Henry Piet Drury van Asch (4 May 1911 – 27 October 1996, in

Hastings, New Zealand Hastings (; mi, Heretaunga) is an inland city of New Zealand and is one of the two major urban areas in Hawke's Bay, on the east coast of the North Island. The population of Hastings (including Flaxmere) is (as of with a further people in H ...

) was a New Zealand aviator, aerial photographer and surveyor. He was born in Waitotara,

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

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in 1911. The first aircraft van Asch bought, in 1936, was a Monospar ST-25 Universal which he named Manu Rere (registered as ZK-AFF). The Monospar was retired in 1943 and Aerial Mapping took delivery of a

Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general aviati ...

, which had been imported by the RNZAF. In 1967 the old Monospar was restored and put back into flying condition, it was the last remaining plane of its sort. After having logged about 6700 commercial flying hours van Asch retired in 1980. Van Asch was one of the prime figures responsible for the transformation of New Zealand's cadastral maps into accurate topographical maps. He was an honorary member of the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. In the 1953 Coronation Honours, van Asch was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to civil aviation, especially in connection with aerial survey. He was promoted to

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to aerial mapping, in the 1979 Queen's Birthday Honours. Van Asch died on 27 October 1996 in Hastings. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.

External links

* Picture of van Asch at his desk at the offices of New Zealand Aerial Mapping Limited

References

1911 births 1996 deaths New Zealand aviators New Zealand surveyors New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire {{NewZealand-bio-stub