When did your ancestors first take a flight at Thames?
The town was excited in August 1930 with the announcement that Captain Money's de Haviland Gipsy Moth would be coming to Thames.
The plane arrived at midday 15 August 1930, and delighted Thamesites watched from below as the plane circled above the town and gave a display of aerobatics.
Flights were available for the following two days. The plane landed at the Parawai Racecourse - the entry fee to inspect the plane was two shillings and sixpence. If you went for a flight, the entrance fee was deducted off the fare. The cost of a flight was one pound.
Passenger flights completed, Captain Money and his passenger prepared for a flight to Mercury Bay, the first flying craft to visit the Bay.
The First Flight over the Coromandel Ranges to Mercury Bay
On 16 August, Captain R R Money's moth left Thames headed for Mercury Bay. The flight took 25 minutes. and they landed on Buffalo Beach.
Mr A G T Bryan of Thames accompanied Captain Money in the passenger seat. The Thames Star 16 August 1930 reported: "It is also worthy of note that Captain Money took with him a special edition of the "Thames Star," the first paper to be conveyed by air on the Peninsula."
Mr A G T Bryan's Flight
In the Thames Star 19 August 1930 Mr Bryan wrote a full account of his flight to Mercury Bay.
“We’re Off” Contact! A single turn, and the engine starts, and we go for a short taxi down the course, turning to open the throttle and gather speed rapidly. A smooth run past the grandstand and we are off the ground before I know it – a hundred feet up – two hundred. Parawai is slipping away below, and over to the left are the Plains, dotted with cosy homesteads set among tidy green fields…Below are many upturned faces, looking up from the neat chessboard pattern of the town – it looks very well from the air, much better than from the ground. We are over the harbour now – and how big Prices’ works look! One minute since we started.” (Click for Full report)
Who was A G T Bryan (1891-1975)?
A probable match for the passenger on this momentous flight was Alfred George Thomas Bryan - a solicitor in Thames during the 1930s.
Alfred was born at Reefton, attended Nelson College, served as a Captain in World War One, then settled in Thames as a solicitor.
Nelson College Yearbook 1956 at ancestry.au (accessed 19 July 2020)
The Future of Flight & the Coromandel Peninsula?
Captain Robert Raymond Money, was struck by the beauty of the Peninsula and the townships around it. He noted "As a stranger for the first time...I was very impressed by its beauty. I feel that it has only to become known to be a very popular holiday centre, provided that some better form of communication be made available."
The question of an aerodrome and aero club was seen as vital. Captain Money felt that flight was a great transport option for the town, as a flight to Mangere aerodrome would take just thirty minutes.
DH60G Moth ZK-AAV,
Identified as the possible plane used by Captain Money for his tourist flights.
Source: Aviation Historical Society of New Zealand Message Board
Background Reading
Information on R R Money.
