COMPLETED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 67, 20 March 1937, Page 7

COMPLETED.

AUCKLAND PLANS. ARRIVAL NEXT WEEK. RADIO STATION WORKING. All details have been completed in connection with the arrival next week of the Pan-American Airways survey Clipper now on her way from San Francisco to New Zealand. The earliest possible date of arrival is Tuesday morning, but it is not expected that she will be here until Wednesday or Thursday. Nothing definite will be known until she takes off from Pago Pago on her last "hop."

Up to 1 p.m. to-day Mr. Harold Gatty had received no word of the probable time of departure from Honolulu for Kingman Reef. The weather reports, he said, were favourable all along the route, and a 'plane could come right through now. The radio station that had been established in Auckland to enable officials of the company to keep in constant touch with the Clipper after her departure from Pago Pago on her last hop to Auckland had been tested and was now in working order. It was in communication with Pago Pago last night. Messages would probably come through regularly to-night.

Mr. Gatty said that he was receiving numerous requests for the 'plane to make a tour of the Dominion, but no decision had been made as to what would be the programme when the Clipper arrived. That depended entirely upon circumstances. The latest telegram was from the Xew Plymouth airport, asking if it were possible for the Clipper to visit the port, but, if not, that she should be allowed to circle around the city in the event of a flight down the coast. Where to Land. Many inquiries have been made as to where the Clipper will land in the harbour, but Mr. Gatty is unable to say. as it depends on the time of arrival, the weather conditions and the captain's judgment. A fleet of motor launches will be available to mark out the channel in the event of the landing being after dark, a remote possibility, but in any case a high-powered speed boat will be in waiting to pilot the flying boat to her moorings. The Hobsonville air base is co-operating and eight men members of the Royal Air Force will be detailed to 1 >iid a hand with the lines when the Clipper taxies to her moorings. Every precaution is being taken to eliminate the risk of fire during refuelling operations and the city traffic department has arrangements completed for controlling vehicular and pedestrian traffic during the stay of the "plane in Auckland. Dense crowds are anticipated and the children are looking forward to the visit of the great aeroplane mor* enthusiastically j>erhaps than their parents. For them it will be as great an event as for the country, marking as it does a new era in the history of New Zealand. There are those who consider the visit of this survey Clipper the greatest event in New Zealand history since the landing of Captain Cook. Welcoming; Plans. Mr. Gatty said to-day that he hoped that plans would not be made for an aerial escort. It was a difficult task to escort a large fast machine, as the accompanying craft travelled at a much slower pace and it meant throttling down, and there was some hazard in the venture. Welcoming aeroplanes flying over the city would not interfere with the 'plane. All that Captain Musick required was ample room to bring his flying boat safely down in the harbour j and a clear run to her moorings.