John Carver Meadows Frost - New Zealand

New Zealand

With the end of the Avrocar project, he left A. V. Roe Canada early in 1962. In the wake of the cancellation of its premier fighter program, the CF-105 Avro Arrow by the Canadian government, Avro Canada was unable to survive, being broken up on 30 April 1962. Like many of the former employees of A.V. Roe Canada, John Frost began a new career when he left the company. He left Canada for New Zealand in 1964 where he again became part of the aviation industry; first joining the airworthiness section of the Civil Aviation Authority where he headed the certification of the Waitomo PL-11 Airtruck, the first commercial aircraft developed in New Zealand. During this period, Frost also designed the Murray Air, an agricultural biplane.

Later in 1965, Frost became a technical services engineer for Air New Zealand, serving in that position for 13 years until his retirement in April 1978. His time at Air New Zealand was very fulfilling. He was responsible for all technical activities at the airline's engineering headquarters at Mangere, New Zealand. All "Air New Zealand aircraft are showcases for the Frost ingenuity." (Daily News New Zealand, April 1978). The unique swiveling bassinets attached to the airliner's hat racks are his design along with locks that hold down pallets in the cargo hold, air-conditioning systems for the cargo bay, rest seats for air crew, toilet tap washers and gallery plugs. His most impressive design was a gigantic hydraulically operated tail dock system.

After retirement, his fertile imagination continued to explore many areas. He became involved in an aviation project - designing and constructing, with the assistance of university students at Auckland, a human-powered aircraft. He would not see his EMME 1 fly.