More Info →Pioneer Aviator remembered

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A stroll along Waitarere Beach on Saturday was extra special for Paraparaumu woman Joan-Marie O'Dea.

Her visit to the beach marked 75 years since more than 300 people had gathered to watch her father Martin Butler take to the skies.

"It's always been said he was the pioneer aviator in Levin," she said.

Mr Butler was in his early twenties when he worked at Milnes Garage in Levin as an apprentice.

Over a few years he along with some others built a Gerber monoplane after getting the plans from the United States.

After taking flying lessons at the Levin Aero Club, Mr Butler found himself racing along Waiterare Beach at the controls of the 40 horse powered Ford engine plane for its trial flight.

He took off and flew up the beach to the Manawatu River and back twice taking the turns with ease.

On the second return he circled twice around the crowd showing he really had it under control.

Disaster struck though when the plane landed on the beach after 20 minutes and ran over some soft sand.

The nose struck the ground forcing up the under carriage and causing the plane to tip onto its side.

The tail swung upwards and the strain broke the fuselage just below the cockpit, damaged the end of a wing and broke a propeller blade.

"I think the people on the beach were pretty worried about Dad. He wasn't injured but he was really badly shocked."

He intended to repair the plane and fly again but it never eventuated. Mrs O'Dea believes bureaucracy got in the way.

She said her father, commonly known as Jack, was someone who always had the need to understand why things worked like they did.

"And I also think he had a burning desire to achieve."

For years Mrs O'Dea has tried to find out as much as she could about her father and his achievements, which also included inventing a ~ reversible trailer.

"I've sourced heaps of things about him I didn't know. I've spent years just snippeting at it. "It's like a big puzzle and I'm nearing the end of it which is cool."

She thought she might compile the information about her father for National Archives of New Zealand.

Interestingly the second propeller made for the plane is now on loan at Kapiti's Museum of Aviation.

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