In
1951 the first topdressing planes landed on the Rush Flat at
Mangamahu, to spread super-phosphate. Not much at first, but
by 1960 my dad was carting 2000 ton a year up to the various
ridge-top airstrips in our district: Kellick's at Mangamahu,
Lilburn's at Rata Flat and Collins's at Aranui.
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In Mangamahu nineteen fifty one1
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When I was a little boy
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An old Tiger Moth flew over our farm
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Like some enormous toy
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They poured super-phosphate into its hopper
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It staggered into the air
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And high up on the ridge a long plume of dust
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As super went everywhere
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Superman, superman, swooping through the sky
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In an old war-surplus Tiger Moth
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Like a funny butterfly.
Then the Tiger was replaced by the Cessna
Such beauty I had never seen
I made a model Cessna for my little brother David
He top-dressed our back lawn __all green.
But back in the hills a Cessna crashed2
And they brought out the pilot dead
And the rich rich green of the young rye grass
Was stained with a bright bright red.
Superman, superman such beauty in the sky
But that Cessna failed to clear that ridge
And we saw the pilot die
(Instrumental,developed from chords of chorus)
(Go up to key of D)
The valley grew so wealthy
From the super-pilots' loads
The farmers all bought big new motor cars
They tar-sealed the back country roads.
The farmers' wives drove out every day
To the big bright shops in town
And the Mangamahu store went bankrupt___
The Mangamahu pub closed down.
Superman, superman
Raining riches from the sky
But we all went chasing the bright city lights
And we let our community die.
(Unaccompanied, slowly)
Superman, oh superman, swooping through the sky
In that old war-surplus Tiger Moth
Like a funny butterfly...
1.
Nineteen fifty one. I watched Beryck Dalcolm
and Gerry Hooper flying two Rural Aviation Tiger Moths
"Tip-it-in" and "Tip-it-on" from the Rush Flat just up-river
from Mangamahu village in 1951. But they first come to our
valley in 1950, when they topdressed Sutherland's (now
Wharekai) 25 km down-river. Gerry Hooper was one of the
first topdressing pilots to be killed, when Tip-it-on
crashed at Keilawarra near Marton on March 31, 1953. Beryck
Dalcom became chief instructor of the Wanganui Flying Club.
2.
A Cessna crashed. Actually it was a big Rural
Aviation Beaver,
piloted by Ramsey McGill. His Beaver's supercharger failed
as he was clearing the old Ridge Road behind Craigdean farm.
The
Beaver was built so strongly it was practically undamaged,
but pilots wore no helmets or shoulder harness in those
days, and Mr McGill died when he hit his head on the
instrument panel.
For dramatic unity, I made the plane a Cessna in this song.
