History
On November 17, 1938, a Southland Airway’s Puss Moth piloted by Arthur Bradshaw made the first landing in at Milford Sound. However, any further development for air operations into the Fiord was delayed by World War II.
Post war pilot Fred ‘Popeye’ Lucas was the next to land an aircraft in Milford. He landed on the sand spit in his Southern Scenic Airtrips Auster on August 22, 1951. This then sparked the addition of an airstrip for use by his company to expand tourism into Milford Sound. An airstrip was constructed, initially 550 yards (503 metres) in length with the first official landing achieved in May, 1952.
Over the years the airstrip has been upgraded and lengthened till today’s sealed strip of 792 metres. In order for Southern Scenic Airtrips and National Airways Corporation (NAC) to be able to fly the larger twin-engine aircraft into the area the airstrip became officially licensed in 1956.
Prior to the ability of air operations, Milford Sound had no access in the winter months as the roads became impassable. With the addition of the airstrip, it was recorded that by 1964 more than 400 tourists were taking the ‘Gateway to Magnificence Experience’ flight to Milford Sound each month at peak holiday time.1
Read more about this topic: Milford Sound Airport
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“the future is simply nothing at all. Nothing has happened to the present by becoming past except that fresh slices of existence have been added to the total history of the world. The past is thus as real as the present.”
—Charlie Dunbar Broad (1887–1971)
“The history of modern art is also the history of the progressive loss of art’s audience. Art has increasingly become the concern of the artist and the bafflement of the public.”
—Henry Geldzahler (1935–1994)