Milford Sound | Piopiotahi is one of the world’s most famous natural attractions but, for centuries, those who wanted to visit it could only do so on foot or by boat.
That all changed in the 1950s, when the Homer Tunnel was completed, making it accessible by road. A three-storey hotel was built by the Government and tourism boomed, but flooding, snow, and avalanches regularly blocked the road.
To ensure year-round access, the hunt for a suitable landing site for aircraft began.
Invercargill pilot Arthur Bradshaw had made headlines in November 1938 with his daring landing of a tiny Puss Moth monoplane on a sandy beach at the head of Milford Sound. He is reported to have said that while the beach might be used in an emergency, “the Civil Aviation Department would never allow it to be used for ordinary purposes”.
Thirteen years later, pilot Fred Lucas and engineer Barry Topliss, of Southern Scenic Air Services, announced they had landed an Auster Aiglet on a narrow strip of beach and found a suitable site for an airstrip nearby.
Over the next few years, they and their colleagues regularly flew into Milford Sound and hacked out a rudimentary airstrip on the Cleddau River delta close to the hotel.
The project gradually gained momentum and, in December 1954, the Evening Post reported there was “a strong possibility the Government will finish the job by extending the strip to about 900 yards and broadening it”.
“If this were done, the hazards of the tricky crosswinds that dodge round the mountains would be eliminated and aerial transport to and from Milford could become a commonplace, safe business.”
The Ministry of Works took over construction, and on 10 July 1956, three officials from the Civil Aviation Administration carried out an official proving flight in a de Havilland 89 Dominie to determine whether the airstrip was suitable for regular air services.
Their positive assessment changed everything. Commercial flights were approved and, suddenly, what had been a remote destination deep in Fiordland could be reached in less than an hour.
Seventy years on, the Milford Sound Aerodrome is testament to the courage and determination of those early aviators. Set at the head of a narrow fiord, surrounded by towering peaks, it remains one of the most spectacular and demanding places to land in the world.
Queenstown Airport is proud to be the home base for today’s highly skilled pilots who safely fly thousands of visitors to Milford Sound each year.
