BENEATH THE WINDSOCK

Evening Star, Issue 22595, 12 March 1937, Page 2

BENEATH THE WINDSOCK

by gypsy inoth

FLYING TO BUSINESS. A Miles Whitney Straight low-wing monoplane has been bought by Mr Harold Edwards, Wellington, for use in his business as a builder and contractor. Mr Edwards has contracts in many parts of the country requiring his personal inspection and supervision, and he will use the aeroplane for quick travel from town to town. This is the first instance in New Zealand where a business man has purchased his own aeroplane with the intention of operating it himself in the ordinary of business. Mr Edwards gained his flying license at the Wellington Aero Club, and he is one of the club’s staunchest supporters. He is an experienced and capable pilot who has made flights in Moths to most of the aerodromes in New Zealand. He has consented to his machine being used by the Wellington Aero Club for training and general purposes when he does not require it. Under this arrangement the club has agreed to maintain the aeroplane and to pay Mr Edwards a percentage of the fees earned by it. The machine is of the same type as that ordered recently for inspection and survey work by the Public Works De«. partnlent and that bought for'the advanced training of pilots by the Canterbury Aero Club. >•. It is a cabin monoplane, with side-by-side seating for two, with provision for two control columns. With a D.H, Gipsy Major engine, it has a maximum speed of 145 miles an hour and a cruising speed of 130 miles an hour, with a range of 570 miles. Flaps to reduce forward speed in landing and to help in the take-off are fitted, and the machine takes off in 145yds and lands in 100yds.

ME r. W. HERRICK’S EXPERIENCES. After flying 30,000 miles, from Sydney to the Ear East, to England, and then back to Sydney;- Mr F. I). Herrick, of Tautana, Hawke’s Bay, returned last month, still firmly convinced that there is no way of travel to compare with flight. Mr Herrick has established something of a reputation as an air-traveller, for he was the first person to book a passage from Sydney to London by Imperial Airways. With Mr F. C. Chichester, the famous Wellington airman, for pilot, he left Sydney last June for che East, with the intention of traversing Siberia from east to west. They were refused permission to enter Russia, however, and had to retrace their path to Burma, and travel by the orthodox air route to Europe. From London Mr Herrick flew back to Sydney by the regular air liners, and crossed the Tasman by the Wanganella. Mr Herrick said that the entire trip had been made without serious mishap, the most noteworthy incident being when the flyers had a trying experience in a typhoon near Hongkong, while Mr Herrick had an arm broken by the propeller when landing at Bagdad. The landing at Bagdad was made in the dark, and Mr Herrick, in attempting to locate his bearings, ran foul of the revolving propeller, and had an arm broken. This caused further delay. Mentioning the Timor Sea crossing, Mr Herrick said this did not hold any ot the terrors often associated with this stretch of water, the weather on this- occasion being fine. “ Successful air travel depends a great deal upon the comfort of the seats,”, said Mr Herrick. “If they are comfortable they make all the difference.”

2,000 MILES A DAY. W,ith the inauguration of the new Nelspn-Greymouth-Hokitika air mail service the distance flown daily in New Zealand by aeroplanes carrying mails totals nearly 2,000 miles (states the ‘ New Zealand Herald ’). The new service, which will be operated thrice weekly, involves a route mileage of 280 miles. Air mail in New Zealand is still of small proportions, but the growth in business ' has been constant. The Palmerston North-Dunedin and the Nelson-Blenheim-W ellington services commenced in March, 1936, and the Gisborne-Napier route has been utilised by the. Post Office since last December. Excluding abnormal figures due to philatelic demand for first-day covers, the following averages of letters carried weekly indicate how steadily the popularity of air mail for letter transit is growing Weekly Average. April, 1936 ... 12,325 September, 1936 ...' ... 17,518 December, 1936 19,339 January, 1937 ... ... 19,434 For the week ended February 7 the letters despatched totalled 21,044, and in the week which ended on February 14, 21,936 letters were carried by air mail. The air mail parcel scheme was introduced in May, 1936, and the packages handled during the past few months x-epresented double the average business of the first months of the service. During the Christmas “ rush ” period, acknowledged to be the week ended December 27, 331 parcels were carried by air mail.