Off the Ground - 2, Challenge and Crisis

The second part of this 1982 series on the history of aviation in New Zealand hang glides to the 1930s golden age where world famous flying feats (from the likes of Aussie Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and NZ aviatrix Jean Batten) inspired a surge in aero and gliding clubs and the beginning of commercial domestic flights and aerial mapping. War saw Kiwis flying for the RAF and modernised an ageing RNZAF, taking it from biplanes to jet aircraft. Presented by pilot Peter Clements, the series was made for TV by veteran director Conon Fraser and the National Film Unit.

The first successful solo trans-Tasman crossing ended unconventionally, to say the least. For Guy Menzies landed, not on a smooth brown paddock but in a West Coast Pakihi swamp.

– Peter Clements on the end to Guy Menzies trans-Tasman flight

Key Cast & Crew

Tom Williamson

Producer

Conon Fraser

Writer, Director

Peter Clements

Original idea, Presenter

Roger Goldstone

Sound

Brian Shennan

Sound Mix

Dell King

Editor