NEW AEROPLANE TESTED

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22110, 4 June 1937, Page 10

NEW AEROPLANE TESTED

♦ LOCKHEED ELECTRA TAKES THE AIR FLIGHT FROM AUCKLAND TO PALMERSTON NORTH [THE PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, June 3. The first of the two Lockheed Electra monoplanes, which arrived from the United States last week for Union Airways, took the air in successful test flights at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base at Hobsonville this morning. The factory test pilot, Mr Moye W. Stephens, jun., was at the controls, ths co-pilot's seat being occupied by Mr D. E. Hixson, the Lockheed engineer, who superintended ' the assembling of the machines. All preparations for the tests were completed early, and the monoplane was wheeled from the hangar by the ground staff, watched by a small crowd of interested visitors. The supercharged motors responded to the first touch of the electric starters, and were thoroughly warmed and then tested at speed before the machine was allowed to move. Mr Stephens then taxied the Lockheed to the far end of the runway, the machine almost disappearing behind a slight rise in the grounH, some 500 yards from the hangars. A shattering roar announced the opening of the throttles for the take-off,, and the waiting spectators saw the scarlet nose and motor cowlings and the tapered silver wing as the monoplane appeared over the gentle rise in the field. Long before it had been expected, Mr Stephens lifted the ship into the air, and the moment it was clear he moved the control actuating the retractable undercarriage, the wheels and landing gear folding quickly back into the under-side of the wings. Climbing swiftly in a gentle turn, the monoplane was levelled off at about 500 feet, and several circuits of the flying field were made at varying speeds. Steep and gentle turns followed in rapid succession before Mr Stephens gave the spectators the thrill of the morning. Holding the monoplane in a gentle dive, he flashed across the field at considerably more than 200 miles an hour, both motors roaring, and the airscrews sending back a rush of wind that flattened the grass. The wing-flaps and wheei brakes were convincingly demonstrated in landing. The monoplane came in easily and slowly, and was taxied back to the hangars, where waiting mechanics filled the main tanks and checked over the craft. No adiustments were necessary. " Four passengers, in addition to Mr Stephens, went aboard the Lockheed shortly before midday for a flight to Faimerston North. They were* Mr B A. Blythe, senior pilot to Union Airways who took the co-pilot's seat, Mr F. Maurice Clarke, manager of the company, Mr L. Mangham, chiet ground engineer, and Mr W. H Hindle New Zealand manager for Brown and Bureau, Ltd., agents for Lockheed products. The additional load made no appreciable difference in the takeoff, the machine taking the air after a remarkably short run. Mr Stephens h f a l ed k ack ove r the southern part of the city and for a moment the slim outline of the silver ship was silhouetted against the white cloud, lne next minute it was out of sight