PACIFIC OCEAN SPANNED

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 101, 31 March 1937, Page 2

PACIFIC OCEAN SPANNED

SAN FKANCISCO TO AUCKLAND CLIPPER ’PLANE’S GREAT FLIGHT Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, March 30. Out of a grey eastern sky the Pan-American Airways Sikorsky fiying-boat flew gracefully over Auckland Harbour at 4.45 this afternoon to complete its great survey flight from San Francisco’s Golden Gate to New Zealand. Thousands ‘ lined both the Auckland and North Shore ■waterfronts to wave and cheer an excited welcome to the ’plane, which, by its flight to-day, completed an important page in New Zealand’s history A dense crowd gathered at tlie landing dais between King’s Wharf and the Devonport vehicular ferry, and a great crescendo of cheering broke out as the clipper roared its way to its moorings. The clipper left Pago Pago at 5.30 a.m. to-day, New Zealand time. Throughout her 1850 miles’ flight she -was in constant radio communication with the Pan-American Airways radio “shack” in Auckland and frequent progress messages were received throughout the day. At 4 p.m. Captain Musick, the commander, radioed that he had sighted the Great Barrier Island and, as the news of the approach of the Sikorsky spread round the town, the crowd on the waterfront rapidly grew, and the excitement increased. At 4.43 the clipper was sighted at Tiritiri lighthouse, and two minutes later the great silver-grey leviathan of the skies came out of the clouds between Mount Victoria and North Head, and roared its way up the harbour, round the city, and back over Orakei to come up the harbour again. With all the grace of a bird she skimmed the water. As she landed cheers broke from the thousands who lined the waterfront.

A LINK FORGED. RECEPTION TO AIRMEN. A GRACEFUL LANDING. Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, March 30. So keen was the interest taken in the arrival of the clipper that as early as 2.30, two hours and a-half before she had radioed that she would arrive, a small crowd started to gather on the waterfront. By 3 o’clock it was increasing in size and when, at 4 p.m., Captain Musick flashed a message that he had sighted the Great Barrier,.the stream of people toward the waterfront increased fivefold. Men, women, and children lined the waterfront, wharves, and piles of coal slack on the border of the reclamation from King’s Wharf to Orakei. The Tamaki Drive was lined with cars and city roof tops wer© thick with people eager to watch the great clipper land. On the calm waters of the harbour launches cruised sldwly. Shortly before ten minutes to five a purple flare fired from the Union Company’s liner Monowai, moored off Orakei, lit up the dull grey sky. A second followed and then, away in the distance between Mount Victoria and North Head, Auckland caught its first glimpse of the Sikorsky. With her cruising speed of 150 miies an hour she fast apporached, flying up ltangitoto Channel, then turning gracefully up harbour. •Jhe flew’ high, lier silver-grey fuselage (lashing against patches of blue as she (lew- into the westering sun. Another easy sweep and the clipper moved slowly round toward the west, flew over the heart of the city, circled again, and then flew over Parnell and made tow'ard Orakei. She was rapidly losing height now, preparing to land over Oraeki Point. She turned again and started to conio down fast for her up-harbour landing. She appeared almost to graze the tops of the welcoming launches and she moved swiftly past the Monowai. Out in front of her was a speedboat churning a trail of foam ai it piloted the clipper to its. landing. Like a swan landing on a placid lake the Sikorsky skimmed the water off the eastern tide deflector and, as her full weight setled down, a huge shower of silver spray was thrown into the air. She had come out of a 6ky that was iters alone for, by order, no circling aeroplanes welcomed her. All harbour craft had been ordered to keep clear until the clipper arrived. The instruction was carried out in the fullest detail. Speed-boats, power craft, and a yacht or two hovered in the offing, but it was not until a line was got aboard the silver-grey-clipper that they began to close in. The first person to hoard the clipper after she had been brought to rest was Dr. Graham Russell, the port health officer, Auckland. It was his duty to carry out an inspection of the ’plane before members of the crew could disembark. TESTING AND MOORING. The testing of the petrol tanks was one of Captain Musick’s first duties. With two assistants he climbed on the wing, and, with a sort of chart, began to measure the contents of the tanks. It was obvious that Captain Musick and his staff were much more concerned with the performance of the job in hand than with acknowledgin'g the plaudits of the crowd. Air Force mechanics were busy in the meantime getting lines fast to the clipper and towing her in. The great ship of the air was brought in with her tail toward the shore. Four cinema cameramen worked vigorously to record these first glimpses of the clipper and her complement. The number of the clipper, MC 16,734. was an indication of the very large number of serviceable craft registered in the United States. As a large force of aircraftmen brought the clipper to her, moorings, Captain Musick and his assistants finished their task on the wings and descended, disappearing once more within the cabin. The most delicate part of the iob had to be undertaken as helpers pulled the dipper alongside the pontoon. Very great- care was used in this operation. About a dozen old motor car tyres were lashed to the side of the pontoon as buffers. She was made fast at 5.30 p.m. The quarantine officers boarded the clipper before Captain Musick and his crew came off. Mr Gatty approached the clipper and, after waving greeting., turned back and walked along the pontoon. Prolonged cheering greeted Captain Musick as, about 5.55 p.m., escorted by the chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board, Mr C. G. Macindoe, he mounted the dais in front of the landing 6tage. Captain Musick stepped lightly to the platform as though ho had come from a short journey instead of a. 12-lioure flight. Also on the platform were Hon. H. G. R. Mason (Attorney-General), representing the Government, the Mayor of Auckland (Mr Ernest Davis), and members of the crew’ of the clipi>er and representatives of public bodies and prominent citizens. SPEECHES OF WELCOME.

triumph of scientific achievement over what have hitherto heen eonsidered insuperable barriers, and it bears witness to the skill, determination and invincible courage of those who undertook the task of establishing permanent relations between our two countries.

“You have in a measure annihilated the distance between two countries separated by a long interval of space,” continued Mr Macindoe. “The accomplishment compels our respectful admiration and we heartily congratulate you upon the fulfilment of the great task which you undertook.” Mr Macindoe paid a tribute to Mr Harold Gatty in bringing to completion an agreement between Pan-American Airways and the New Zealand Government which would, lie said, result in the establishment of a permanent airway service between the United States and New Zealand. Negotiations were conducted and finalised in a manner which reflected the highest credit on Mr Gatty’s ability and on the company he represented. Mr Davis extended a hearty welcome on behalf of the citizens of Auckland. When he looked at the visitors and saw what “a great crowd of fellows” they were, he felt sorry that he had not prepared a speech. He was told they would be tired, but if they were their looks belied them. Mr Davis traced briefly the history of voyages to New Zealand from the Maoris to the whalers, from sailers to steamships, and now the long fast flight of the air clipper.’ A HAPPY AUGURY. Hon. H. G. R. Mason said that the journey made by the clipper was the beginning of a great change. Whereas the pioneers of the early days spent many months on the water, the distance between two widely-separated countries had now been reduced to a matter of days. It would be difficult to think of a more isolated country than New Zealand, hence the groat work being done by Pan-American Airways in reducing that degree of isolation was fully appreciated. ’The celerity with which Pan-American Airways had instituted the survey flight on the completion of negotiations with the Government was a happy augury for the future of the service which PanAmcrican Airways was hiinging to New Zealand. The Government was fully appreciative of all that was being done, and Mr Mason accorded Captain Musick and his crew a hearty welcome. CAPTAIN MUSICK’S REPLY. Captain Musick made a characteristically brief reply to the speeches of welcome. “We greatly, appreciate, he said, 4 ‘the warm welcome extended to us on the completion of the first transport flight to New Zealand from the United States. During the three years of preparation which preceded our flight we knew, of course, of the enthusiastic interest of the people of New Zealand toward the possible establishment of a modern air transport service between their country and our own, and of the far-sighted interest of your Government, whose co-opera-tion has made such service possible. We, who have been privileged, to make this first pioneering flight, can particularly appreciate the possibilities of such a service. Our flight from the United States to the Hawaiian Islands and then south over Kingman Reef and Samoa to your shores was particularly interesting. While we accomplished a great deal of exploration and study along the route, we yet travelled these /000 miles in just 49 1-3 flying hours. We encountered no problems which our engineers ill three years of study over I this route did not fully anticipate, and no problems which we bad not preyi- , ouslv encountered and successfully (solved before the establishment of the present clipper service over the longer 9000-mile route between America and the Orient. . , “Thero is no incident of any kind to report,” he added. “The Pan-American clipper performed fully as she was expected to do. Her four engines did not miss a beat over the entire 7000 miles. We were never without constant communication with our ground radio control stations, and our long-range radio direction finder served as an unerring guide every nine of the way. Whatever credit is due should rightfully go to those who have worked out the real technical problems upon whose solution safe and dependable scheduled transportation by air across this ocean has been made possible. To those who made our first crossing to New Zealand so easy through their efficient managing of tile bases en route, by their expert weather forecasts, and their perrect radio aid, to them and to the entire Pan-American organisation which functioned so efficiently behind us should go the real credit. ■ VISIT TO WELLINGTON. FLIGHT ALMOST CERTAIN. Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, March 30. It is thought almost certain that the clipper ’plane will visit Wellington and if the flight is made it is expected to be on Friday. The Pan-American Airways Company wishes to make a courtesy flight to Wellington, a? the capital city, but this is dependent on Captain

“This occasion is an historic one,” said Mr Macindoe, in his welcoming speech. “It marks not only the forging of a link between two peoples who have a common language and common aspirations, but it ako testifies to the’

Musick’s plans for carrying out extensive survey investigations at Auckland.

The flight to Wellington, if made, will be commenced before 8 a.m., and the Sikorsky will arrive about 10 o’clock and anchor at one of the alternative areas already discussed, depending on the wind direction. These are Evans Bay and Oriental Bay, or a point off the Thorndon sea-wall. As the clipper will undergo a brief servicing before the early morning start on the return flight, the stay in Wellington will necessarily be brief. Captain Musick and his officers have been invited to a Chamber of Commerce luncheon, and will bo welcomed on arrival at Wellington by the city and harbour authorities. The clipper will probably leave Auckland for America at daylight on Saturday morning. navigation" feat. A COMPLICATED TASK. GUIDING GREAT CRAFE Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, March 30. Air navigation is one of the newest arts, for, though navigation goes back down the centuries to the time of the cross stave and the astrolabe, this new navigation has been fined and speeded up to the special needs of aircraft. It has been simplified, or complicated, by its direct and immediate association with radio, but all the radio direction finding, and the constant touch with the point left and the point ahead, have not taken from the navigator his responsibility ; that is to see that the ’plane arrives true at its destination, though, over a long ocean stage, it may sidle off a hundred miles from the direct line on the advice of the meteorologist-radio combination to avoid bad weather or to pick up a tail wind. Normally the ’planes carry one navigator who is solely responsible throughout the journey. The crew, with the exception of the steward, is more or less interchangeable, but each has his responsible job. The chief pilot may be relieved of his actual piloting at. the controls, but be carries the weight of the position over the whole trip. The radio man has his assistant, and each one, spelling from his specialist job, may take sights tor the navigator, but the navigator carries on, not directly relieved, seeing 'hat tire machine gets there, over each stage, juggling with five or six systems, checking one against the other, for air navigation depends not on any one system. but oi. a combination of them all—'b-nd itokening, the compass, observation cf c.nlt, celestial observation, radio bearings, and that mysterious something which navigators call to their assistance, meaningless to the people they get there. Dead reckoning is old, so is the compass, but observation of drift is as new as aircraft; celestial observations are little used at sea and radio bearings, as they are used on ocean air routes, are fresh from the aviation brain box. MASS OF' EQUIPMENT.

The chart room of a flying-boat is very much like the chart room of a steamship, not quite so roomy, though these flying-boats are huge, as we think of aircraft, but fitted with a good deal more equipment than most steamships carry. There are the usual ohronomieters, sextants, admanacs, nautical tables, rules, and charts, but added to standard sea equipment are new and special devices, the turn and bank indicator, the gyroscopic compass, speed and drift indicator, sextants that fix their own horizon, new slide rules and slide tables, new air charts, altimeters, air speed recorders, and the advices which the radio officer, cued by. the meteorologist, hands in each quarter or half-hour. The passenger can do nothing about it; he goes where the pilot takes him, and the pilot follows the navigator’s word. It is a nice question who is really boss. The course is set upon a large aperiodic compass let into the chart-room table, and the pilot steers from a directional gyro again set from the chartroom compass and reset every fifteen minutes or so. for this directional gyro is not a full gyroscopic compass, but is a non-north-seeking gyro (suction and not draught driven), which holds the direction in which it is 6et. On the long stages the automatic pilot is put to work, and the onlyvery broadly speaking—thing that is done is to reset the directional gyro at ten or fifteen-minute intervals or to change altitude; otherwise the control is fully automatic. TRAVEL AT NIGHT.

Speed through the air and speed of the air combine to make air navigation more difficult than surface navigation. A steamship at 20 knots may, in mid-ocean, travel from dusk till dawn, on dead reckoning alone, for the medium in which it moves is moving slowly and ocean currents are almanacked and tabled, but not yet are air currents tabulated, and probably never will be. The steamship can, and does, run through the night, without observations, on dead reckoning, but the ’plane that flies through winds of up to 50, maybe 60 miles an hour, is going to be a long way off its course on dead reckoning alone over eight hours or more. So the air navigator carries on, finding his position by the stars, from radio and drift. In the daytime glass bulbs containing aluminium powder are dropped to the sea to give a splash of silver for the calculation of drift, and'at night a surface flare is used, but the night may be bad, with the water, 10,000 or 100 feet below, shut off by cloud or fog and the stars invisible, so there remain radio and compass and the navigator’s sixth sense.

Only by using a combination of methods can he navigate, and he must use these methods when he can fit them in : the compass when he eannob see land or sea .or sky, radio bearings, and the essence of experience and specialisation. He is busiest when the day or night is clearest, for at twenty knots the black-out storm may be half a day ahead, but at 150 miles an hour it is a bare hour off, and only by establishing his position when the way is clear can the next hour of dirty weather be flown through confidently. because it is more complicated, night navigation, of no particular account for surface craft except when nearing land, is more exact than daynavigation, because each body in the heavens gives one line only. In daylight there is one line of latitude from the sun, but at night a multiplicity of stars gives a multiplicity of crossing lines to give a “fix.” Surface craft could get along fairly well without celestial observations, but aircraft cannot, and so it is that air navigation has -contributed substantially to surface navigation, not only in this particular, but by the shortening of methods, by a new almanac which runs to tens while the old almanac ran to hundreds of pages, and by new devices and new slides and tables. . The navigator of the Sikorsky is Mr H. Canaday, who was a member of the crew of the first Clipper ship over the North Pacific airline of Pan American Airways when he was assistant pilot to Captain Musick. Mr V. Wright, the engineer, was also

engineer on the first North Pacific through flight, and Mr W. T. Jarboe, who is radio officer at the Auckland base, was another of this team. Mr R. Ruunells is the radio officer on the Sikorsky, and the three other members of the crew are Messrs Stiekrod, Parker, and Holsenbreck, mechanics. COMPANY’S EXPLORATORY WORK. CAREFUL ORGANISATION. Captain Edwin Musick’s graceful tribute to the wgrk of the Pan-Ame-rican Airways organisation, including the ground crews at the several bases, brings to mind the fact that preparations for the work of installing Iho necessary equipment commenced at least two years ago. The personnel, apart from those in charge, were carefully selected from the students of the Kamehameha Boys’ High School in Honolulu, and were mainly part Hawaiian youths of fine physique and good character. Numerous trips to Howland and Jarvis Islands as well as Kingman Reef were made by the coastguard cutter, Itasca, which lias been stationed at Honolulu for some years in an effort to prevent the importation of narcotics, principally opium, from the Orient. The methods adopted by Pan-American Airways in the present flight arc similar to those which' were used when the San Franeisco-AVake-Guain-Manila route was opened. Numerous test flights were made, no passengers or freight being carried, the huge flying ships carrying large quantities of fuel to ensure a wide margin of safety in that direction. For this reason it is improbable that any passengers will be carried to or from New Zealand for some considerable time.