The plan to build a Lord Howe Island airstrip had at least a 20-year timeline. Whilst articles about the strip occasionally appeared in the mainland press, no one followed the story more closely than the owner/editor of the Island Signal, Jim Whistler. Jim loved the flying boats but he knew they would eventually be superseded by land-based aircraft.
Apart from reporting regularly in The Signal about any developments relating to an airstrip, he was an active lobbyist for it – both as a locally elected Island Board Member, and an elected member of the Lord Howe Island Air Service Committee.
That Committee was formed on the 11th of May, 1970, “to take appropriate action to try and ensure that the Island always has an air link to the mainland”. In the latter role he travelled to the mainland to interview all interested parties – local, state and federal – and reported back to the Island community. His support for the strip is left in no doubt in the following editorial in the Signal from 1960:
Unfortunately, The Signal did not start publication until 1954, and the earliest report about the proposal to construct the airstrip comes seemingly out of the blue on the 9/11/1955: “The Island Committee is to call a Public Meeting of Island Residents at the Hall on Thursday 17th November, to discuss the question of an airstrip on the Island.”
That public meeting launched a 19-year campaign to see an airstrip built on Lord Howe. However, there was so much repetitive reporting between the Island Board, the State Government, and the Commonwealth Government that the proposal did not get real traction until the early 1970s. A litany of every move by every player in the game would consume an entire book, much of it with reports of paper shuffling between various levels of government.
To try to simplify the story, an inventory of dot points appears below and a ballad has been composed to try to prevent the reader going to sleep with the constant, circular repetition of the same information! Before commencing, however, one has to ask why this issue suddenly hove into view in 1955. The Signal provides no clue but, having researched the early years of the air service to Lord Howe, I am tempted to join the following dots – though these connections are conjecture only:
- The first flying boat operations to Lord Howe commenced in 1947, firstly by Trans Oceanic Airways, followed closely by Qantas. The latter, however, had its sights firmly set on international not domestic travel, so it withdrew from Lord Howe in March, 1951.
- This left Trans Oceanic Airways as the sole aviation operator at Lord Howe. TOA was first and foremost a flying boat airline which saw an important role for flying boats in Australian aviation. Unfortunately, TOA’s founder Bryan Monkton, resigned his directorship in September, 1951, then the Airline went into liquidation in July, 1952. Had TOA continued as Lord Howe’s principal airline, it is quite likely that the construction of a Lord Howe airstrip would not have become an issue as early as it did.
- TOA went into administration on the 1st of July, 1952, but the liquidators maintained the Lord Howe service until April, 1953, when it was declared insolvent. Then in May, ’53, the Lord Howe run was taken over by Ansett Flying Boat Services which had been formed a year earlier when Reg Ansett purchased a controlling interest in Barrier Reef Airways. Although Ansett was better capitalized than T.O.A. its pedigree was first and foremost as a land-based airline.
Founded by Reg Ansett in Victoria in 1937 on the back of a successful road freight and passenger transport business, the airline survived World War II via contract work for the US Government, then embarked upon a post-war policy of expansion. Although it acquired the flying boat airline, Barrier Reef Airways in 1952, (renamed Ansett Flying Boat Services in 1953) Ansett’s business was grounded in land-based air transport. Ultimately, it swallowed Australia’s largest privately owned airline of the era, Australian National Airways (ANA), in 1957. As Ansett purchased more sophisticated land-based aircraft, like the Convair 340 from 1954, it steadily withdrew flying boats on routes like Hobart and Brisbane where they were competing with its newer aircraft – inevitably making the flying boats uneconomic through low utilization!
An educated guess is that the change of flying boat operators at Lord Howe from Trans Oceanic Airways to Ansett in July, 1953, triggered the initial push for an airstrip at Lord Howe. TOA had been solely interested in flying boat operations, but Ansett saw its future in land-based aviation, including Lord Howe Island.
Some of The Players
The following could not have been collated without the research assistance (deeply appreciated) of Jann Barry, Ian Hutton and the Lord Howe Island Historical Society.
The Bumpy Ballad (or maybe “Saga”?) of the Lord Howe Airstrip – in two parts. With apologies for some temporal dysphoria, as Reg Ansett is called “Sir Reg” throughout the ballad though he was only knighted in 1969; also, Marinair only made one flight to Lord Howe but the rhyme was irresistible; some local nicknames are used: eg Ron Payten = “Popey”; Gerald Kirby = “Kirb”; Al Williams = “Spot” and Nick Potter = “Trader Nick”)
For a few years after World War two Flying boats took to the blue, From Australia and round the world, Travel options just unfurled. But where to
put a seaplane base? Lord Howe Island – the perfect place! By TOA, Qantas, and Marinair, The tourists came without a care, While flying boats never faltered, Ten years on and things had altered. Now canny Ansett ran the service, About the seaplanes he was nervous. He could see that things were changing, The air service would need rearranging, The ‘ships that flew’ were in decline, Lord Howe would need a new lifeline. But the Islanders were sentimental, An airstrip could be detrimental! But Sir Reg would not be thwarted, He thought “I’ll get those locals sorted”. An airstrip committee soon convened, Five of them were pretty keen, Aunty Ruby, Mary Hines, Gerald Kirby from the Pines, Roylance Wilson, Popey too, They all knew what they had to do: Letters to and fro they wrote,
Without some help they’d “miss the boat”. A delegation soon departed, To try to get the airstrip started, But those “pollies” were a tricky bunch!
The airstrip’s cost, that was the crunch,
Who, they asked, would have to pay? £300,000 is a lot of hay! Federal vs State… quite a tussle,
Each the other tried to hustle, But the Islanders were all for action,
By helping out, they’d get traction,
A day a week from every man,
But getting money in the can???? Barbecues were an option, And business subscriptions by adoption.
The Board would give a tourist tax,
All agreed, it would add stacks!
But just where would that airstrip go?
The Islanders would need to know.
From Rabbit Isle to Blinkie dune?
Or Ned’s Beach foreshore to Lagoon? Surveys would be made, of course The cart can’t become before the horse! When, it seemed, BOTH SITES, were needed,
There were concerns…would they be heeded?
But canny “Spot” had thoughts aglow,
He could see the money flow, Hey presto!!! The “Sarong” appeared Whatever happened he’d be geared,
Ready or not, here comes Spot: An airside kiosk selling snacks, Or being in the airstrip’s tracks, There’d have to be a payout grand,
Then retirement to sunny Queensland!
Now Kirb set off on flying tour, Those “pollies”, they could not abjure! Melbourne, Canberra… he did the round,
But was the airstrip losing ground? DCA had to be consulted… Aerial photos… wind tunnel… both resulted,
But the costs kept getting higher, £500,000 was looking dire! Once again Sir Reg stepped in, He didn’t want the airstrip binned. To Lord Howe he came in style,
Urging them the extra mile: “Those seaplane buffs are off their rockers, They need an airstrip for my Fokkers!” Government reports flew to and fro…
It seemed two airstrips were the go, Ah no!!! £500,000 would be the tote, Would this figure sink the boat? Again, one strip became the aim, Which would it be…Oh, the pain!
Scientists, too, must have their say, What about the coral in the bay?
Surveyors returned – yet more mapping!
On and off again…the plans kept flapping! Then in ’62, the Fed’s gave up, The cost, they said, was just too much! The years ticked by, not much was said, Perhaps the issue was quite dead?
Some strange ideas came to light: Subs, hydrofoils and heliflight!
By then Bob Menzies had a say, A cost analysis was on the way… Even the Commonwealth had to moan, Those seaplane subsidies made them groan!
Sir Reg, however, banged his drum,
“These flying boats will soon be done!”
And Captain Stu from the seaplane base,
Kept hyping up the airstrip’s case.
But while the Government shilly-shallied,
Private enterprise truly rallied,
By ’68, new plans were tabled,
Private investors were enabled,
To build a strip and terminal too,
Wow…what private equity can do!
And twin Otters would be the go,
How could the Islanders say no???
But the government could not lose face, And found itself back in the race.
One strip, now, was in its sights,
It could handle all the flights,
4000 feet from the Lagoon,
And running through to Blinkie dune,
Four houses, they said, had to go,
For those affected, what a blow! So now the Islanders were in the frame:
An “Air Service Committee” entered the game, Norm Fenton, Jim Whistler and Trader Nick,
They’d give that airstrip such a tick √
But the cost had climbed to $940 grand! Would State and Commonwealth lend a hand? This time the State pulled the pin,
Bob Askin rattled his empty tin,
And again the Island was left in the lurch,
So, would the airstrip fall off its perch?
But at long, long last, a fix appeared,
After all the palaver, it seemed quite weird, A quarter of the strip went into the bin,
Fokkers were out… light aircraft were in!
A bit of the strip nosed onto the beach,
So the reef and coral wouldn’t be breached. The State and Feds had at last coalesced,
This plan for the Island was surely THE BEST! The bugle sounded…the army was called, Now, no one wanted this new effort stalled…
To be continued… The airstrip build (Stay tuned for the October Signal)
From The Signal (And this only a miniscule fraction of what was actually reported!)
17/11/55 – Island Advisory Committee convened a meeting to “discuss the issue of an airstrip on the Island”. The meeting of “50 Island residents in the hall…unanimously supported a suggestion that every attempt should be made to have an airstrip built on the Island”.
21/12/55 – Cost of a 3,300ft grassed airstrip suitable for DC3s was estimated at up to £300,000. A letter is received from Reginald Ansett saying “there is probably no need for me to advise you that the days of the flying boats are numbered…If the Island is to have a continuous air service, it must, at some time in the future, establish a satisfactory airstrip.” A five-person Committee – Gerald Kirby, Roy Wilson, Ruby Thompson, Ron Payten & Mary Hines – was elected to pursue the issue.
28/3/56 – Three members of the Island Air Strip Committee met with the Minister for Air in Melbourne who advised that “an airstrip of 5000 feet in length and 300 feet wide would accommodate suitable planes” However, the Minister stated that the cost would need to be funded by the state, though the Federal Government could lend surveying staff and would approach the Navy… to have all the necessary equipment transported to the Island free of cost..”
6/6/56 – The Airstrip Committee reported back to the community: information received from the Federal Minister for Air was that, for aerodromes with under 7000 passenger movements per year (ie Lord Howe) the State Government would need to fund the full amount of the strip, with some non-financial help from the Commonwealth Departments (eg surveying); the 4000 ft strip would go “from Mutton Bird Point to south of North Road”; and it would go “1000 feet long and 300 feet wide into the lagoon”; and that “the days of the flying boat were numbered”: and “every Island resident must realise …[the] importance of every effort being made to obtain an airstrip just as soon as possible.” Locally, funds would be raised by business subscription and holding barbecues!
13/3/57 – Report of a letter was forwarded by the Lord Howe Island Airstrip Committee to the Minister for Air in which it was advised that a well-attended public meeting had been held at which it was agreed that “every able bodied man provide a minimum of one day’s labour per week towards the building of an airstrip and that the Lord Howe Island Board, as its contribution, devote the whole of the proceeds of the Tourist Tax for the next five years to the project”.
24/4/57 – The Signal reported an article in the SMH quoting Mr A.W. Doubleday, NSW Director for the Department stating “The Department of Civil Aviation has completed preliminary surveys of Lord Howe Island with a view to building an airstrip there…
28/5/58 – the Signal reported “Position of Proposed ‘Strip Not Yet Determined”. The Department of Civil Aviation would accurately photograph Lord Howe Island, make a scale model, and construct a wind tunnel to enable correct readings of possible turbulence to be made. Gerald Kirby “has been to Melbourne and Canberra interviewing D.C.A. authorities and a
Member for Parliament with a view to getting some finalisation on the airstrip question….”
August, 1959 – “A decision as to whether an airstrip is practical at Lord Howe Island will probably be made by early August, 1959”.
September 16, 1959 – R.M. Ansett visits Lord howe, spending almost two hours on the Island: “Regarding the future air-service to Lord Howe, Mr Ansett said that several factors, such as economic difficulties, closure of Rose Bay and non-availability of new flying boats, made the life of the present service limited, possibly to the end of 1961. He did not think that his company would ever purchase another flying boat. However, his company was very interested in a future land plane service to Lord Howe Island [stating] that his company…would in the future be operating Fokker Friendship aircraft on the mainland…”
18/5/60 – A plan for an airstrip running from Neds Beach to the Doctor’s residence was published in Signal.
10/2/61 – The Board Chairman, A.G.Kingsmill, made “a comprehensive report to the Chief Secretary on the airstrip question [and the Minister had] “forwarded a copy of the report to the Premier for consideration”.
3/5/62 – “The Federal Government has informed the N.S.W State Government that the suggestion that both Governments share the cost of building an airstrip or airstrips at Lord Howe Island cannot be agreed to….The proposal to build a two runway strip on the Island was estimated to cost £500,000. Because of this high cost, the Federal Government had now suggested that the State Government consider a scheme for a one-runway strip”.
20/8/62 – “The proposal to build an airstrip…is causing deep concern to scientists. They fear it will destroy some of the Island’s best natural features…”
17/4/63 – “Surveyors will carry out an extensive detailed survey of proposed sites for the construction of an airstrip on Lord Howe Island in the near future…”
8/9/65 – “The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, has informed the NSW Government that … the Commonwealth would complete the Lord Howe cost analysis as soon as it is possible to do so”.
20/9/67 – “Many alternatives have been suggested, including amphibian aircraft, short take-off and landing (STOL) air¬craft, helicopters, hovercraft, small planes, shipping (including hydrofoils) and even a submarine service..”
10/4/68 – “The Prime Ministers’ Department has informed the NSW Premiers’ Department of the Commonwealth’s willingness to meet with State, Airline and Lord Howe Island Representatives to discuss the problems associated with the future of the air service between the mainland and the Island…”
2/10/68 – The Board’s Island Advisory Committee … released the following information…(1) The exact location of the proposed airstrip commences at a point on the top of Blinky Beach bank…to a marker buoy located in the Lagoon almost opposite Windy Point, about 200 yards off shore (2) The length of the strip will be 4,000 feet, by a width of three hundred feet, with a
three hundred and fifty foot strip on either side which will be cleared of high growth…”
16/10/68 – The Signal reported a proposal to construct strip, passenger terminal and fuel storage at lord Howe and use DeHavilland Twin Otter 300 turbo prop aircraft to service the Island by private consortium. Service would be operational by June, 1969, if the State Government approved the plan by the end of 1968.
30/10/68 – “The N.S.W. Department of Works has confirmed that the construction of an airstrip on Lord Howe Island suitable for the operation of Fokker Friendship aircraft would cost $940,000”.
24/10/69 – Captain Middlemiss spoke on the Island Air Service “…his company was concerned at the apparent lack of efforts on the part of Islanders and Government to have the planned airstrip on the Island constructed”.
18/5/70 – “A committee of three, to be known as the Lord Howe Island Air Service Committee, [was] formed on the 11th of May ‘to take appropriate action to try and ensure that the Island always has an air link to the mainland’”. Norm Fenton, Nick Potter and Jim Whistler are elected.
27/10/72 – In his “Loan Speech” the NSW Premier, Sir Robert Askin stated that the estimated cost of the Island strip was $2.5 million. Whilst the Commonwealth would fund $1 million, the State could not afford the balance of $1.5 million.
28/3/74 – “Every effort was made to provide a 4,000ft runway which would have permitted Fokker Friendship aircraft…on a regular basis. Engineering problems because of volcanic ash beneath the seabed and the better-known conservation problems with Lord Howe’s quite unique coral reef, precluded the runway being extended some 1,000ft into the lagoon. There is now formal agreement between the Australian and N.S.W. Govern¬ments for the construction of a 3,300ft runway as a matter of urgency. Army engineers are undertaking the work which is already under way. The job is expected to take about six months with the aim being to complete the work before the Sandringham flying boat service is withdrawn”.