Veterans of air combine for scenic flight

At the tender age of 12, Don McLean fell in love with flying.

The young lad from Bowen, Queensland, had been handing out pamphlets to spread the word Sir Charles Kingsford Smith - the first man to fly between Australia and New Zealand in 1928 - was to visit the town.Southern DC3 at Queenstown

 • Slideshow: Southern DC3 at Queenstown

When Sir Charles arrived in Bowen, rather than paying Mr McLean with money, he took him for a flight in a Fokker F.

VII/3m monoplane, named Southern Cross.

After that flight, Mr McLean, now 87, became "determined to learn to fly".

His determination paid off.

In 1944, at the age of 22, he served in World War 2 as a navigator in RAF Bomber Command, flying in Wellingtons and Halifaxes.

He finished the war with the Distinguished Flying Cross, "just for being a good boy".

At one stage he flew in a Douglas Dakota DC-3, used as a transport aircraft during the war.

Last week, Mr McLean arrived in Queenstown to attend the Michael Hill New Zealand Golf Open at The Hills, not expecting to end his holiday in New Zealand with a scenic flight on a plane built the year he went to war.

However, on Wednesday, he read an article in the Queenstown Times, regarding the Southern DC-3 Trust's visit to the resort with the Southern DC-3, ZK-AMY.

He immediately rang and booked his seat on the plane.

Southern DC3 Trust Captain Dave Horsburgh was delighted by Mr McLean's story and the Australian accorded royal treatment by the trust's representatives, being given a personal guided tour, and invited to sit on the flight deck.

"Everybody welcomed me so warmly.

I was very touched," he said.

"It was just wonderful."

The Southern DC-3 first appeared on the New Zealand aircraft register in 1993 and is thought to be the only operational aircraft of its kind left in New Zealand.

The Douglas Aircraft Company's DC-3 first flew in 1935 and revolutionised commercial air travel.

The Southern DC-3, built in Long Beach, California, was commissioned on June 9, 1944, and saw service with the United States Army Air Force during World War 2.

It was later used as a survey aircraft by Australia's Department of Civil Aviation.

The DC-3 headed to Alexandra on Saturday and Dunedin yesterday and today.

It will also visit Idaburn, Roxburgh, Manapouri-Te Anau, Invercargill, Gore and Oamaru before finishing its tour in Blenheim on February 25.