AIR SERVICE ACROSS COOK STRAIT

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 79, 27 December 1935, Page 10

AIR SERVICE ACROSS COOK STRAIT

Fast Flight of Rapides

SPEED AND COMFORT OF AIR-LINERS

.Striking illustration of how speed and comfort have been combined in air transport was provided yesterday for passengers on the two D.H. Dragon Rapides of Cook Strait Airways, Did., when the machines, beiug taken to Nelson for the opening of the service ou Monday, were flown in less than three hours of actual travelling time from Auckland to Wellington, and then crossed Cook Strait in under three-quarters of an hour to Nelson. ~ . The machines are similar to the Tainui, which was flown in the air race from Mildenhall to Melbourne and theu across the Tasman .Sea by Squadron Leader J. D. Hewett ami Flying Officer C. E. Kay. At each stopping-place, considerable interest was shown in then appearance and equipment, especially the seating for passengers in the cabin and the instruments for blind flying for the pilots. At Ilobsonvillc, where the machines were assembled by the agents of the makers, there was a small crowd to see the departure of the machines, including two of the inevitable small boys. If their enthusiasm is typical there can be no doubt of the interest of the young in flying. One said he had ridden his -bicycle 10 miles, double-banking his companion, to be present at the take-off. The Cook Strait Airways colour scheme is distinctive and attractive. The wings, tail and fuselage are painted silver, the top of the fuselage jet black and the under-carriage, struts ami waistline pale blue. In the cabin soft grey is the predominaling colour. The carpet is pale grey, the hangings on the cabin wall are pale grey, the upholstery on the seats is pale grey. Only the jet black of the chair legs and the shine of the plated ventilation and heater pipes and the coat and hat hangers near each seat relieve. Luggage piled away in the storage compartment back of the passenger cabin, each pilot took his. place in the little cabin in the nose of the machine, where there is every aid to safe, flying on a dashboard covered with instruments and headphones for wireless telegraphy and telephony communication hang within easy reach. Comfort in Cabin. Flight Lieutenant G. B. Bolt, chief pilot to the company, flew one machine, and Flying Officer S. A. Orchard, his assistant, a conspicuous figure in an im-maculately-whitc flying suit, the other. Five passengers were soon aboard, one being a reporter of “The Dominion.’’ After a comparatively short run across the aerodrome the machines were in the air. Auckland, spread below iu an irregular expanse of suburbs, was circled quickly, and iu a few minutes the machines were headed down the coast for Taranaki. Hobsonville quickly receded from sight, gradually Auckland disappeared out of view, and everyone aboard settled down for the flight to New Plymouth. Settling down is easy in such machines, for the passengers. The chairs are slung low to the floor and have adjustable backs, so that the traveller may sit almost bolt upright or lean back almost as much as in a barber’s chair when having a shave. Moreover, there is ample leg room and the arm rests a.re comfortable. Six seats are provided in the cabin of each machine, with long and deep windows at chest level.

Out of these the passengers were soon busy absorbing the beauties of a countryside rich with the fertility of summer when seen from above on a cloudless day, flanked by an almost incredibly blue sea. Mr. W. Temple, the chief engineer to the company, apparently has no eye for beauty, because he immediately became absorbed in the pages of a book, and remained indifferent to the scene along the route practically throughout the flight. But then flying long ago lost its novelty for him. Mr. E. H. Thomson, managing director of the company, looked at the scene with the eye of a photographer. He was soon busy at an open window with his camera, and on the first three legs of the flight he created an unofficial record for the taking of air pictures, using three films before the machines reached. Wellington.

Mrs. G. B. Bolt,, making her first really long cross-country flight, showed quick appreciation of beauty as seen from the air, especially of cloud fornia.tions, of which one stretching for miles out to sea, looking like au immense field of foam, was passed. The Gipsy engines of 200 horsepower each, two iu each machine, roared tbroatily as the planes sped along at between 130 and 140 miles an hour, but iu the cabin conversation was not at all difficult. Mr. Thomson, between dashes to the open window with his camera, marked off on a map the towns the planes rushed over. Auckland was left at 9.45 and Kawhia was underneath at 10.35. Pioneer Flight Recalled. This must have brought back memories to Flight Lieutenant Bolt. On October 4, 1921, in a Supermarine flying-boat used by Walsh Bros, aud Dexter, of Auckland, in their attempts to establish commercial aviation after the New Zealand Flying School had finished its tusk of training New Zealand pilots for war, he made the lir-st one-day flight from Auckland Io Wellington. On that occasion he left Auckland at 7 o'clock and reached Kawhia at 8.15—75 minutes for a journey which he made yesterday in 50.

The contrast must have appealed to him, if he thought of it. Probably he did not, for though one of the most tried and proved pilots iu the country, no man talks less of himself or bis performances. His Siipeini.'iriiie of what have come to be known as lho “good old days” of flying, will, a. Siddeley Puma engine of 230 horse-power, managed 70 miles an houi. The Dragon Rapide he flew yesterday, with 400 horse-power, can cruise nt HO miles an hour. The Sujwrimirine carried three passengers and a pilot. The Rapide takes six passengers and a pilot in comfort.

It was peculiarly Utting that the man who pioneered the route in the earliest attempts to introduce aerial transport to the country should have been the one to lead the way. in the flight yesterday over the same route of two of the most efficient passenger aircraft in the world. Bell Block aerodrome was touched at 11.15. A knot of people awaited the machines there and conspicuous for his attention to the visitors was I-’light Lieutenant lan Keith, instructor to the Western Federated Aero Club. An acceptable cup of morning tea provided by the club remains an impression of the brief stay there, as does the length of the runways on the aerodrome. When the machines touched ground it'

almost seemed that if the pilots wished to reach the other end of the ’drome it would be quicker to take off again and fly there than to taxi across. A Tasman Flyer Drops In. The crowd inspected the machines with eagerness, but interest was diverted after about a quarter of an hour by the arrival from Auckland of Mr. W. M. O'Hara, the Tasman flyer, in his Klemm Eagle. A few minutes after his machine came two Moths flown by members of the Western Federated Aero Club, who had been on cross-country jaunts for Christmas. A New Plymouth patriot was at some pains to point out that, with five planes landing there in about a quarter of an hour. New Plymouth was rapidly becoming as busy as Croydon '

New Plymouth was left at 12.15, and, eating up distance, the machines flew over Stratford, Eltbam. and Patea, landing at Wanganui at 12.55. It is impossible to mistake the aerodrome at Wanganui. Pumice has been sunk into trenches on one of the boundaries of the landing area to form the words “Wanganui Airport.” From the air the letters look like a gigantic white-wash sign painted on the ground. Wanganui gave the visitors a cordial welcome, oven to a light lunch in the club house. Mr. IV. J. Rogers, Mayor of Wanganui, made a short speech, in which he thanked the company for giving the citizens the opportunity to see the machines, and congratulated it upon the enterprise it had shown in establishing its service. He was supported by Mr. R. J. Franklin, a member of the Wanganui Aero _Cluh and the Wanganui Airport Committee. Mr. Thomson replied for the company, and Flight Lieutenant Bolt was prevailed upon to make what was announced as a speech but which developed into au expression of thanks containing about as many words as could be written on the back of a postage stamp. For brevity his speeches always rival those of Squadron Leader M. C. McGregor.

From Wanganui, left at 12.55, the machines followed the coast, Flight Lieutenant Bolt flying low' along the beach and Flying Officer Orchard higher out to sea. Before long the pilots, on their radio, were hearing the records beiug played from 2YA. About Kapiti Island the planes were turned inland and soon were roaring across Wellington harbour.

Flight Lieutenant Bolt, as at the previous stops, landed his machine first at Rongotai, side-slipping to lose height after gliding iu high and making a graceful landing. Flying Officer Orchard flew in on bis engines very low. At each aerodrome the long and flat gliding angle of the machines in approaching was evident, as was their quick climbing ability in (ake-offs. The planes landed at 2.45.

Wellington Aero Club members and representatives of Union Airways, Ltd., were among those who greeted the machines, there being a, sizeable crowd with many ears parked along Kingsford Smith Street. As nt New Plymouth, a short flight over the city was made by one machine with passengers from among those on the aerodrome. Welcome to Nelson.

Al Rongotai the machines were refuelled. Mr. E. A. Gibson, engineer in charge of aerodrome const ruction for the Public Works Department, joined one plane at Wellington, flying to Nelson to in.snect the aerodrome at Stoke. The machine,s took off at about 3.45, and were at Nelson at 4.28. The home-coming was enthusiastic, there being a crowd of several hundreds on (he aerodrome. Afternoon lea wa ? served in the hangar of the company, and addresses were given by the clia irina n of the Nelson Harbour Board, which is Nelson Airpoit Commiltee. Mr. A. Gould, ami the Hou. W. W. .Snodgrass, M.L.C. The establishment of the service with Nelson as its headquarters was described as an important development in Hie progress of Nelson and Marlborough. Mr. 11. C. Cock, chairman of directors of the company, and Mr. D. J. I*. 8. Jamieson, one of the directors, replied for the company.

To-day the machines will be overhauled and will be flown to Wellington, so that further tests may be made with the radio equipment and landings may be practised at Rongotai. To-morrow further practice flights will be made over the route, and the service will open on Monday. The company has placed an order will, (lie makers for one of the new Dll 90 machines, a two-engined, fotir-seater plane with a cruising speed of 130 miles an hour. The machine will be used for air taxi and ambulance work,, and for the extension of the regular services of the company to Hokitika.