Flying The Main Trunk with Leo White (1938)

[Dave Homewood]

As mentioned last week, I discovered a great series of articles in NZ Observer from 1938 by Leo White.

Leo flies from Auckland to Dunedin in various airliners on various airlines, and makes a few detours along the way. It's a little like a 1930's version of Jim Hickey's "A Flying Visit", but better.

These articles are full of nostalgia, tidbits and some real surpises, such as live deer recovery by air 1938-style, to an aviation museum at Wigram way back then!

Here's the first article, of eight in total. I really recommend you take the time to read them, as they're written in a great informative and east going style, and they're full of really interesting info about our country's pioneer aviators.

Again, sorry about the overlap but that is done so you can save the scans, and put them together in Photoshop to recreate the original full page for your records if you want to.

Part One

[Dave Homewood]

Part Two

[steve]

Whatever happened to the thousands of Whites aerial pics...I remember as a kid i purchased aerial pics of many RNZAF bases from their office at Arch Hill auckland...Later I decided to write directlly to every base in the country. Nearly every base sent me back heaps of info and photographs aerial and ground shots...RNZAF public Relations was amazing...even two personal tours of whenuapai and hobsonville escorted by an" old "18 year old airman..I remember he showed me aboard every plane on the base...but we were restricted on boarding the orion (1966)

[Dave Homewood]

Some of Leo White's collection of photos is in the George Bolt Memorial Library at Motat. But there's a commercial company called GeoSmart (formerly Air Logistics) that still holds his aerial negatives.

There's a good write up on Leo's life on the DNZB site here
www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=4W14

[Dave Homewood]

Here is part three. Are you enjoying the series so far?

[steve]

thanks for that..interesting ...imagine all his pics avaiable online or even better all RNZAF pics from the ohakea photographic section available on this site...whats the point of all these pictures locked away if only a handful of people with the time can view them...i suppose it all comes down to cost of scanning etc...one day maybe...

[Dave Homewood]

Here is article four.

I hope more people than just Steve are reading these articles, it has been a major effort to get these online for all to see.

[Dave Homewood]

Part 5

[beagle]

Never heard of any of those types of gin

[Dave Homewood]

It's great to see you've learned something worthwhile anyway Beags :-)

[Dave Homewood]

Part 6




Second half coming soon

[Dave Homewood]

Second half of Part 6

[phil82]

My wife's grandfather, William Patrick Moynihan, an Irishman, was a surveyor on the main trunk line, and we have an amazing photograph of him and his team living under canvas, and he wearing a bowler hat!

[Peter Lewis]

Great stuff there Dave, we do appreciate it.
I've just had a really bad day, so its good to sit back and read this sort of thing.

Shane Niblock used to be the guy in charge of the Whites collection at Air Logistics. At that time, they used to view the collection as a cash cow, and charge really high royalties for useage.
I would think that the Whites collection would be getting close to being out of copyright by now.

[Dave Homewood]

Here is the first page of part 7

[Dave Homewood]

Page 2, Part 7