Henry Rodolph Wigley

Infobox Person
name =Sir Henry Rodolph Wigley

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birth_date =2 February 1913
birth_place =(South Island, New Zealand
death_date =15 September 1980
death_place =Christchurch
education =Timaru Boys’ High School, Christ's College, Canterbury
occupation =Businessman
spouse =Isabella Jessie Allpor
other_name =Harry Wigley
parents =Jessie Christie Grant
Rodolph Lysaght Wigley
children =5
nationality =New Zealander

Sir Harry Wigley, born Henry Rodolph Wigley (2 February 1913 – 15 September 1980) was a pilot, entrepreneur and pioneer of the New Zealand tourism industry.

In the 1930s Wigley entered the family firm, the Mount Cook Tourist Company of New Zealand which his father had founded, but he had begun pilot training while in his teens, and at the outbreak of World War II joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force, first as a flying instructor, then as a fighter pilot in the Pacific - leaving with the rank of Wing Commander

He had been captain of the New Zealand ski team in 1936–37, and after the war led his company in establishing new ski-fields and facilities at Coronet Peak and Lake Ohau.

In the early 1950s he also encouraged the company to involve itself in the aerial topdressing businesses, and in 22 September 1955 he successfully landed on the snowfield of the Tasman Glacier with an Auster Aiglet aircraft fitted with retractable wooden skis of his own design. After that flight, which was reputed to be the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere, ski-plane trips to Tasman Glacier became a key part of the Mt Cook tourism [http://www.teara.govt.nz/TheBush/BushAndMountainRecreation/Skiing/3/en] .

ee also

* Bill Hamilton (engineer)

External links

* http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=5W29
* http://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/SouthCanterbury/SouthCanterbury/11/ENZ-Resources/Biography/1/en
* http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nzlscant/wigley.htm
* http://www.newzealand.com/travel/media/features/adventure/adventure_mtcookski_feature.cfm/topic/9986353f-bcd8-304b-0805-657c868210f9.html