BLUEGRASS AIRLINES

January 2007

Union Airways of New Zealand 1936-1937 by Bill Von Sennet

Dh.86 de Havilland Express ready for takeoff at Wigram Field, Christchurch, NZ

For the 1936 flights we have Lee Holmes Dh.86 Express

Download CLH_DH86Express.ZIP (2.3mb)

For the 1937 flights I used the FS Design Berlin L-10A Electra by Arik Hohmeyer filename l104nwa.zip (12.3mb) and the Union Airways textures by Dale DeLuca and Arik Hohmeyer filename l104uni.zip (1.3mb) Both are available at www.avsim.com and www.flightsim.com

Union Airways Lockheed L-10A Electra ZK-AFD at Palmerston North

On 16-March 1936 Union Airways started regular air mail service between Palmerston North, Blenheim, Christchurch and Dunedin. They used three de Havilland DH-86 Express Airliners. They were similar to the Dragon Rapide, but larger and with 4 engines.

On 27-June 1937 Union Airways began mail service between Wellington, Palmerston North, New Plymouth and Auckland. For this route they used Lockheed Electras.

On 1-July 1937 Union Airways took over the East Coast Airways route between Palmerston North, Napier and Gisborne

The information above was found on Robert Clark’s web-site: New Zealand Stamp Images

Article on early aviation in the Encyclopedia of New Zealand

By 1939 Union Airways was maintaining services on these routes:

Auckland–New Plymouth–Palmerston North–Wellington–Christchurch–Dunedin

Palmerston North–Blenheim–Christchurch

Palmerston North–Napier–Gisborne

Auckland–Tauranga–Opotiki–Gisborne.

1936 Flights

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
North Palmerton	North Palmerton	NZPM	198°	45.5 nm	Paraparaumo	PP 242.0
			188°	15.8 nm	Titahi Bay	TY 234.0
			214°	42.4 nm	Blenheim	BM 342.0
			241°	5.8 nm	Woodbourne	WB 366.0
Blenheim	Woodbourne Mil.	NZWB	246°	1.1 nm	Runway 25

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Blenheim	Woodbourne Mil.	NZWB	104°	21.9 nm	Cape Campbell	CC 286.0
			190°	48.5 nm	Kaikoura	KI 350.0
			195°	83.1 nm	Woodend	OD 262.0
			173°	10.3nm	Fix 217° to BU	BU 374.0
Christchurch	Wigram	NZWG	210°	4 nm	Runway 21

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Chirstchurch	Wigram	NZWG	213°	39.1 nm	Ashburton	AS 254.0
			203°	34.9 nm	Timaru	TU 366.0
			162°	38.5 nm	Oamaru	OU 302.0
			184°	58 nm	Swampy	SW 338.0
			212°	7.9 nm	Mosgiel	MI 358.0
Dunedin	Dunedin	NZDN	212°	5.7 nm	Runway 21

Hypothetical 1936 Schedule Dh. 86 Express

Down				Up
8:30am	Lv	Palmerston North	Ar	2:20pm
9:25am	Ar	Blenheim	Lv	1:25pm
9:45am	Lv	Blenheim	Ar	1:05pm
11:05pm	Ar	Christchurch	Lv	11:45am
11:50am	Lv	Christchurch	Ar	11:00am
1:20pm	Ar	Dundedin	Lv	9:30am

1937 Flights

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Auckland	Auckland Intl	NZAA	173°	123.6 nm
New Plymouth	New Plymouth	NZNP				NP 114.40

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
New Plymouth	New Plymouth	NZNP	119°	103.5
Palmerston North	Palmerston North	NZPM				PM 113.40

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Gisbourne	Gisbourne	NZGS	206°	70.2 nm
Napier	Napier	NZNR				NR 113.80

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Napier	Napier	NZNR	206°	76.9 nm
Palmerston North	Palmerston North	NZPM				PM 113.40

City	Airport	ICAO	Heading	Distance	To Waypoint	Navaid
Palmerston North	Palmerston North