BIRD NAMES

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 149, 21 December 1936, Page 14

BIRD NAMES

NEW AEROPLANES

In naming the three Lockheed Electra passenger aeroplanes which the company has ordered for the new service between Auckland and Wellington, via New Plymouth and Palmerston North, the management of Union Airways (N.Z.), Ltd., has adhered to the principle followed in the naming of the De Havilland machines operating between Palmerston North and Dunedin, of selecting Maori bird names. The three Lockheeds have been named respectively Kereru (wood pigeon), Kotare (kingfisher), and Kuaka (godwit). The registration letters will be; ZK-AFC, ZK-AFD, ZK-AFE. Union Airways expect to have advice early in January as to when the three new machines will be shipped to

■New Zealand, and until this informa--1 -tion comes to hand it is not possible to state definitely when the service is ■likely to commence. • The three aeroplanes are all-metal machines with twin engines and a top speed of approximately 200 miles an hour. They will carry ten passengers and two pilots, and will have liberal provision for luggage and freight. The machines will be fully equipped with the latest blind-flying and navigating instruments, and will have two-way Morse and telephone radio apparatus. They will fly on any one engine and maintain a height of 5800 ft with a full load. Other features of the machines are retractable under-carriages and constant speed propellers.