Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 30, 2022 22:38:07 GMT 12
Here are a couple of articles that appeared in the PRESS newspaper on 5 MARCH 1964
AIRMAIL JUBILEE
Death Of Pioneer Pilot Nullifies Invitation
(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) MELBOURNE, March 4.
Mr J. W. H. Scotland, the pioneer New Zealand aviator and pilot on the first mail flight in the Dominion, died at his home in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill last November.
In the days when a double-breasted suit, a long striped woollen scarf, goggles and a cloth cap worn back to front were almost regulation dress for the dare-devils in flying machines, Mr Scotland was a hero throughout New Zealand.
A thick scrapbook, lovingly cared for by his widow, is crammed with newspaper cuttings which recorded his fame in such headlines as: “New Zealand Bird Man,” “Flying Machine Magnificent Sight,” and as often as not “Machine Dashes Into Trees” and “Machine and Pilot Fall In Park.”
In the years before and during the Great War, Scotland dominated the flying scene in New Zealand.
Learned In U.K.
As a small boy he was fascinated by the feats of men experimenting with the science of flight in America and Europe. At the age of 22, young Scotland gathered his savings together and sailed for Europe to learn flying. He took a six months’ course at the Royal Aero Club School at Hendon, England, and emerged from the course with a certificate, still proudly preserved by his widow, which pronounced him a fully-fledged aviator.
His return to New Zealand was little short of sensational.
He had barely set foot in his homeland than he and his mechanic (every plane had its own mechanic in those days) set to work to assemble Scotland’s pride and joy—a 45 horsepower Anzani-Caudron steel and fabric biplane. The young pilot’s exploits whether successful or not made newspaper headlines. Large crowds turned out to watch the “bird man” and “Scotland the brave” as the newspapers headlined him.
Letter To Temuka
In his most famous flight, Scotland flew 110 miles from Timaru to Christchurch in two hours five minutes, breath-taking speed for the day, accomplishing New Zealand’s first airmail delivery. Scotland was handed a letter by his mechanic in Timaru, and when flying over Temuka he dropped the letter to watchers in a field. The date was March 6, 1914. The historic flight will be re-enacted on Friday by Mr J. Switzer, of the Canterbury Aero Club. He will make the flight in a Fox Moth, the oldest airworthy aircraft in New Zealand.
Like most of the early aviators, Scotland was an enthusiast and a missionary for his art.
R.F.C. In Persia
For Scotland these challenging and pace-setting days were interrupted by the First World War. He hurried to join the Royal Flying Corps in England and was posted for duty in Persia.
War in the air was almost leisurely. Bombs were dropped by hand and armament was mainly hand-held pistols and rifles.
In the typically flamboyant spirit of the early flyers Scotland offered himself and his plane to the New Zealand Government should it be needed for the war effort.
Offer Declined
It was not, but the Government appreciated the offer and the Prime Minister, Mr W. F. Massey, personally cabled the thanks of the Government to Scotland.
Mrs Scotland still has the cable.
Although the aeroplane had little military significance in the great battles which decided the First World War it meant the acceptance of the “flying machine” as a practical means of transport. Pilots were trained by the hundred and within a few short years the glamour and the “devil may care” image which surrounded the early flyers had vanished.
No Future
Scotland was invalided from the Royal Flying Corps and returned to New Zealand where he continued to give exhibitions until the depression years when he ceased flying and moved to Australia. Strangely enough Scotland did not see much future for flying in New Zealand. “I don’t think flying out here will be much of a success from a commercial point of view,” he told a newspaper reporter then. “That is, unless some much cheaper way of flying is discovered,” he added.
Helped To Found Wigram School
[By CEDRIC R. MENTIPLAY)
James William Humphreys Scotland, who was born on September 21, 1891, at Pahi, Kaipara, has several claims to fame.
After attending St John Collegiate School, Auckland (where he was a classmate of Squadron Leader L H. N. Keith), he went to England at his own expense, trained at Hendon, and, at the age of 22, obtained his Royal Aero Club licence. His licence number was 658, and he gained it on October 3, 1913. He then purchased a French Caudron biplane, and had it shipped to New Zealand, where it was first flown at Otaki. He is thought to be the first New Zealander to have qualified in England and to have brought an aircraft back.
The story of his subsequent flights has been told. Perhaps the most notable of these was that of March 6, 1914, on which the letter was dropped at Temuka. Only a fortnight later, his plane crashed at Newtown Park, Wellington, and, in the jargon of a later day, was “written off.” It has been established that the engine of his first plane—the one which overheated during the Timaru-Christchurch flight and forced a landing at Orari—was last installed in a plane called White Wings at the Canterbury Aviation School. But this was far from the end of the matter. Scotland bought another plane, about which little is known.
By the time Sir Henry Wigram had become interested in the establishment of a flying school at Wigram, some
time had passed. Scotland, after storing the wreckage of his Caudron, had gone off to the wars—and had returned. Details of his service are also shrouded in mystery. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in India, and served in the Mesopotamian campaign and in other areas. He was invalided home, some say as a result of wounds, in 1916.
His interest in the establishment of the flying school at Wigram was an intense one. Apart from assisting with the building and maintenance of aircraft (as instanced in the gift of his six-cylinder 45 h.p. Anzani engine) he helped with instruction and with the general running of the school. Within a few years, however, he had dropped out of things. He was variously reported in Wellington, Otaki, and in other parts of the North Island. As late as 1934 he was identified as having a position with the A.M.P. company.
Interested parties in Wellington, who include Mr C. H. Andrews, the son of Mr J. G. Andrews, to whom the letter was dropped, have been trying in vain to trace his brother, Henry, hoping he might fill out the picture. They were sons of Henry Scotland, who was born in 1821 at Muswell Hill, London, who qualified as a lawyer in 1849, and who came to New Zealand the next year, settling in New Plymouth. He was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1868, and was one of the last life members.
The boys were born to Henry Scotland’s second wife whose maiden name was Mary Ann Spriggs. She died about 1909.
AIRMAIL JUBILEE
Death Of Pioneer Pilot Nullifies Invitation
(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) MELBOURNE, March 4.
Mr J. W. H. Scotland, the pioneer New Zealand aviator and pilot on the first mail flight in the Dominion, died at his home in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill last November.
In the days when a double-breasted suit, a long striped woollen scarf, goggles and a cloth cap worn back to front were almost regulation dress for the dare-devils in flying machines, Mr Scotland was a hero throughout New Zealand.
A thick scrapbook, lovingly cared for by his widow, is crammed with newspaper cuttings which recorded his fame in such headlines as: “New Zealand Bird Man,” “Flying Machine Magnificent Sight,” and as often as not “Machine Dashes Into Trees” and “Machine and Pilot Fall In Park.”
In the years before and during the Great War, Scotland dominated the flying scene in New Zealand.
Learned In U.K.
As a small boy he was fascinated by the feats of men experimenting with the science of flight in America and Europe. At the age of 22, young Scotland gathered his savings together and sailed for Europe to learn flying. He took a six months’ course at the Royal Aero Club School at Hendon, England, and emerged from the course with a certificate, still proudly preserved by his widow, which pronounced him a fully-fledged aviator.
His return to New Zealand was little short of sensational.
He had barely set foot in his homeland than he and his mechanic (every plane had its own mechanic in those days) set to work to assemble Scotland’s pride and joy—a 45 horsepower Anzani-Caudron steel and fabric biplane. The young pilot’s exploits whether successful or not made newspaper headlines. Large crowds turned out to watch the “bird man” and “Scotland the brave” as the newspapers headlined him.
Letter To Temuka
In his most famous flight, Scotland flew 110 miles from Timaru to Christchurch in two hours five minutes, breath-taking speed for the day, accomplishing New Zealand’s first airmail delivery. Scotland was handed a letter by his mechanic in Timaru, and when flying over Temuka he dropped the letter to watchers in a field. The date was March 6, 1914. The historic flight will be re-enacted on Friday by Mr J. Switzer, of the Canterbury Aero Club. He will make the flight in a Fox Moth, the oldest airworthy aircraft in New Zealand.
Like most of the early aviators, Scotland was an enthusiast and a missionary for his art.
R.F.C. In Persia
For Scotland these challenging and pace-setting days were interrupted by the First World War. He hurried to join the Royal Flying Corps in England and was posted for duty in Persia.
War in the air was almost leisurely. Bombs were dropped by hand and armament was mainly hand-held pistols and rifles.
In the typically flamboyant spirit of the early flyers Scotland offered himself and his plane to the New Zealand Government should it be needed for the war effort.
Offer Declined
It was not, but the Government appreciated the offer and the Prime Minister, Mr W. F. Massey, personally cabled the thanks of the Government to Scotland.
Mrs Scotland still has the cable.
Although the aeroplane had little military significance in the great battles which decided the First World War it meant the acceptance of the “flying machine” as a practical means of transport. Pilots were trained by the hundred and within a few short years the glamour and the “devil may care” image which surrounded the early flyers had vanished.
No Future
Scotland was invalided from the Royal Flying Corps and returned to New Zealand where he continued to give exhibitions until the depression years when he ceased flying and moved to Australia. Strangely enough Scotland did not see much future for flying in New Zealand. “I don’t think flying out here will be much of a success from a commercial point of view,” he told a newspaper reporter then. “That is, unless some much cheaper way of flying is discovered,” he added.
Helped To Found Wigram School
[By CEDRIC R. MENTIPLAY)
James William Humphreys Scotland, who was born on September 21, 1891, at Pahi, Kaipara, has several claims to fame.
After attending St John Collegiate School, Auckland (where he was a classmate of Squadron Leader L H. N. Keith), he went to England at his own expense, trained at Hendon, and, at the age of 22, obtained his Royal Aero Club licence. His licence number was 658, and he gained it on October 3, 1913. He then purchased a French Caudron biplane, and had it shipped to New Zealand, where it was first flown at Otaki. He is thought to be the first New Zealander to have qualified in England and to have brought an aircraft back.
The story of his subsequent flights has been told. Perhaps the most notable of these was that of March 6, 1914, on which the letter was dropped at Temuka. Only a fortnight later, his plane crashed at Newtown Park, Wellington, and, in the jargon of a later day, was “written off.” It has been established that the engine of his first plane—the one which overheated during the Timaru-Christchurch flight and forced a landing at Orari—was last installed in a plane called White Wings at the Canterbury Aviation School. But this was far from the end of the matter. Scotland bought another plane, about which little is known.
By the time Sir Henry Wigram had become interested in the establishment of a flying school at Wigram, some
time had passed. Scotland, after storing the wreckage of his Caudron, had gone off to the wars—and had returned. Details of his service are also shrouded in mystery. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in India, and served in the Mesopotamian campaign and in other areas. He was invalided home, some say as a result of wounds, in 1916.
His interest in the establishment of the flying school at Wigram was an intense one. Apart from assisting with the building and maintenance of aircraft (as instanced in the gift of his six-cylinder 45 h.p. Anzani engine) he helped with instruction and with the general running of the school. Within a few years, however, he had dropped out of things. He was variously reported in Wellington, Otaki, and in other parts of the North Island. As late as 1934 he was identified as having a position with the A.M.P. company.
Interested parties in Wellington, who include Mr C. H. Andrews, the son of Mr J. G. Andrews, to whom the letter was dropped, have been trying in vain to trace his brother, Henry, hoping he might fill out the picture. They were sons of Henry Scotland, who was born in 1821 at Muswell Hill, London, who qualified as a lawyer in 1849, and who came to New Zealand the next year, settling in New Plymouth. He was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1868, and was one of the last life members.
The boys were born to Henry Scotland’s second wife whose maiden name was Mary Ann Spriggs. She died about 1909.
