James William Humphrys Scotland's flight

Edited highlights of eye witness accounts by Cecil Andrews and Sydney Hoskins of James William Humphrys Scotland's pioneering flight from Timaru to Christchurch in a Caudron biplane. The flight took place on Friday 6 March 1914.

Cecil Andrews recalls seeing the plane fly over Temuka as a child. He says the sound was like a motorcycle with an open exhaust. They were expecting to see Scotland drop a parcel for his (Andrews') older sister Dorothy, though they did not see this happen. Instead, a man named Mr Storey delivered the parcel to his father's garage the next day. Mr Storey's grandson, Terry, had found it in his backyard.

Sydney Hoskins speaks about his memory of the flight. He was in school in Temuka at the time, and was left off school early to go to Orari to see the plane. Scotland had landed in a field there to deal with some oil trouble. Hoskins speaks about seeing the propeller being spun, and the plane taking off.

[Edited for the National Programme anniversary series.]