TRUNK AIR ROUTE

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 137, 6 December 1935, Page 10

TRUNK AIR ROUTE

ASSEMBLING MACHINES

JOB NEARING COMPLETION

WORK AT WIGRAM

With only a few minor adjustments to be made, the biggest aircraft assembling job ever undertaken in New Zealand is virtually completed, and the first of the de Havilland express airliners to be used by Union Airways between Palmerston North and Dunedin stands in one of the big new hangars at AVigram Aerodrome, almost ready to take the air, states the "Press " Even the size of the hangar, just bein" completed for the Air Force, cannot dwarf the express, which, with its span °^ tj height of nearly 13*t, length of 44ft, and weight of nearly 3 tons is the largest aeroplane ever seen in New Zealand. Its four Gipsy six engines give it a total of 800 horse-power more than, any other aeroplane in the Dominion, and a higher top speed than is reached even by the service machines of the New Zealand Air Force, besides security. The assembling of the first of the expresses, the Karoro, began on November 26, and within three or four days the fuselage, under-carriage, and engines had been fixed in place, only the addition of the inner sections of the wings, which soon followed, being needed to give the Karoro the look of an aeroplane. Yesterday, except for the absence of the streamlined cowling for engines and landing wheels, it looked complete. The long, pointed nose, the sharplytapered wings, and the low-set engines on the bottom wing give the machine a look of speed, and the company's colours—red top to fuselage, thin black line, and silver for the lower portion and the wings—make an attractive finish. The layman might imagine the Karoro flying as it is, but actually the last few adjustments being carried out by Air Force mechanics, under the direction of Mr. R. Scott-King, the de Havilland Company's expert, who came from England to supervise the erection of the aeroplanes, are quite as important as the earlier work of fitting wings to fuselage and engines to wings. Skilled riggers are busy with levels and gauges checking and adjusting the wings and' tail planes—work of extreme exactitude. When the wings and tail surfaces are correctly in place there are further fine adjustments of the controls—ailerons, elevators, and rudders. Little actual work had to be done in the cabin, for the twelve metal chairs, built of light tubing with comfortable upholstery, were in position in the fuselage as it was shipped. Such small things remained to be (jon(nected as the pipes that carry air warmed by the engines into the cabin for cold-weather flying, and the ventilating system, by which each passenger can control his own supply of fresh air, was checked over. The cabin is roomy and so high that even the tallest passengers will be able to stand erect in it. The seats can be quickly removed so that ambulance cases can be carried. FULL EQUIPMENT. Though the company does not propose to do any night flying at present, the machines are fully equipped for operating after dark. In the. nose, right at the front of the roomy baggage locker that occupies the space in front of the pilots, is a large light, the size of a motor-car headlight and more powerful, that the pilots can dip to light up the ground for landing. Un- j derneath the fuselage are two plain lights for signalling to the ground, and a third, which shines white behind, red to port, and green to starboard in the marine fashion that is also recognised in the air.

The current for these lights, as well as for charging batteries for the radio installation, and for the self-starters fixed to each engine, is supplied by a small wind-driven generator on the upper wing.

The parts of the Karoro, and of the Kotuku and the Korimako are not new to each other, for the aeroplanes, each smallest component approved by a representative of the Air Ministry's Aeronautical Inspection Department, were assembled and tested in England before being taken down for shipment. And though the rigging is extremely skilled work there is no possibility of errors which might interfere with the flying qualities of the machines.

Meanwhile the company's general organisation plans are going ahead rapidly. The service manager, Mr. M. C. McGregor, who bought the machines in England, spends his days at the aerodrome, watching progress, and the chief pilots, Messrs. Blythe, Gerrand, and White,, are waiting in Christchurch for the test nights. Mr. Blythe has had considerable experience with the Express type while flying for Jersey Airways, and the others are experienced men to whom flying large and extensively-equipped machines will present no difficulty. The four copilots, Messrs. Duthie, Harvie, Brownjohn, and McLeod, are at present doing a thorough course in aircraft radio in Wellington. Most of the other activity is concentrated at the two terminal points. Palmerston North and Dunedin, though special motor-driven fuelling plants—to reduce the time for intermediate stops—are being installed at Christchurch and Blenheim.

The most interesting moment in the preparation for the service \Vill come when Mr. Scott-King is finally satisfied that all is as it should be, that every detail has been attended to. and the Karoro—ZK-AEG on the Civil Aviation Department's register—undergoes her baptism in New Zealand air.