WHEN: Friday 3 July 2026
WHERE: Boeing Room Classic Flyers. 9 Jean Batten Place, Mount Maunganui.
SUBJECT: Our presenter at this meeting will be Des Underwood who will present his review of the history of Airspread Ltd, founded by Ron Graham in 1949.
As well tracing, Ron’s personal history and his military service in WW2, his return to the Bay of Plenty after having been demobbed from the RNZAF.
The presentation will cover
• Ron’s involvement with the Tauranga Aero Club
• Setting up an aerial topdressing operation at Tauranga Airport
• The aircraft types and people employed by the company
• The company’s area of topdressing operations which will surprise you
• Concluding with, what happened to the aircraft and the company name.
Bruce Johnston contributed some photographs and a narrative about his father who was an Airspread staff member, giving him a firsthand view of the company’s operations in Mt Maunganui while growing up as a schoolboy.