Back to the future

1/2/2010

The sheep on Barry Becker’s (1956-59) Idaburn farm take little notice of top-dressing planes taking off and landing in their midst but might soon have regular appearances by a DC-3 to contend with.
The airstrip in a paddock, about 2km north of Oturehua, will host a DC-3 heritage airliner for the first time on February 9th as part of the Southern DC-3 Charitable Trust’s Heartland Tour of the South Island.

Cleared for landing . . . . a DC-3 will touch down on Barry Becker’s Idaburn airstrip as part of this month's South Island Heartland tour.

The trust hopes it will be the first flight in a regular service to ferry corporate groups to ride the ‘‘downhill’’ section of the Otago Central Rail Trail.

‘‘We’re actively marketing it to corporate groups as a team-building exercise, so they can partner a flight in a DC-3 with a wonderful activity like biking the rail trail,’’ trust chairman Dave Horsburgh said at the weekend.

The 30-seater 1944 DC-3, ZKAMY, was given to the Ashburton Aviation Museum, to secure the plane’s future, and the trust continues to raise funds to maintain it.

‘‘This venture will be perfect— it adds value by offering more than a plane ride and ties in with a popular activity,’’ Mr Horsburgh said.
The trust was actively marketing the idea and two companies had already expressed interest. All going well, the plane might land at Idaburn once every four to six weeks.

The Idaburn airstrip on Barry’s farm was fully registered and certified by the Civil Aviation Authority, and ‘‘exceeded all the requirements’’. The airstrip is in a triangular paddock next to the State Highway 85-Omakau-Ida Valley Rd intersection.
Barry said the airstrip had been used regularly for many years by top-dressing planes.

The southern leg of the Heartland Tour, which began at the weekend, includes stops at Twizel today, Wanaka tomorrow, Cromwell on February 3, Queenstown on February 5, Alexandra on February 6, Dunedin on February 7 and 8, Idaburn on February 9, Roxburgh on February 10, Manapouri and Te Anau on February 11, Invercargill on February 12 and 13, Gore on February 13 and 14, Oamaru on February 16 and Timaru on February 17.