CIVIL AVIATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 November 1944, Page 6

CIVIL AVIATION

OCEAN' TRAFFIC

MONTREAL, Oct. 30.

Approximately twenty-live thousand aircraft have been flown across the Atlantic in four years in the snowballing development of an idea which at the outset was dubbed impractical, says th£ Canadian Press. Nearly half the total were flown within the past year, the variety of planes ferried ranged from Mosquitoes which made the NewfoundlandScotland hop in 6-| hours, to Liberators which fly regularly from Montreal to South Africa, 3600 miles nonstop. R.A.F. transport command has built up a tremendous ferry service so that crews can be returned in. the shortest possible time. As. many as one hundred Transatlantic delivering planes have been started from Montreal base in a single day. R.A.F. transport group is now turning eyes westward. Survey flights are being completed to get personnel and supplies into the Pacific quickly, therefore aircraft from Montreal will soon be flying direct to California, thence to Australia via Honolulu and New Zealand. The R.A.F. Squadrons' new Pacific service will probably be in full swing next month, possibly on the fourth anniversary of the foundation of the Atlantic ferry service. They will find little new in the Pacific jobs, because they pioneered the British route to Australia from Canada in 1941, flying bombers there for a year until the United States entered the war.

PACIFIC SURVEY. SYDNEY, October 31. The Australian airman, Captain P. G. Taylor, has arrived in Sydney after a survey flight of the Pacific for the Royal Air Force Transport Command. It was his 25th Pacific air crossing. He captained an R.A.F. Catalina and his crew included Flight Lieutenant J. Henderson of New Zealand, as navigator. Discussing the purposes of the survey, Captain Taylor said he understood the R.A.F. proposed to send aircraft to the Pacific theatre after Germany capitulated. His survey had been most exhaustive, occupying some weeks and covering large areas. He said that so far he knew the survey flight had nothing to do with a military air service to operate between Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

LONDON-SYDNEY SERVICE

SYDNEY, October 31.

The managing-director of Qantas Empire Airways (Mr. Hudson Fysh) has gone to London for important discussions with officials of British Overseas Airways. The main subject will be the establishment of an express air service between Australia and England in the early post-war years. It is thought it may be possible to open this service soon after the fall of Germany and before the end of the Pacific war.

Before his departure Mr. Fysh said the service planned would be a daily one, the journey from Sydney to London taking 72 hours. The operation of a 72 hours’ service over a 12,000mile route would involve the use of long-range sleeper transports with high cruising speeds. Landing points would be limited to six or eight, and passengers would spend only a few hours on the ground during the trip.

RUSSIA’S ATTITUDE

WASHINGTON, October 30

The hope that Russia’s withdrawal from the Aviation Conference would not. affect its participation in the world security talks was expressed by the Acting-Secretary of State (Mr Stettinius) at his Press Conference to-day. He said Spain, Portugal and Switzerland, countries Russia objected to attending international aviation meetings, had not been informed about the world organisation’s plans. The Associated Press says it is believed that Mr Stalin personally intervened and ordered Russia’s withdrawal from the Chicago Conference. The impression in Washington is that Russia has decided to follow a policy of stern opposition to anti-Soviet influences, wherever they appear, regardless of diplomatic complications resulting from this policy.