January 2007 Feature of the month

BLUEGRASS AIRLINES

January 2007

Union Airways of New Zealand 1936-1937 by Bill Von Sennet

Dh.86 de Havilland Express ready for takeoff at Wigram Field, Christchurch, NZ

For the 1936 flights we have Lee Holmes Dh.86 Express

For the 1937 flights I used the FS Design Berlin L-10A Electra by Arik Hohmeyer filename l104nwa.zip (12.3mb) and the Union Airways textures by Dale DeLuca and Arik Hohmeyer filename l104uni.zip (1.3mb) Both are available at www.avsim.com and www.flightsim.com

Union Airways Lockheed L-10A Electra ZK-AFD at Palmerston North

On 16-March 1936 Union Airways started regular air mail service between Palmerston North, Blenheim, Christchurch and Dunedin. They used three de Havilland DH-86 Express Airliners. They were similar to the Dragon Rapide, but larger and with 4 engines.

On 27-June 1937 Union Airways began mail service between Wellington, Palmerston North, New Plymouth and Auckland. For this route they used Lockheed Electras.

On 1-July 1937 Union Airways took over the East Coast Airways route between Palmerston North, Napier and Gisborne

The information above was found on Robert Clark’s web-site: New Zealand Stamp Images

Article on early aviation in the Encyclopedia of New Zealand

By 1939 Union Airways was maintaining services on these routes:

Auckland–New Plymouth–Palmerston North–Wellington–Christchurch–Dunedin

Palmerston North–Blenheim–Christchurch

Palmerston North–Napier–Gisborne

Auckland–Tauranga–Opotiki–Gisborne.

1936 Flights

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
North Palmerton	North Palmerton	NZPM	198°	45.5 nm	Paraparaumo	PP 242.0
			188°	15.8 nm	Titahi Bay	TY 234.0
			214°	42.4 nm	Blenheim	BM 342.0
			241°	5.8 nm	Woodbourne	WB 366.0
Blenheim	Woodbourne Mil.	NZWB	246°	1.1 nm	Runway 25

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Blenheim	Woodbourne Mil.	NZWB	104°	21.9 nm	Cape Campbell	CC 286.0
			190°	48.5 nm	Kaikoura	KI 350.0
			195°	83.1 nm	Woodend	OD 262.0
			173°	10.3nm	Fix 217° to BU	BU 374.0
Christchurch	Wigram	NZWG	210°	4 nm	Runway 21

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Chirstchurch	Wigram	NZWG	213°	39.1 nm	Ashburton	AS 254.0
			203°	34.9 nm	Timaru	TU 366.0
			162°	38.5 nm	Oamaru	OU 302.0
			184°	58 nm	Swampy	SW 338.0
			212°	7.9 nm	Mosgiel	MI 358.0
Dunedin	Dunedin	NZDN	212°	5.7 nm	Runway 21

Hypothetical 1936 Schedule Dh. 86 Express

Down				Up
8:30am	Lv	Palmerston North	Ar	2:20pm
9:25am	Ar	Blenheim	Lv	1:25pm
9:45am	Lv	Blenheim	Ar	1:05pm
11:05pm	Ar	Christchurch	Lv	11:45am
11:50am	Lv	Christchurch	Ar	11:00am
1:20pm	Ar	Dundedin	Lv	9:30am

1937 Flights

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Auckland	Auckland Intl	NZAA	173°	123.6 nm
New Plymouth	New Plymouth	NZNP				NP 114.40

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
New Plymouth	New Plymouth	NZNP	119°	103.5
Palmerston North	Palmerston North	NZPM				PM 113.40

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Gisbourne	Gisbourne	NZGS	206°	70.2 nm
Napier	Napier	NZNR				NR 113.80

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Napier	Napier	NZNR	206°	76.9 nm
Palmerston North	Palmerston North	NZPM				PM 113.40

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Palmerston North	Palmerston North	NZPM	190°	71.5 nm
Wellington	Wellington Intl	NZWN				WN 112.30

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Wellington	Wellington Intl	NZWN	167°	194.0 nm		CH 115.30
Christchurch	Christchurch Intl	NZCH			ILS RW20	IHW 110.30

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Christchurch	Christchurch Intl	NZCH	187°	162.6 nm	Swampy	SW 112.70
			211°	13.7 nm
Dunedin	Dunedin	NZDN			ILS RW21	IDN 109.90

Hypothetical 1937 Schedule Lockheed L-10A Electra

Down	Down				Up	Up
6:30pm		Lv	Auckland	Ar	6:10pm
7:30pm		Ar	New Plymouth	Lv	5:10pm
7:40pm		Lv	New Plymouth	Ar	5:00pm
\|\|	7:00am	Lv	Gisbourne	Ar	\|\|	5:30pm
\|\|	7:35am	Ar	Napier	Lv	\|\|	4:55pm
\|\|	7:45am	Lv	Napier	Ar	\|\|	4:45pm
8:30pm	8:20am	Ar	Palmerston North	Lv	4:10pm	4:10pm
	8:30am	Lv	Palmerston North	Ar	4:00pm
	9:05am	Ar	Wellington	Lv	3:25pm
	9:15am	Lv	Wellington	Ar	3:15pm
	10:30am	Ar	Christchurch	Lv	2:00pm
	10:40am	Lv	Christchurch	Ar	1:50pm
	11:59am	Ar	Dunedin	Lv	12:30pm

Airport Information

Auckland Intl. NZAA elev 22’

Runways 5L 10,195’ Bitumimus ILS ISL 110.10

23R 10,195’ Bituminus ILS ITR 109.50

5R 11,926’ Concrete ILS IAA 110.30

23L 11,926’ Concrete ILS IMG 109.90

VOR/DME 114.80

New Plymouth NZNP elev 98’

Runways 5/23 4,295’ Bituminus

5R/23L 2,300’ Dirt

14/32 3.940’ Grass

VOR/DME 114.40

NDB 370.0

Gisbourne NZGS elev 15’

Runways 3/21 3,772’ Gravel

9/27 3,838’ Gravel

14/32 4,298 Bituminus

VOR/DME 114.20

NDB 346.0

Napier NZNR elev 6’

Runways 7/25 3,993’ Grass

10/28 1,605’ Grass

16/34 4,927’ Bituminus

16L/34R 2,513’ Grass

VOR/DME 113.80 0.7nm North on RW 16 Final

NDB 354.0

North Palmerston NZPM elev 150’

Runways 7/25 6,272’ Bituminus

7R/25L 1,995’ Grass

VOR/DME 113.50

NDB 258.0

Wellington Intl NZWN elev 42’

Runways 16 6,762’ Asphalt ILS IEB 110.30

34 6,672’ Asphalt ILS IMP 109.90

VOR/DME 112.30

NDB 298.0

Woodbourne (Military) NZWB elev 108’

Runways 10/28 3,878’ Gravel

7/25 4,668’ Bituminus

VOR/DME 115.60

NDB 366.0 (1.1 nm at 66°)

Christchurch Intl NZCH elev 121’

Runways 2 10,781’ Asphalt ILS ICH 109.90

20 10,781’ Asphalt ILS IHW 110.30

11/29 5,680’ Asphalt

VOR/DME 115.30

NDB 262.0 12.7nm Final RW 20

NDB 374.0 8.7nm Final RW 2

Wigram NZWG elev 75’

Runways 3/21 5,184’ Bituminus

6/24 4,767’ Grass

13/31 3,888’ Grass

18/36 3,215’ Grass

VOR/DME 115.30 (3.3 nm at 306°)

Dunedin NZDN elev 3’

Runways 3 6,295’ Asphalt ILS IHL 110.30 32°

DME 115.70 NDB 378.0 (1.3 nm final RW3)

21 6,295’ Asphalt ILS IDN 109.90 212°

VOR/DME 112.70 (13.7 nm final RW21)

NDB 358.0 (5.7 nm final RW21)