Post by flyjoe180 on Jan 5, 2008 14:47:40 GMT 12
Look closely and you'll spot references to it all over the place. It is included in New Plymouth's civic crest. It is part of a mural above the check-in counter at New Plymouth airport. Outside the terminal, there's a plaque transplanted from the actual place where it all happened that commemorates the big event.
That event was nothing other than an aircraft landing at Block Block, something which today is so commonplace that hardly anyone even looks up when a plane is on its final approach to New Plymouth Airport.
But on January 11, 1933, the landing was a big occasion, because the aircraft was the Southern Cross, a three-engined Fokker Trimotor with Australian registration VH-USU, piloted by the famous Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith.
He'd just completed the first-ever passenger-carrying crossing of the Tasman Sea. He, his crew and two passengers had departed Geringong Beach south of Sydney at 2.50am that day and 14 hours and five minutes later, he touched down at the Bell Block aerodrome.
More than 15,000 people had made their way by car, bicycle and even train eight wagons' worth to Bell Block to welcome them. The Taranaki Herald had contributed to the atmosphere with massive coverage of Smithy's departure.
"Under a cloudless sky with the moon sinking behind the sandhills, the Southern Cross taxied away across Geringong Beach and into space ... on the long trip to New Plymouth," the newspaper enthused.
And thanks to radio communications from the aircraft itself, the afternoon paper was even able to report that as late as 1.57pm New Zealand time: "Everything is perfect. The crew have just lunched off bread and cheese, onions, canned meat, fruit and chocolate, and they feel grand."
But that coverage was nothing compared to the next day, when the Taranaki newspapers filled page after page with stories about Kingsford-Smith's arrival.
"Never before has New Plymouth witnessed such scenes of enthusiasm as marked the safe landing of the plane," said one reporter, variously describing Smithy as the "king of the air" and "annihilator of time and distance".
The reaction was understandable. Twelve years before, in November 1920, the first passenger aircraft to arrive in Taranaki had crashed, killing the pilot and his two passengers, one of whom was New Plymouth mayor James Clark.
That tragedy stalled progress, and Smithy's arrival was seen as proof that aviation was advancing again. It also underlined a growing local conviction that Taranaki could become New Zealand's international aviation capital.
In October 1928, a public meeting was held with the aim of forming an aero club. The following year, a Bell Block farmer, Mr J. S. Connett, really got things going when he offered the new club the use of his property for free for five years. Hangars and a clubhouse were built, and in the early 1930s, the aero club purchased the land outright thanks largely to a grant from the Art Union.
By this time, interest in aviation in Taranaki had reached massive proportions, partly because the Government was encouraging young people to learn to fly not only by subsidising the cost of training, but by lending planes to the club.
At the same time, the territorial branch of the Royal New Zealand Air Force named the aerodrome as headquarters for `A' Flight of its No 2 Bomber Squadron, which confirmed it has suitable for defence purposes.
So Bell Block's dream of becoming an international airport was not so far-fetched and New Plymouth civic leaders and aviation enthusiasts figured the way to convince the country of their plan would be to attract the famous Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith to fly to Taranaki. He'd already pioneered transtasman flight four years earlier when he had landed at Christchurch's Wigram airfield. Passengers added the final flourish.
Unemployed workers were hired to fill and level two large depressions that had restricted use of the aerodrome, and negotiations with Kingsford-Smith and his business team proved successful.
On the day of the big flight, the Taranaki press gave the desirability of Bell Block aerodrome the works.
"With the possible exception of Wigram in Canterbury and Mangere in Auckland, no aerodrome in New Zealand is as well fitted as the New Plymouth Aero Club's property at Bell Block to cope with the arrival of the giant monoplane Southern Cross," one paper said.
"And, considered from all the many aspects of transtasman flight, Bell Block offers inducements no other 'drome in New Zealand can possess.
"It is the landing ground in New Zealand at shortest distance from Sir Charles' place of departure; it is only 10 miles from Mt Egmont, the snow-capped sentinel which will offer such a valuable landmark to the airmen; it lies at the terminal of a much-used shipping route so that, in the unlikely event of an accident, help will not be so far distant as might otherwise happen."
After the Southern Cross had completed its historic journey, the belief became even stronger.
Speaking at an official reception, New Plymouth Aero Club president Mr A. F. Sandford told Kingsford-Smith he had pioneered what would undoubtedly be the direct air route between Australia and New Zealand.
"This will go down in history as an epoch-making flight and we honour you for it," he said.
And the press weighed in with: "Imagine it Sydney to New Plymouth in 14 hours, an Australian sunrise and a New Zealand sunset, breakfast at Geringong beach and dinner at a New Plymouth hotel, letters posted in Sydney yesterday morning being delivered the same evening in New Plymouth.
"By making it the terminal point of his flight, Kingsford-Smith has placed Bell Block on the air map with a vengeance and has rewarded the faith and aspirations of all air-minded people in the province."
The New Plymouth Borough Council got involved in the wave of enthusiasm by taking steps to bring the Bell Block aerodrome under the control of an Airport Board.
It played a major role in having the New Plymouth Airport Board Act passed by Parliament the first such legislation in Australasia designed to control an aerodrome and this effectively meant the aerodrome became the property of the people of New Plymouth.
The council then purchased additional land so the aerodrome could be made larger, and 100 men were employed by the Public Works Department to level the field and rearrange the layout so it could operate more efficiently.
When this project was completed, the aerodrome was officially opened by Governor-General Lord Galway on March 21, 1936. The occasion was considered so important, it was broadcast on national radio.
Then World War II was declared in 1939 and that put paid to the dream.
The Government wanted to provide Britain with 650 pilots and 650 air gunners and observers per year, so it began a major effort to train pilots and aircrew for the RNZAF and RAF. New Plymouth was seen as the perfect North Island location for this training, so the aero club was closed down and the aerodrome became an elementary training school.
The aerodrome was dramatically transformed as the war clouds darkened. A hastily formed New Plymouth Master Builders consortium used 200 workers from throughout Taranaki and King Country to build in just six weeks 170 buildings, including a hangar capable of housing 80 Tiger Moth trainers.
At the height of the school's operation, more than 600 people were stationed there. Later, the airfield's use changed from elementary training to operational training, using bombers.
That didn't last long, because a major shortcoming emerged: The aerodrome had grass runways and, thanks to Taranaki's often-wet weather, the heavy bombers badly cut up the surface.
So Bell Block was demoted to become the RNZAF School of Navigation and Reconnaissance, which used lighter planes. This continued until September 1945, when the station was closed, which allowed the aero club to resume its activities.
And by then, aircraft were bigger and faster, and the jet age was in its infancy.
This led to civil officials firstly looking to Auckland's Whenuapai airfield, which had been used for civil aviation during the war, then to the former military base at Mangere, where there was more room to build the sealed runways that bigger aircraft needed.
This left the Bell Block aerodrome as nothing more than Taranaki's regional airfield and even then its career didn't last much longer. A new airport was soon developed about five kilometres away.
So ended a delicious Taranaki aviation dream that showed so much promise when Kingsford-Smith landed his beloved Southern Cross.
The aircraft is now on permanent display at Brisbane International Airport, and a plaque that marked the exact spot of that first landing is now on display outside the New Plymouth airport terminal.
But the exact spot itself seems to have been lost. It's hidden under the commercial and industrial development that has since taken place at the site.
The only remnants are the streets in the area: Connett Rd, for the farmer who originally owned the land, and the names that reflect the various aircraft which used the aerodrome Auster Place, Hudson Drive, De Havilland Drive, Catalina Drive and Dakota Place.
www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dailynews/4344851a6551.html
That event was nothing other than an aircraft landing at Block Block, something which today is so commonplace that hardly anyone even looks up when a plane is on its final approach to New Plymouth Airport.
But on January 11, 1933, the landing was a big occasion, because the aircraft was the Southern Cross, a three-engined Fokker Trimotor with Australian registration VH-USU, piloted by the famous Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith.
He'd just completed the first-ever passenger-carrying crossing of the Tasman Sea. He, his crew and two passengers had departed Geringong Beach south of Sydney at 2.50am that day and 14 hours and five minutes later, he touched down at the Bell Block aerodrome.
More than 15,000 people had made their way by car, bicycle and even train eight wagons' worth to Bell Block to welcome them. The Taranaki Herald had contributed to the atmosphere with massive coverage of Smithy's departure.
"Under a cloudless sky with the moon sinking behind the sandhills, the Southern Cross taxied away across Geringong Beach and into space ... on the long trip to New Plymouth," the newspaper enthused.
And thanks to radio communications from the aircraft itself, the afternoon paper was even able to report that as late as 1.57pm New Zealand time: "Everything is perfect. The crew have just lunched off bread and cheese, onions, canned meat, fruit and chocolate, and they feel grand."
But that coverage was nothing compared to the next day, when the Taranaki newspapers filled page after page with stories about Kingsford-Smith's arrival.
"Never before has New Plymouth witnessed such scenes of enthusiasm as marked the safe landing of the plane," said one reporter, variously describing Smithy as the "king of the air" and "annihilator of time and distance".
The reaction was understandable. Twelve years before, in November 1920, the first passenger aircraft to arrive in Taranaki had crashed, killing the pilot and his two passengers, one of whom was New Plymouth mayor James Clark.
That tragedy stalled progress, and Smithy's arrival was seen as proof that aviation was advancing again. It also underlined a growing local conviction that Taranaki could become New Zealand's international aviation capital.
In October 1928, a public meeting was held with the aim of forming an aero club. The following year, a Bell Block farmer, Mr J. S. Connett, really got things going when he offered the new club the use of his property for free for five years. Hangars and a clubhouse were built, and in the early 1930s, the aero club purchased the land outright thanks largely to a grant from the Art Union.
By this time, interest in aviation in Taranaki had reached massive proportions, partly because the Government was encouraging young people to learn to fly not only by subsidising the cost of training, but by lending planes to the club.
At the same time, the territorial branch of the Royal New Zealand Air Force named the aerodrome as headquarters for `A' Flight of its No 2 Bomber Squadron, which confirmed it has suitable for defence purposes.
So Bell Block's dream of becoming an international airport was not so far-fetched and New Plymouth civic leaders and aviation enthusiasts figured the way to convince the country of their plan would be to attract the famous Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith to fly to Taranaki. He'd already pioneered transtasman flight four years earlier when he had landed at Christchurch's Wigram airfield. Passengers added the final flourish.
Unemployed workers were hired to fill and level two large depressions that had restricted use of the aerodrome, and negotiations with Kingsford-Smith and his business team proved successful.
On the day of the big flight, the Taranaki press gave the desirability of Bell Block aerodrome the works.
"With the possible exception of Wigram in Canterbury and Mangere in Auckland, no aerodrome in New Zealand is as well fitted as the New Plymouth Aero Club's property at Bell Block to cope with the arrival of the giant monoplane Southern Cross," one paper said.
"And, considered from all the many aspects of transtasman flight, Bell Block offers inducements no other 'drome in New Zealand can possess.
"It is the landing ground in New Zealand at shortest distance from Sir Charles' place of departure; it is only 10 miles from Mt Egmont, the snow-capped sentinel which will offer such a valuable landmark to the airmen; it lies at the terminal of a much-used shipping route so that, in the unlikely event of an accident, help will not be so far distant as might otherwise happen."
After the Southern Cross had completed its historic journey, the belief became even stronger.
Speaking at an official reception, New Plymouth Aero Club president Mr A. F. Sandford told Kingsford-Smith he had pioneered what would undoubtedly be the direct air route between Australia and New Zealand.
"This will go down in history as an epoch-making flight and we honour you for it," he said.
And the press weighed in with: "Imagine it Sydney to New Plymouth in 14 hours, an Australian sunrise and a New Zealand sunset, breakfast at Geringong beach and dinner at a New Plymouth hotel, letters posted in Sydney yesterday morning being delivered the same evening in New Plymouth.
"By making it the terminal point of his flight, Kingsford-Smith has placed Bell Block on the air map with a vengeance and has rewarded the faith and aspirations of all air-minded people in the province."
The New Plymouth Borough Council got involved in the wave of enthusiasm by taking steps to bring the Bell Block aerodrome under the control of an Airport Board.
It played a major role in having the New Plymouth Airport Board Act passed by Parliament the first such legislation in Australasia designed to control an aerodrome and this effectively meant the aerodrome became the property of the people of New Plymouth.
The council then purchased additional land so the aerodrome could be made larger, and 100 men were employed by the Public Works Department to level the field and rearrange the layout so it could operate more efficiently.
When this project was completed, the aerodrome was officially opened by Governor-General Lord Galway on March 21, 1936. The occasion was considered so important, it was broadcast on national radio.
Then World War II was declared in 1939 and that put paid to the dream.
The Government wanted to provide Britain with 650 pilots and 650 air gunners and observers per year, so it began a major effort to train pilots and aircrew for the RNZAF and RAF. New Plymouth was seen as the perfect North Island location for this training, so the aero club was closed down and the aerodrome became an elementary training school.
The aerodrome was dramatically transformed as the war clouds darkened. A hastily formed New Plymouth Master Builders consortium used 200 workers from throughout Taranaki and King Country to build in just six weeks 170 buildings, including a hangar capable of housing 80 Tiger Moth trainers.
At the height of the school's operation, more than 600 people were stationed there. Later, the airfield's use changed from elementary training to operational training, using bombers.
That didn't last long, because a major shortcoming emerged: The aerodrome had grass runways and, thanks to Taranaki's often-wet weather, the heavy bombers badly cut up the surface.
So Bell Block was demoted to become the RNZAF School of Navigation and Reconnaissance, which used lighter planes. This continued until September 1945, when the station was closed, which allowed the aero club to resume its activities.
And by then, aircraft were bigger and faster, and the jet age was in its infancy.
This led to civil officials firstly looking to Auckland's Whenuapai airfield, which had been used for civil aviation during the war, then to the former military base at Mangere, where there was more room to build the sealed runways that bigger aircraft needed.
This left the Bell Block aerodrome as nothing more than Taranaki's regional airfield and even then its career didn't last much longer. A new airport was soon developed about five kilometres away.
So ended a delicious Taranaki aviation dream that showed so much promise when Kingsford-Smith landed his beloved Southern Cross.
The aircraft is now on permanent display at Brisbane International Airport, and a plaque that marked the exact spot of that first landing is now on display outside the New Plymouth airport terminal.
But the exact spot itself seems to have been lost. It's hidden under the commercial and industrial development that has since taken place at the site.
The only remnants are the streets in the area: Connett Rd, for the farmer who originally owned the land, and the names that reflect the various aircraft which used the aerodrome Auster Place, Hudson Drive, De Havilland Drive, Catalina Drive and Dakota Place.
www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dailynews/4344851a6551.html
