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Story: Modern mapping and surveying

Establishing a control point, 1971

Video file

Surveyors are dropped off by helicopter in the mountains near Karamea, on the West Coast, in 1971 to establish a control point for an aerial survey. Technology such as helicopters and electronic measuring devices made it much easier and quicker to establish trig points, although the New Zealand weather still complicated things. These men had been waiting three weeks for suitable flying weather.

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Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: An inch to a mile. National Film Unit, 1971

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

Melanie Lovell-Smith, Modern mapping and surveying – Mapping and surveying, 1950–1980, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/18910/establishing-a-control-point-1971 (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Melanie Lovell-Smith, published 18 June 2012, updated 1 August 2018.