“HAPUKA LINES!”

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22318, 1 May 1947, Page 4

“HAPUKA LINES!”

ROOMY AIRCRAFT VIKING AT GISBORNE SHORT OFFICIAL FLIGHT Humped high in front, deep-bellied and with the width of the fuselage carried back to a very short taper in the tail section, the Vickers Viking which visited Gisborne today on a tour of the Dominion presented, in the air and on the ground the appearance of a roundbodied fish. “Hapuka lines.” commented one of the spectators who gathered at Darton Field to witness the Viking’s first landing. The advantages of the design were apparent in the roominess of the plane’s interior and the additional space available for equipment in the under-belly and in the tail section. Designed primarily for commercial air feeder lines, the Viking represents an attempt to make the most of the engine-power in relation to pay-load, and with its 24 to 34-passongcr capacity and its 10hour endurance it combines moderate luxury in its accommodation with a steadiness in flight that should appeal strongly to air travellers. Its appearance over Gisborne this morning created much interest, and its progress on a circuit of the town prior to making its landing at Darton Field gave the watchers some opportunity of judging its steadiness in the air. Quick Landing and I’ull-up

The machine reached Gisborne ahead of the previously-advised schedule, and alighted at the aerodrome at 9.15 a.m., coming in to a clean landing and pulling up within a short distance, incidentally demonstrating the value of the Viking for airports of limited runwav accommodation. The aircraft, the first of the British post-war productions to visit New Zealand, was welcomed at Darton Field by a substantial gathering of townsncople, and Mr P. G. Robarts and his crew were greeted warmly by the Mayor, Mr N. H. Bull, and representatives of various local authorities and public organisations. The Mayor, in an official welcome, stated that during the two World Wars the Dominions had had ample evidence of the leadership of Britain in the design of service aircraft ar.d the \ ickers Viking was one of many proofs that the United Kingdom also could build great aircraft for civil purposes. This machine was. indeed, the largest civil aircraft to visit Gisborne to date. British Planes for N.Z. Lines ‘‘While we are grateful to those other nations whose aeroplanes have given such valuable aid both in war and in peace, we look forward to the time when the air services of 'this Dominion wili be wholly carried on by British planes,” added the Mayor, amidst applause Circumstances which had necessitated an earlier arrival of the Viking over Gisborne than had been anticipated also made it necessary to cut short the length of the aircraft’s stay in the district; and little time was lost in social exchanges before Mr Robarts took aboard the plane an official party for a flight over the district. The plane taxied across the aerodrome to the western corner and her two 1690h.p. Bristol Hercules engines lifted her off the ground after a run which covered no more than half the width of the field.