New Zealand
At first New Zealand refused the offer, but later accepted 34 aircraft and 42 aero engines:
- 21 x Avro 504K
- 9 x Airco/de Haviland DH-9
- 2 x Bristol F.2b Fighter
- 2 x Airco/de Haviland DH-4
The F.2bs, DH-4s and one Avro 504K were retained for government use, the balance were issued on loan as transports and training aircraft to civil aviation companies, 1920–1924. By the mid 1920s, all of the private firms involved had collapsed, and surviving aircraft were taken back by the government to constitute the New Zealand Permanent Air Force.
All of the Imperial Gift aircraft in military service either crashed, or were later scrapped or burnt. No significant remnants of these aircraft exist today.
Read more about this topic: Imperial Gift
Famous quotes containing the word zealand:
“Teasing is universal. Anthropologists have found the same fundamental patterns of teasing among New Zealand aborigine children and inner-city kids on the playgrounds of Philadelphia.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)