Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 8, 2023 18:58:01 GMT 12
Here is the obituary of another big contributor to early military and civil aviation in New Zealand, from The Press dated 17thof February 1982.
Mr Harry Lett was a pioneer in aviation
PA Tauranga
A man who played an important part in the early development of aviation in New Zealand, Mr Jonas William Henry (Harry) Lett, who saw flying service in both World War I and World War II and who was involved in commercial aviation in its fledgling days in New Zealand, has died in Tauranga. He was 90.
Apart from his life in aviation, Mr Lett spent an adventurous youth working on a ranch in Argentina and in the teak jungles of Burma.
He was born in County Wexford, Ireland, and when 17 travelled with horses to Buenos Aires where he had a job on a ranch before joining a timber firm. Later he went to Burma as assistant overseer for an English company extracting teak from the forests.
In 1915 Mr Lett joined the Indian Army but later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, and gained his wings. He did most of his flying service in the Middle East.
After the war he left the Royal Air Force with the rank of flight lieutenant. Mr Lett and Mrs Lett then settled in New Zealand. In 1924 he was a bush manager for a company in the King Country. When this bush was cut out he returned to flying and initially went barnstorming round New Zealand with other former service pilots. These early days included flying for the Goodwin and Chichester Aviation Company, his companions in the company including George Bolt and Jim Hewett.
Later Mr Lett, was involved in flying on the East Coast area and flew medical supplies to Napier after the earthquake of February, 1931. Between March, 1931, and December, 1932, Mr Lett ran a daily air service between Hastings and Gisborne, completing 590 trips in what one aviation historian records as a clockwork service.
When the Waikato Aero Club was formed in 1933 Mr Lett became its chief instructor, flying from the old Te Rapa airfield. In 1939, Mr Lett was one of 39 New Zealand pilots holding an instructor’s licence and at the outbreak of World War II he rejoined the Forces, being commissioned in the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
His first posting was to the elementary flying training school at New Plymouth. Later he was posted to Air Headquarters, Wellington, and while there made at least one trip to Canada with pilots for the Empire Air Training Scheme in Alberta. Inspection of R.N.Z.A.F. flying bases established in the Pacific war zone was another of his responsibilities.
After retiring from the R.N.Z.A.F. with the rank of squadron leader, Mr Lett was appointed to Civil Aviation duties and for some time was Inspector of Aerodromes and a licence examiner for private pilots.
In 1945 he was awarded the Air Force Cross, the citation recording that at that stage he had logged 6000 hours of flying and though then 54 still flew regularly and often in bad weather. Mr Lett was also a member of the Territorial Air Force which was the forerunner of the R.N.Z.A.F.
It was not until 1947 that he finally ended his flying activities to take up a small citrus orchard at Tauranga. He retired in the mid-1960s to live in Otumoetai. Mrs Lett died in 1977.
Mr Harry Lett was a pioneer in aviation
PA Tauranga
A man who played an important part in the early development of aviation in New Zealand, Mr Jonas William Henry (Harry) Lett, who saw flying service in both World War I and World War II and who was involved in commercial aviation in its fledgling days in New Zealand, has died in Tauranga. He was 90.
Apart from his life in aviation, Mr Lett spent an adventurous youth working on a ranch in Argentina and in the teak jungles of Burma.
He was born in County Wexford, Ireland, and when 17 travelled with horses to Buenos Aires where he had a job on a ranch before joining a timber firm. Later he went to Burma as assistant overseer for an English company extracting teak from the forests.
In 1915 Mr Lett joined the Indian Army but later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, and gained his wings. He did most of his flying service in the Middle East.
After the war he left the Royal Air Force with the rank of flight lieutenant. Mr Lett and Mrs Lett then settled in New Zealand. In 1924 he was a bush manager for a company in the King Country. When this bush was cut out he returned to flying and initially went barnstorming round New Zealand with other former service pilots. These early days included flying for the Goodwin and Chichester Aviation Company, his companions in the company including George Bolt and Jim Hewett.
Later Mr Lett, was involved in flying on the East Coast area and flew medical supplies to Napier after the earthquake of February, 1931. Between March, 1931, and December, 1932, Mr Lett ran a daily air service between Hastings and Gisborne, completing 590 trips in what one aviation historian records as a clockwork service.
When the Waikato Aero Club was formed in 1933 Mr Lett became its chief instructor, flying from the old Te Rapa airfield. In 1939, Mr Lett was one of 39 New Zealand pilots holding an instructor’s licence and at the outbreak of World War II he rejoined the Forces, being commissioned in the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
His first posting was to the elementary flying training school at New Plymouth. Later he was posted to Air Headquarters, Wellington, and while there made at least one trip to Canada with pilots for the Empire Air Training Scheme in Alberta. Inspection of R.N.Z.A.F. flying bases established in the Pacific war zone was another of his responsibilities.
After retiring from the R.N.Z.A.F. with the rank of squadron leader, Mr Lett was appointed to Civil Aviation duties and for some time was Inspector of Aerodromes and a licence examiner for private pilots.
In 1945 he was awarded the Air Force Cross, the citation recording that at that stage he had logged 6000 hours of flying and though then 54 still flew regularly and often in bad weather. Mr Lett was also a member of the Territorial Air Force which was the forerunner of the R.N.Z.A.F.
It was not until 1947 that he finally ended his flying activities to take up a small citrus orchard at Tauranga. He retired in the mid-1960s to live in Otumoetai. Mrs Lett died in 1977.
