Massey Tutor Honoured

Squadron Leader Hugh Francis, a senior tutor at Massey’s School of Aviation, received a silver meritorious service award at a recent Royal Aeronautical Society dinner. The navigation specialist has been honoured for his long and dedicated service to the industry, and is due to retire at the end of the year. His 18 years at Massey followed a 33-year career in the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Mr Francis served in the RNZAF as a navigator and staff officer, amassing 9,000 flying hours and serving a two-year secondment with the Republic of Singapore Air Force to train navigators. Notable aspects of his RNZAF service include worldwide operations on the C130; being a navigator for Prime Minister Norman Kirk’s historic visit to New Guinea, Indonesia, Singapore, Bangladesh and India in December 1973; and being responsible for the Hercules airdrop of an excavator in the Cook Islands, which was the heaviest load ever dropped, with a total weight of 27,784lbs (12.6 tonnes). After serving at Wigram and Auckland, he completed his Air Force service at Ohakea, where he became Operations Squadron commanding officer. He is currently responsible for ensuring that Massey students taking the ATPL major of the Bachelor of Aviation are able to demonstrate the necessary level of navigation and flight-planning professional knowledge to meet requirements for their licences.