R.N.Z.A.F. ENTRY IN AIR RACE

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27151, 22 September 1953, Page 10

R.N.Z.A.F. ENTRY IN AIR RACE

PREPARATORY WORK ON HASTINGS

PAYLOAD CALCULATIONS (From A. W. MITCHELL, Special Correspondent N.ZP.A.) LONDON, September 20. A number of complicated mathei matical calculations have been keep- ® > ing Wing Commander R. F. Watson and « • other members of the crew of the r Royal New Zealand Air Force Hast- » rings fully occupied since they arrived * |in England to prepare for the Lon- n : don-Christchurch air race. I Because the purpose of the handi- « • cap section, which they hope—and *■ intend—to win, is to show the effic- _ , : iency of an aircraft measured by cost a tdn-mile of the pay-load carried, { they have been working out the best 1 methods of decreasing the weight of £ • the Hastings itself, while increasing . its payload. Any equipment not required during j i the race—for instance the hook for j ■ ' towing a glider—has been removed. ( Everything will be done to make , ; the aircraft itself as light as possible, ( and it will be washed and polished . at the Radlett airfield by a Handley ; Page team before it is weighed without fuel or oiL It will be weighed I again at the London airport by the > handicappers before the race begins, f It is expected that its payload will : be considerably more than 10 short tons, or more than 20,0001 b, made up of | 27 men and a consignment of aircraft spares. To carry this load with a hope of , winning, the Hastings will have to - cruise at 205 miles an hour at least. I All the members of the crew are fit, and their morale is high. They Ii are all working hard, but they will rest for two complete days before i the take-off. 21 Days to New Zealand It is expected that the Hastings will | reach New Zealand in less than two I days and a half. It will be flown » by two separate crews of five men | each, one headed by Wing Commander Watson and the other by Squadron • Leader C. L. Seigert. They will fly i alternate stages. There is a special refuelling crew I of seven men, and all will occupy •• seats which will allow* them immedi- | ate access to .the w’ings through the | escape hatches. Once the airscrews f have stopped turning, they will move ‘ out on to the wrings to handle the | refuelling hoses. As the race proceeds, the New Zealanders will listen by radio for the I call signs of other aircraft, and will thus be able to work out a picture I' of the race and their position in it. “We expect to pay most attention to the DC6. which we think is our I most formidable opponent,” said Wing I Commander Watson, "and we have • been told by the Dutchmen that they will be paying us a similar compliment. “No doubt there will be some snags during the race, and those which we hope will not occur are excessive head winds and bad visibility at landing points. The first will naturally check our speed, and the second will mean that we will have to do a long letdown procedure, instead of making a straight-forward approach and letdown. We are keeping our fingers crossed.’’