Kiwi Flight Commemoration

From (yes, really) the Australian Library News:

The first aeroplane to land in the New Zealand city of
Palmerston North 85 years ago is being commemorated
with an exhibition at the City Archives in the Central
Library.

The de Haviland aircraft landed on July 31, 1920 and
the exhibition, which will open on August 1, records the
landing and the people who flew in the historic flight.
Captain Richard Russell, who saw service in World
War One, flew the aircraft from Dannevirke to
Palmerston North and, after circling the city, landed in
Mr Gillespie’s paddock on the corner of Boundary Road
(now Tremaine Avenue) and Gillespie’s Line.
The milestone flight was part of an historic journey
from Auckland to Wellington to promote air travel as the
transportation of the future and the safety of flying.
On the way Captain Russell stopped at many North
Island locations and took passengers for a ride.
For the journey to Palmerston North his passenger
was 15-year-old Violet Hibbard from Dannevirke, who
remembered the flight for the rest of her life and died
only last year.

The landing was witnessed by Mayor James Nash and
several prominent citizens.
The Evening Standard reported that “clouds of dust
and the hum of speeding motorcars, the clatter of cars
and the shriek of small boys heralded the arrival of the
welcoming party.
“As the plane landed the crowd broke pell-mell over
the paddock, besieging the aeroplane, the pilot and the
passenger.”

The exhibition is being curated by City Archivist
Lesley Courtney and contains photos of Violet, Captain
Russell and the aircraft at Dannevirke and at Palmerston
North, and a text of her recollections of the journey.