N.A.C. Wants To Buy Seven More Friendships

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29051, 13 November 1959, Page 12

N.A.C. Wants To Buy Seven More Friendships

(New Zeaiana Pres* Association) AUCKLAND, November 12. Sir Leonard Isitt, chairman of the National Airways Corporation,- said today that the Corporation had recommended the Government to purchase another seven Fokker Friendships. Four Friendships were ordered earlier this week. Sir Leonard Isitt said all the grass runways now served by DC-3’s should be sealed within three or four years so that they could take Friendships. It was a long-range plan of the Civil Aviation Administration to have the secondary runways throughout the country sealed. Asked again if he thought this could be done in three or four years, Sir Leonard Isitt said: “Yes, I think so.”

He said the corporation wanted to use Friendships on the secondary routes.

Sir Leonard Isitt said it was impossible to find an aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage which would be of regular Use to N.A.C. on grass runways in the wet climate here. The Dart Herald was in the same position

as the Friendship in this respect. N.A.C. had even had trouole with the small Heron aircraft on grass runways.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Civil Aviation (Mr Mathison) has asked the Administration for a paper listing an order of priority for sealing secondary runways. Mr Mathison reiterated the conditions which must obtain before alterations could be made to runways. These were:

(1) That there must be an acceptable local authority to enter into a 50-50 cost-sharing agreement with the Government; (2) That the Goverment requires to know when finance would be available.

The third factor Is the traffic requirements of N.A.C. which were subject to change. Mr Mathison today said he felt Sir Leonard Isitt was somewhat optimistic in expecting fully sealed airport reticulation in four years.