Tomorrow, June 11, marks the centenary of the arrival of the first aircraft in Harare carrying two passengers from Kadoma, and it is perhaps an irony that today may pass – as it did 100 years ago – without a single passenger being received in the capital Commemorations were held in Bulawayo on March 5 this year to mark the arrival of the first plane to Zimbabwe in 1920 – the Silver Queen II And it was to be the City of Kings that the plane to carry the first passengers in Rhodesia – a brand new Avro 504K – first made its appearance on May 23, 1920 It was very much a speculative money-making venture
The plane was owned by the SA Aerial Transport Company and two pilots accompanied the plane – Earle Rutherford and CR Thompson, who had travelled by rail to Bulawayo so to inspect the airfields, along with a mechanic Mr English On arrival in Bulawayo on May 23, both tyres were punctured by thorns on the landing ground The plan was to take advantage of Show Week in Bulawayo Wealthy residents could take a “joy ride” around their town for the princely sum of three guineas (£3 3 shillings) for 10 minutes or five guineas for 20 minutes
TheBulawayo Chroniclecooed about what entertainment would be forthcoming during Show Week adding: “But most interesting of all to very many Rhodesians is the news that for the first time they will be given an opportunity of tasting the delights of flying An Avro aeroplane is coming up, and will take passengers for ‘joy rides’ On May 24, the deputy mayor Clement Dixon was supposed to have christened the plane the ‘Rhodesian Queen’, but theChroniclereport reads: “A bottle of champagne was suspended from the propeller base of the machine, and at the conclusion of his speech, the deputy mayor took a hammer and smashed the bottle, the machine being christened ‘The Rhodesia’ amidst a foaming, sparkling shower of wine.”
The deputy mayor went up on the inaugural flight with Mr Martin, a director of Airoad Motors, the Rhodesian agents of the venture After spending nearly a fortnight flying around Bulawayo, the plane left on June 5 for Gwelo, having hauled in £950 from 208 passengers, which was nearly 3% of the white population of Bulawayo
TheChroniclenoted in its report:
“It was a few minutes after ten on Saturday morning when the aeroplane rose from the municipal aerodrome for the trip to Gwelo Pilot Rutherford was accompanied by mechanic English The Rhodesia carried a letter to the Mayor of Gwelo from the editor of theBulawayo Chronicleand also a copy of that morning’s paper The machine circled over the town for some little time, giving a farewell exhibition to the townspeople before it darted off to Gwelo.”
From Gwelo, theChronicle’scorrespondent said the town had been looking forward to the event for some time: “To say there was excitement is putting it mildly.” The ‘Rhodesia’ was to arrive at 10.30am, but only made its appearance at 11.45am, “soaring over the kopje overlooking the town on the south side and then descending and making a perfect landing amidst great enthusiasm.” The journey had taken one hour 10 minutes
Airfields had also been prepared at Que Que and Umvuma, but the ‘Rhodesia’ headed to Gatooma, arriving on the morning of Tuesday, June 8 Thompson travelled by train to Salisbury to ensure that the landing ground set out on the racecourse, which is the site of the Rainbow Towers/Zanu PF headquarters today, was suitable for the June 11 arrival Here is the report that appeared in theRhodesia Herald:
Source: The Anchor
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Source: Theanchor
