FAILURE OF ‘TRAMP’ SERVICE AIR VENTURE

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 April 1948, Page 5

FAILURE OF ‘TRAMP’ SERVICE AIR VENTURE

SYDNEY, April 4. Two converted Halifax bombers which have been stranded at Mascot aerodrome, Sydney, for some time, are being investigated by the civil aviation authorities. The aeroplanes are anchored in the open on marshy ground, and one of them, named “Waltzing Matilda,” has been stripped derelict by vandals. This machine was flown from England last year with passengers by a former officer of the Royal Air Force, and undertook several freight charter flights in Australia. The other aeroplane known as the Port of Sydney, has now been abandoned by its commander and crew, who have been unable to communicate with their employers, London Aero Motor Services. The commander, Captain K. F. Thiele, of Christchurch, was told in January to cease operations in the Pacific, and to obtain freight to pay for the cost of flying the aeroplane to England. This he was unable to do. He has since announced his resignation from the firm. All the members of the crew have taken jobs with Sydney air companies, two engineers inspect the aeroplane twice a week. The managing director of the firm is Dr Graham Humby, who conceived the idea of a world-wide “tramp” air service. .The last flight of the Port of Sydney was when, piloted by Captain Thiele, she took a cargo of pineapples to Auckland. ____