25 Flying high in Nelson for 100 years

The site of the second plane landing in Stoke. Photo: F.N. Jones Collection Alexander Turnbull Library.

Flying high in Nelson for 100 years

It has been 100 years this month since the first plane was seen in Nelson’s skies. Although neither Graeme McConnell nor Richard Waugh have ever piloted a plane, they have played a major role in preserving the history of aviation in Nelson. Jenny Nicholson talks to them about the first flight.

Tom Newman had already made history pioneering the first horse drawn coaches in the Top of the South. He wasn’t going to let a crash landing earlier in the week deter him from his dream of being the first passenger flown into Nelson. He paid 100 pounds for the flight.

Captain P.K. Shorty Fowler had made his own history just a month before, as the first person charged and later convicted for trick flying low enough to endanger the public. He was fined one pound. Captain Fowler was a pilot in the Royal Naval Air Service in World War 1 and later would go on to be the Commandant of the Air Training Corps in 1944. On the morning of 11 November 1921 Tom and Shorty were joined by mechanic Ted Ranish aboard the Avro 504K E9429. With a compass, a cross level and a school atlas they took off from Lyall Bay in Wellington, with Tom’s Brightwater farm their intended destination.

While the take-off went smoothly, the rest of the flight didn’t go to plan. “Before I got to French Pass, I was unsure where we were,” said Captain Fowler. “I said to Mr Newman, ‘Any idea where we are?’ and he replied, ‘I’m damned if I know!” There was obvious relief when they finally spotted Nelson. Aviation historianGraeme McConnell says the fuel gauge was very primitive and, as on approaching Nelson, the plane started to splutter. “I was very anxious at this time because fuel was running low. Circling over the Post Office the motor stopped, and I was out of petrol,” Captain Shorty Fowler said. “Fortunately, the Avro had an extra four-gallon tank on the wing.” Although they switched to the extra tank, fuel was still low, and Shorty looked for a place to land. With the tide out, he thought the mudflats looked promising. Tom was quick to veto that idea, so they continued flying as far as James Marsden’s property in Stoke. They landed and history was made. They were the first to fly into Nelson.

After refuelling from the garage across the road, their unscheduled stop was cut short. An unhappy James Marsden sent his gardener with a message to ‘get off my land.’ After a stop on Saxton farm, they continued toward Tom’s farm. This time it was Shorty who vetoed the plan saying the paddocks were too small. Flying a little further, they landed in Spring Grove. Years later Shorty said, “I would not cross the strait today in the Avro for a gold clock and a thousand pounds.” Shorty Fowler’s daughter Janet King said recently that she is proud of her father - now. different companies, competition to take locals flying was fierce between Shorty and Nelson. Both took off from Tahuna Beach. At 89 years old, Richmond’s Mrs Sarah Haycock was the oldest to climb into the Avro for a joyride, but it was another of Shorty’s passengers who would go on to impact Nelson’s aviation and economy.

“Unfortunately, I was a child. And then a teenager and I thought how boring when he talked about flying,” says Janet. “I didn’t realise how amazing he was.” In reflecting on that first flight, Graeme McConnell says it was just luck that the flight captained by Shorty Fowler was the first to arrive in Nelson. History could have been different if the skies between Marlborough and Nelson had been clear earlier that week. Tom’s quest to be the first to fly to Nelson started with two flights from Marlborough, both hampered by bad weather causing them to turn back. During the second flight, at about 800 feet, the engine failed, and following an emergency landing Tom walked away with a badly bruised arm.

JENNY NICHOLSON

Organisers of Nelson Tasman 100th Aviation Celebrations Graeme McConnell and Richard Kempthorne with a book Graeme co wrote with Richard Waugh.

“Undaunted, Newman became even more resolute to fly home,” says Graeme. It was then that he boarded the ferry to Wellington to join Shorty Fowler on what was to be that successful first flight. In the weeks after the first 1921 flight, skies were busy with Nelson’s first competitive aviation. Just two days after Fowler’s successful flight, H. Nelson Hawker flew in from Blenheim. Soon after World War 1 the British government offered New Zealand 100 planes. They accepted 33 and a number of these were loaned to three privately-owned flying companies. From Tom Newman’s oldest son Jack flew with Shorty Fowler, and an interest in aviation was ignited. Later, he was influential in the forming of both the Nelson Aeroclub and Cook Strait Airways. At 7.45 am on Monday 30 December 1935 Cook Strait Airways left Nelson on the first scheduled flight to connect the South and North Islands. By September 26 the following year 16 flights were scheduled to cross the Cook Strait. In 1977 Jack Newman was knighted for his services to the travel industry, commerce, and the community.

After refuelling from the garage across the road, their unscheduled stop was cut short. An unhappy James Marsden sent his gardener with a message to ‘get off my land.

What passengers and pilots experienced in those early days would be unthinkable today. Passengers were all weighed prior to boarding, with the heaviest sat near the front of the plane. Pilots had radio communication with the ground, but no radar. Procedure on cloudy days was for the pilots to request someone on the ground go out to the field to listen. If that person could hear the plane, the pilot knew they were clear over Tasman Bay and could gradually come down out of the clouds so they could see to land. In 1938, just three years after the first scheduled flight, Cook Strait Airways flew 509,833 miles, with 24,134 passengers, 72,238 lbs of freight and 44, 735 lbs of mail.

“That reflects the remarkable growth in air travel in the years just before World War 2,” says Graeme. From left William Arnold, Ted Ranish, P.K. Shorty Fowler, Alexander Thomson (Mrs Newman’s father), Christina and Tom Newman where the plane landed on William Arnold’s Spring Grove farm. “With Nelson surrounded by Photo: F.N. Jones Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library. mountains and hills and gravel roads, travel was long and difficult,” says Graeme. “The introduction of regular flights had an enormous impact on the region.” Graeme and Richard realised the significance of the 100th anniversary and since 2019 have been working on plans for a celebration.

Passengers were all weighed prior to boarding, with the heaviest sat near the front of the plane.

In 1938 Cook Strait Airways flew the first perishable goods from the South Island to Auckland, arriving less than 24 hours after picked, in perfect condition. The same year Nelson’s airport opened which Richard Waugh says was a key milestone for the region’s social, economic and tourism future. “The 100th anniversary of Nelson/Tasman aviation provides the opportunity to celebrate the contribution of aviation to the region – to honour the pioneers, recognise the aircraft, personalities, innovations and events – and how the important aviation industry has helped develop the whole Nelson/Tasman province,” says Richard. Along with a celebration dinner, there will be a re-enactment of the first flight to Nelson on the 100th anniversary and a fly over Nelson, Stoke, Richmond and Waimea on 11th November 2022. Times over Nelson city will be 1pm, Stoke 1.10pm and Brightwater/Spring Grove at 2.30pm.

For information on the celebrations visit nelsonairport.co.nz/100thAviationAnniversary