ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 66040
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| Date: | Wednesday 10 June 1936 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  De Havilland DH.60G Gipsy Moth |
| Owner/operator: | Marlborough Aero Club |
| Registration: | ZK-AAA |
| MSN: | 888 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Omaka Aerodrome, Marlborough -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Omaka, Blenheim, Marlborough |
| Omaka, Blenheim, Marlborough | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
c/no. 888: DH.60G Moth [Gipsy I]. Purchased by Sir Charles Wakefield for presentation to "Lyttleton Flying Club", New Zealand and C of A 1692 issued 14.11.28 in that name. However, the club did not exist (it was a confusion over the instructions given by the NZ High Commissioner, who asked for it to be sent to Lyttleton, which was Christchurch's port). The Moth was presented to Marlborough Aero Club, Omaka [Blenheim] to whom registered as ZK-AAA in 2.29. Assembled at Wigram and delivered to Blenheim 8.3.29; named "Sir Charles Wakefield".
Ditched off Ship Cove, Queen Charlotte Sound 29.4.29. Registration presumed cancelled. Recovered 1.5.29 and rebuilt at Wigram. Registration restored 24.3.30 to same owner. Airframe had accumulated 753.3 hours flight time by 24.12.35.
Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed on landing at Blenheim 10.6.36, after rudder bar connecting rod detached. Student pilot A Griffin, and Instructor Noel Chandler reportedly uninjured.
Note: Woodbourne Air Force Base not built until 1939.
According to a contemporary local newspaper report ("Hawke's Bay Tribune", 10 June 1936, Page 5 - see link #1)
"PLANE WRECKED
Pilot-Instructor and Pilot Unhurt
MACHINE WITH HISTORY
(By Telegraph—Press Association.)
BLENHEIM, June 10.
The Dominion's first aero club machine, the Moth ZK-AAA, belonging to the Marlborough Aero Club, was wrecked this morning as a result of a forced landing in the front garden of a house near the municipal aerodrome. The accident occurred in the course of a training flight. The pilot-instructor, Squadron-Leader N. E. Chandler, was accompanied by a pupil pilot, Mr A. Griffin, of Nelson. Both escaped injuries.
Shortly after taking-off Squadron Leader Chandler discovered that the rudder control was inoperative. He elected to affect a quick landing in a nearby paddock. Trees in the vicinity necessitated a sharp descent and the machine struck a wire fence. Eye-witnesses state that the plans bounced into the air almost in front of the house of Mr J. B. Porter and caught a service electric line, which it brought down, ripping a large board off the house. Miraculously the live wires did not ignite the plane, which crashed in an inverted position a few feet from the cottage. The occupants struggled from the wreckage without even a scratch.
The plane broke its back at the cockpits, while the wings were spread-eagled. Tho damaged machine has an interesting history, as it was a gift from Baron Wakefield to New Zealand in 1929. It was allotted by the Government to the Marlborough Club. Subsequently Squadron-Leader Chandler effected a forced landing in it in the sea at Ship’s Cove, Charlotte Sound. The plane has been rebuilt several times after smashes and little of the original machine remains except the identification letters, which were the first issued under the present system".
Sources:
1. Hawke's Bay Tribune, 10 June 1936, Page 5: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBTRIB19360610.2.46
2. Nelson Evening Mail, 10 June 1936, Page 7: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NEM19360610.2.49
3. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60g-gipsy-moth-blenheim
4. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/dh60.pdf
5. http://rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/21300/marlborough-aero-club-moth
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_ZK-.html
7. http://www.flydw.org.uk/DWZKAAH.htm
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodbourne_Airport#History
9. AHSNZ, 1987, Journal, Vol 30 No 3.
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Jun-2009 08:55 | angels one five | Added |
| 24-May-2013 03:05 | angels one five | Updated [Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Source] |
| 14-Jan-2015 14:33 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 23-Aug-2017 11:43 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Jan-2021 20:49 | Sergey L. | Updated [Source] |
| 23-Jan-2022 03:56 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 12-Feb-2022 11:02 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 22-Oct-2023 18:32 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [[Location]] |
| 12-Nov-2023 03:02 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 14-Nov-2023 20:07 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type, Source] |
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