Sometime back I related that I had heard that an Ercoupe was flown to New Zealand from Europe. Somebody said that would be very difficult and doubted that it had ever happened - I don't blame them - it sounds sort of unlikely! So I wrote to my friend in New Zealand who originally told me the story and asked him for confirmation. We are both Avid amphibian homebuilders and have corresponded for years sharing problems and giving encouragement. We both
finished and flew them, by the way. Anyway he says Yes, it really happened. Flt. Ltn. Harold Newton, DFC landed in Auckland in Oct. 1947 having flown solo 13,000 miles on a 75HP engine from Antwerp, Belgium in an Ercoupe weighing empty 750lbs. My friend goes on to say this was the smallest plane to do this right up to 1989. My friend says he saw the plane soon after it arrived and he recalls the cockpit filled with an extra fuel tank. He was told the pilot was a flier in the Berlin Airlift and had, like many others, had a "sideline business". Because of currency restrictions the only way to get his cash into New Zealand was to buy the plane and import it. My friend says the plane is still flying but the man who flew it from Belgium is now dead, having spent the rest of his life as a farmer. I wish my friend had quoted from some publication so the story could be researched, but he didn't. I know my friend, Stuart very well and he isn't likely to be blowing smoke. I believe!! Wayne Hannah N3544H, Shelton, WA
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