FAST FLIGHTS BY VISCOUNT

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28559, 12 April 1958, Page 12

FAST FLIGHTS BY VISCOUNT

396 Miles An Hour A tail wind of 103 miles an hour at 26,500 ft enabled the National Airways Corporation’s Viscount to make its fastest flights on the Christchurch to Auckland service. On its return flights its times were comparatively slow. On the north-bound trip of the first return flight of the day the plane’s top ground speed over the 475 miles from Harewood to Whenuapai was 396 miles an hour. The official time for the flight was 1 hour 33 minutes, but this was taken from the time the doors were closed in Christchurch to the time they were opened at Auckland. From airport to airport the time was 83 minutes and an identical time was recorded on the second return flight of the day in the late afternoon. The scheduled time for the flight from Christchurch to Auckland is 1 hour 55 minutes. The south flights were, by comparison, dismally slow. The pilot (Captain J. H. Register) had to battle high winds which he met at 25,000 ft, and on his first flight south he took 2 hours 37 minutes. The afternoon flight from Auckland took 2 Hours 11 minutes.