Cargo Too Big For N.A.C. Aircraft

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30745, 8 May 1965, Page 1

Cargo Too Big For N.A.C. Aircraft

For the first time in its history the National Airways Corporation has had to charter a Bristol Freighter to carry cargo that is too big and heavy for it to handle itself.

The cargo is a two-ton armature flown out from Sydney in a Boeing 707 jet aircraft for the cruise ship Seven Seas. The armature is expected to arrive at 5.50 p.m. today, and N.A.C. will fly it up to Auckland on Sunday. The Seven Seas is also expected to arrive at Auckland on Sunday from Wellington. After the armature has been taken aboard she will sail for Suva, Noumea and Sydney before returning to Wellington. N.A.C. has chartered the Bristol Freighter, capable of carrying loads up to 5 tons, from Straits Air Freight because the armature would be too heavy for a DC3. The biggest problem is expected to be the unloading

from the Boeing. The armature is 80in long, 35in wide and 33in high, and it will have to come out of a side door 48in by 49in. First it will have to be turned end on to the door inside the aircraft

The floor of the Boeing has been raised 4in to provide enough width within the curved fuselage to carry the armature. A 5-ton crane and a 4-ton hoist will be on hand at Christchurch airport to lift the heavy cargo from the aircraft.

The armature had to come to Christchurch before going on to Auckland because it is too big to be carried in the Electras plying between Sydney and Auckland.