Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre marks 55 years of Kiwi ingenuity

One of New Zealand’s greatest gifts to the world of wilderness snow sports celebrated 55 high flying years yesterday. (22 September)

The Auster, the world’s first ski plane with retractable skis landed on the Tasman Glacier, flown by Sir Harry Wigley on 22 September 1955. The plane is now a permanent exhibit at Aoraki Mount Cook’s Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre where the milestone was marked yesterday with pupils from Aoraki Mount Cook School.

The Auster made aviation history as the first ski plane to successfully make a snow landing using retractable skis at Aoraki Mount Cook National Park after taking off from a hard runway. Sir Edmund Hillary was one of the first passengers to experience the flight, flying on the Auster’s second journey to the glacier.

Aoraki Mt Cook Alpine Village General Manager Tourism Denis Callesen said the Auster was a fine example of Kiwi ingenuity.

“It’s important to us to continue to celebrate that inventiveness. The retractable skis were fitted to the undercarriage and the pilot would lean out of the plane and pull a lever to retract or lower the skies,” he said. “Standing on the Tasman Glacier and staring at the enormity and serenity of Aoraki Mount Cook, it’s amazing to think of those first flights.”

Students of Aoraki Mt Cook School produced a card celebrating the plane which is now also on display at the museum.

The occasion supported the Aoraki Mount Cook School curriculum which includes a section on pioneer aviators and the triumphs, tribulations and tragedies experienced in their quest to push beyond boundaries. As part of their studies they visited The Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Museum to see the Auster. Their investigations will culminate in an end of term production of ‘Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines,’ which is set to feature a replica of the Auster in pride of place during the play.

ENDS

About the Auster and its journey into aviation history:
The Auster J1B Aiglet ZK-BDX, a 145 Hp De Havilland Gypsy Major, made aviation history on 22 September 1955 when Sir Harry Wigley made the first snow landing on the Tasman Glacier. Wigley flew the four-seater fixed-wing light aircraft from Mt Cook airfield to the glacier with an employee, Alan McWhirter. Sir Edmund Hillary was among the passengers that day. Wigley’s success marked the beginning of commercial flights onto the Tasman Glacier and the establishment of Mount Cook Airlines. Wigley spent eighteen months designing and testing and, with the application of good Kiwi ingenuity, invented the world’s first plane with retractable skis. To reach the lever that lowered and raised the wooden skis, the pilot had to lean out the window!