, her husband's initial could have been G. In the olden days wives were identified only by their husband's initials, for some weird reason. I've begun to notice that, but in this case it must be a typo - the references to her which I found in Papers Past have her as Mrs W Richmond! JR (Jim) Franklin was a Whanganui farmer and founding member of the Western Federated/Whanganui Aero Club... Thank you for the extra info! And I'll correct my listing for AGD to a Piper accordingly. |
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Post by thomarse on Oct 15, 2020 20:27:55 GMT 12
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Post by Peter Lewis on Oct 23, 2020 16:57:24 GMT 12
Cowper was flying Desoutter ZK-ABX for Hamilton-based Bryant House Trust in 1930,
and this was operated by Taranaki Airways in November 1930 so seems the logical candidate.
The Moth would have been ZK-AAB as it was the only HB Moth until they got ZK-ABB in early 1930.
Note that to be technically accurate, the club was known as 'Hawkes Bay Aeroplane Club' until Jan1930.
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Post by eieio on Oct 23, 2020 17:24:33 GMT 12
Zac that possibly was not a typo, her husband's initial could have been G. In the olden days wives were identified only by their husband's initials, for some weird reason. Dave...are you calling me ancient? My mother used to get mail addressed to Mrs Ian ,,,,
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Post by ZacYates on Oct 26, 2020 22:59:55 GMT 12
Note that to be technically accurate, the club was known as 'Hawkes Bay Aeroplane Club' until Jan1930. I had seen both in contemporary newspapers, so confirmation of either is most welcome! |
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