ENGLAND REACHED

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 February 1947, Page 6

ENGLAND REACHED

TWO DAKOTAS FROM NEW ZEALAND CREWS FOR MOSQUITO PLANES [N.Z.P.A- SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT] (Rec. 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, February 6. Snow was falling when two Dakotas with 28 aircrew who are to ferry Mosquitos to New Zealand landed at' Manston in Kent. They are under the command of Wing Commander L. H. Parry, A.F.C., of Auckland. x The men expect to fly on to Pershore in Worcestershire, this afternoon. ' There aircrews will have to await an improvement in the weather before their Mosquitos can be tested again and the ferry begun. After an inspection, .the two Dakotas are expected to take off for New Zealand about February 19. Officer’s Comments, “We had a most enjoyable. flight and everybody is fit and well,” said VZing Commander Parry. “All the way from New Zealand to India the weather was excellent and we did not meet a drop of rain. We ran into a strong head wind in Irak. It was blowing about 65 to 70 miles an hour. It was very cold in Palestine and we had a dust storm at El Adem. “Due to the weather, the aircraft got separated at Malta, one going via Marseilles to Manston, the other flying via Lyons and Paris,” said Wing Commander Parry. “The. aircraft stood up very well to the flight—the first ever made by Dakotas from New Zealand to England, I believe—and were not affected by the extremes of temperatures. In Australia we had 107 degrees and here at Manston it is about minus two or three. The only delay occurred at Singapore, where one aircraft had to have -an engine change. We were there for eight days.” Left on January 12. The Dakotas left New Zealand on January 12.The route to Malta was via Norfolk Island, Brisbane, Cloncurry, Darwin, Sourabaya, Singapore, Penang, Calcutta, Karachi, Habbaniya, Lydda and El Adem.