Media Release - 1 November 2005

90 Years Young For MOTAT Aviation Volunteer 

Even though Gerald Brown is turning 90 on 22nd November, he will still be showing up for his Wednesday morning volunteer work in MOTAT’s aviation department.  Gerald has been a volunteer at MOTAT since he retired in 1980. Initially he joined to meet up with some old friends from the early days of the Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL). 

Gerald says one of the highlights of his 25 years plus at MOTAT was the day the TEAL Solent flying boat, that throughout the 1980s had been under restoration in a paddock behind MOTAT, was pulled inside the new hangar. Its resting place is now right next door to the restored Lancaster. “Working outside with any aircraft they obviously gradually deteriorate. Getting the Solent inside meant we could finish the smaller jobs and the plane is now finished to the same appearance as the operating airline,” Gerald says. Although most of the restoration work on the plane is complete, for the team who work on the Solvent there is always plenty of on going detail work and tidying up to be done.

Gerald, originally from England, first came to New Zealand in 1939 on board the Aoteroa – the first flying boat commissioned in England and sent out to form New Zealand’s first airline. A second flying boat duly arrived in 1940 and TEAL was underway. Gerald says the aviation people in New Zealand who managed to keep the airlines functional during the war years were exceptional.
With the availability of parts from England in short supply and the need for very regular reconditioning of the planes’ engines it was a “magnificent achievement”.  “They didn’t wet the feet of any passenger during that time.” The planes flew a regular service from Mechanics Bay in Auckland to Sydney.

Gerald began his aviation career in the UK working for Smith Aircraft Instruments a well-known aviation company before the war. He initially started in the testing laboratories setting up automatic pilots. Then in 1936, by which time Gerald had a pilot’s license, he and a friend were sent to Italy to work for Fiat installing and testing automatic pilots. Gerald says these were very interesting times as Mussolini was in charge in Italy and obviously very good friends with Hitler.

In 1939, Gerald was back in the UK and sent to Rochester where three flying boats were being built for New Zealand. The decision was made that Gerald should accompany the Aoteroa to New Zealand to make sure everything worked as it should and also to familiarize air crew and ground staff in New Zealand with auto pilot. “There was a very big welcome for us in Auckland as this was the first flying boat to arrive,” says Gerald.

While waiting the eight months for the second flying boat to arrive Gerald meet a New Zealand girl from Devonport. They subsequently married and returned to the UK in 1942. There Gerald worked for the British Air Ministry on research and development at Farnborough. They returned to New Zealand in 1948 and Gerald put his aviation career behind him taking up a position as a water engineer. One of his main projects was the construction of the Ardmore Water Filtration Plant.
However, Gerald says “once people are bitten by the aviation bug it’s like a kind of slight madness and they eventually drift back to it if they can”. 

“It has been a great pleasure to mix with all the chaps at MOTAT, in particular the aviation volunteers who are the key to MOTAT 2.” With a new hangar to be added Gerald is confident that the aviation at Sir Keith Park Airfield will become a major attraction for Auckland, and an even greater tribute to New Zealand’s most famous aviator. On 16th November Gerald and members of his family will be coming to a birthday morning tea at the hangar to celebrate his special contribution.

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