65 years ago, on the 6th of November 1961, the Mount Cook and Southern Lakes Tourist Company, later known as Mount Cook Airlines, commenced scheduled services with the company's first Douglas DC-3, ZK-BKD, flying from Christchurch to Mount Cook, Cromwell and Te Anau under the command of was Captain J G Irving (seconded from NAC) and First Office G L Small with W A Burns acting as purser looking after the 16 passengers on board.
The following day the Press reported om the flight...
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| The Press, 7 November 1961 |
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| The first timetable |
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For the first summer the flights operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Queenstown was not certified for DC-3 operations and so Queenstown passengers were bussed between Cromwell and Queenstown.
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| Douglas DC-3 ZK-BKD at Cromwell |
So began the story of one of New Zealand's most amazing airlines. My profile on Mount Cook through to the mid 1990s can be found here... https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2014/02/mount-cook-airlines-part-1-1960s-birth.html
My profile
ZK-BKD has now been resident at Smash Palace Bar in Banks Street, Gisborne for just-over three decades. I made a throw-away comment to bar and winery owner Phil Parker during a Sunday afternoon drinking session about a Douglas DC-3 which was in danger of being cut-up after the land it was on near Rotorua had been sold and rather flippantly suggested it would be a great addition to all the rest of the weird and wonderful stuff at his bar. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at Smash Palace a couple of weeks later, and there was BKD sitting in the then-vacant adjacent paddock. And the rest is history. The bar has gone through a few ownership changes since then, but the DC-3 is still part of the furniture.
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