ELECTRAWING CHANGES

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29269, 29 July 1960, Page 12

ELECTRAWING CHANGES

T.EA.Ls Plans Announced

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, July 28. Tasman Umpire Airways Ltd., will send two Electras to California at the end of December and the third in February for modifications to their wings, said Mr F. A. Beeves, general manager of the airline, today. The company would bring its three DC6’s back into service from December to the end of February. The first two Electras would return to New Zealand at the end of January, and the third at the end of February. Each aircraft would be in the Lockheed workshops for a month. The manufacturer would pay for the modifications, said Mr Reeves. The speed restrictions on the Electras, in force since a second Electra crashed in America in March, would be lifted on each aircraft as the work on it was completed. The cost of running the Electras at reduced speeds was borne by the airline, Mr Reeves added. The extra aircraft operating costs were not great, but T.EA.L. was incurring considerable expense because there was a temporary ban on the use of the auto-pilot, and the aircraft were carrying a third pilot. The company’s three DC6*s, at present standing outside its hangar at Whenuapai, would not need any great amount of work before they were flown, said Mr Reeves. There would be a big job, however, in setting up the workshops again to deal with them while they were flying. Most of the T.E.A.L. crews would have to go through a short course at the Mechanics Bay technical training school to convert them back to flying pistonengined aircraft.