Samoans See Their First
p. 58 · Read in the full issue
Aeroplane
From Our Own Correspondent APIA, June 10.
THE arrival by the Wairuna of the first aeroplane to be imported into Western Samoa has aroused considerable interest. The ’plane is owned by Lance- Corporal J. M. H. Bower, District Com missioner at Aleipata, Eastern Upolu, who recently returned from New Zealand, where he obtained his pilot’s certificate and license.
The ’plane is a one-seater D.H. 53 Havilland Moth, with a Bristol Cherub engine 36 B.H.P. (horizontal twin) and belonged formerly to the Civil Aviation Dept, at Point Cooke, Australia, and later to the N.S.W. Aero Club from which it was bought by Mr, Bower. The wing span is 30ft., the overall length 19|ft. and the height sJft. The machine has a maximum speed of 83 m.p.h., with a cruising speed of 56.