New Plymouth Airport
Production date
21 Mar 1936
Description
Five aircraft on a grass airstrip with a male pilot and a female onlooker. Taken during the North Island air pageant at the New Plymouth aerodrome in Bell Block. Union Airways aeroplane "Karoro" is on the right and, beneath its nose, a “Flying Flea”. The Flea has been identified as belonging either to Mr E. Perkins of Waipukurau (possibly nicknamed ‘Winnie the Pou”) or, more likely, to Edgar Brewster of New Plymouth. The remains of Brewster’s Flea are now held by TATAM museum. The aircraft on the left is the "Tui Special" built by members of the Auckland Aero Club and the two planes in the background are De Havilland DH-60 Moths.
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Public comments
Pagent was held at the original aerodrome at Bell Block. The Flying Flea is more likely to be that of Edgar Brewster, the eccentric New Plymouth man better known for the honeycomb house. It is not known to have flown. No Flea in NZ ever carried out a cross country flight as significant as Waipukurau - New Playmouth - they were notorious for control problems and were banned overseas. The remains of this aircraft are at the TATAM Museum. The aircraft on the Left is the "Tui Special" Built by members of the Auckland Aero Club. This flew very well and visited airfields all over NZ. It was even flown at one time by Charles Kingsford Smith, who commented favourably on its performance. It crashed at Whakatane and was written off, but MoTaT in Auckland has an accurate replica. The two aircraft in the background are De Havilland DH-60 Moths.
- Bruce Cooke posted 6 years ago.