Ninety-four years ago, on 4 January 1931, an excited crowd gathered to witness the first plane land on the Frankton flats.
The Simmonds-Spartan biplane was owned by Timaru-based New Zealand Airways and flown by its chief pilot, Captain Trevor Watts 'Tiny' White, who was surveying potential South Island air routes for the company.
The Lake Wakatip Mail reported a piece of ground was harrowed to create a landing site at the Frankton racecourse, which (the writer correctly predicted) “will probably be know in future years as the Queenstown airport”.
The ground arrangements were handled by the local manager of the Mount Cook Tourist Company and the landing was deemed “highly satisfactory”.
Captain White told the newspaper he took off from Pembroke (now Wānaka) at 11.15am and arrived at Frankton about noon.
“His course was via Glendhu Bay. He rose to an altitude of 5,000ft but had to come down under the clouds owing to the visibility being bad. He crossed the Crown Range to Cardrona Valley and after following the line of the valley recrossed the range opposite Arrowtown. He then planed towards Lake Wakatipu, touched the fringe of Queenstown, and returned to the racecourse, where he made his landing.”
“Capt. White told our reporter that the conditions for flying in Central Otago were quite good. Asked whether there were air pockets to contend with in mountainous regions such as ours, Capt. White stated that there were no air pockets in New Zealand.”
The day after his historic landing, Capt. White flew his plane over Queenstown and gave a demonstration in aeronautics.
“People who saw an aeroplane for the first time were thrilled. Several individuals went up in the plane yesterday and were delighted with the experience.”
Capt. White stayed in the area for a week and during that time he also landed in a paddock at Walter Peak Station. When he flew back to Frankton, he carried a passenger, Mr Hugh Mackenzie, senior.
“The worthy old 'chieftain', who is halfway through his eighties, was highly delighted with the latest mode of transport and said he was 'game' to fly to London if he had the opportunity,” the Lake Wakatip Mail reported.
“Mr Mackenzie's flight across Lake Wakatipu is of especial interest inasmuch as well over 50 years ago he was one of the first people to make a crossing over the lake from the station in an open rowing boat. Pullling under favourable conditions, it took two hours to accomplish the journey. On Thursday, Mr Mackenzie made the trip by air in a little over five minutes!”
