Survival Vest [Cliff Tait]
Maker and role
Cliff Tait, Attributed to
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Object detail
Accession number
2005.84.3
Maker
Description
A survival vest worn by Cliff Tait during his round the world flight in an Airtourer ZK-CXU aircraft. He wore it at all times under the flight suit. It is a war surplus item. The orange dye stains on the vest are from a dye marker which dyes the water enabling search rescuers to find the lost person. The vest is made of cotton knit fabric and cotton tape at the shoulders. The singlet comprises knitted string and cotton knit shoulder straps. There are 3 deposits of a strong orange dye.
Brief History
This survival vest was worn by Cliff Tait during his round the world flight in 1969 using an Aero Engine Services Limited (AESL) Airtourer single-engined aircraft. Cliff Tait carried out the flight to promote New Zealand and the NZ-built Airtourer to the world. Leaving Hamilton on 12 May 1969, he made the 30,500 mile (49,084 km) trip in 284 hours. Despite a range of challenges along the way, he returned safely to Hamilton on 1 August 1969. Tait made history as the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a New Zealand built aircraft, and probably the first in a single engine aircraft of this small size.
Marks
After washing pull out to original size when drying Label
Media/Materials
Collection
Credit Line
Cliff Tait. Survival Vest [Cliff Tait], 2005.84.3. The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).
![Flight Suit [Cliff Tait]; Cliff Tait](https://collection.motat.nz/records/images/medium/18739/a0059f3086f47ee27cf328ad42102e8eef7dd212.jpg)
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