FLIGHT TO McMURDO

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28700, 25 September 1958, Page 12

FLIGHT TO McMURDO

Skymaster To Use Invercargill

(New Zealand Press Association) INVERCARGILL, Sept. 24.

A United States Navy Skymaster which will take RearAdmiral G. J. Dufek to McMurdo Sound next week will leave from Invercargill airport. The plane is scheduled to leave on the 2100-mile journey to Antarctica next Tuesday, but the take-off will depend on the weather.

The plane will be the largest ever to use Invercargill airport. Because of the big load of fuel it will be carrying and the limited length of the runway, the aircraft will use jet-assisted take-off bottles.

Permission for the flight to be made from Invercargill airport has been given by the city engineer (Mr K. A. Ballinger). Permission was necessary because the Skymaster’s wheel loading will be slightly greater than that for which the runway is licensed. Lieutenant-Commander J. A, Henning said today that Invercargill was being used because it would cut 300 miles off the journey from Christchurch to McMurdo.

Asked if the flight would be the forerunner of others from Invercargill in the future. Lieu-tenant-Commander Henning could not give a definite answer. “That is going to be the question,” he said, “but there might be a plan for launching out from there.”

Special arrangements will be made for the supply of fuel as only about 500 gallons are. kept regularly at the airport and the aircraft’s requirements are expected to be considerably in excess of this figure.