Today in History

1933 First flight from North Cape to Bluff

Pilot E. F. ‘Teddy’ Harvie and his passenger, Miss Trevor Hunter, set a record for the longest flight within New Zealand in a single day. They flew approximately 1880 kms from North Cape to Invercargill in a time of 16 hrs 10 mins. It was a remarkable feat considering 22-year-old Harvie had been flying for just a few months.

Harvie had long desired to make the record-breaking flight. In his book Venture the far horizon he recalled how he first thought of it during 1929, his last year at school. He took his first flight as a passenger that year. But when M. C. McGregor set a new single-day long-distance flying record in 1931, Harvie still hadn't learned to fly. Between January and March 1933, he was fortunate to be given instruction while on the crew of Kingsford Smith's Southern Cross during a tour it made to New Zealand. In May 1933 he joined the Western Federated Flying Club in New Plymouth. After some training with flying instructor Ian Keith, and some solo flying, Harvie sat and passed his 'A' licence.

Harvie aimed to fly at least 100 hours solo before making his record flight. As he got close to this goal in November 1933 his preparations began in earnest. He tested the fuel capacity of the De Havilland Gypsy Moth, ZK-ABP. He also found a willing passenger: 18-year-old Trevor Hunter, a fellow member of the flying club. When planning the journey Harvie calculated that he would have to make part of it at night. He decided to proceed despite not having done any night flying. ‘To be safe’, he decided to fly when there was a full moon and, in case he had to make a forced landing, when the tides were out on the northern beaches. Everything favoured making the flight on 1 December.

Harvie and Hunter took off from a paddock in Kaitaia at 2 a.m. They were assisted by the taxi driver who had dropped them off and some of the bystanders who had gathered. While the driver positioned his car's headlights behind the plane, a pair stationed at the other end of the paddock pointed flashlights towards it. Once in the air Harvie headed north, then turned south when he reached the latitude of North Cape.

Harvie had kept his intentions quiet, careful not to alert those he thought might prevent the journey. One person he did not confide in was Ian Keith, who was in charge of flying at New Plymouth, Hawera and Wanganui. But by the time Harvie and Hunter arrived in Hawera, their third refuelling stop, the secret was out. Harvie had given a scoop to journalist Douglas Stewart and, as planned, it appeared in the papers that day. While Hunter enjoyed a welcome breakfast put on by the local aero club, Harvie made his ‘feeble apologies’ to Keith, who allowed them to continue. At 7.57 p.m., after eight stops, the pair landed at Myross Bush, near Invercargill. Harvie had set a record that would stand for 29 years.

On 3 December 1983 a re-enactment of the flight was staged by Harvie's nephew Don Haggitt. Both Harvie and Trevor Conway (nee Hunter) were in Invercargill to greet him. Each had enjoyed careers in aviation: Hunter was one of five New Zealand women to serve in the Air Transport Auxiliary in Britain during the Second World War, while Harvie was chief air accident investigator from 1968 to 1977.

Image: Teddy Harvie and Trevor Hunter in DH 60 Gipsy Moth ZK-ABP, taken during their epic flight. (Cambridge pilots)