FLYING BOAT CAPTAIN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 196, 20 July 1937, Page 8

FLYING BOAT CAPTAIN.

NEW ZEALANDER’S SUCCESS. AIRWAYS APPOINTMENT. (By Telegraph—Special to Standard.) WELLINGTON,.JuIy 20. To be given the command of one of the largest Hying boats in the Imperial Airways service is the creditable achievement of a young New Zealander, Captain John Weir Burgess, the j youngest son of Captain Burgess, of the Government lighthouse steamer Matai. The New Zealand aviator gained his experience in the Royal Air * oi'ce in England, and after a spccialised course with flying boats at Calshot spent two years with this type :of machine at Basra. He flew to Mei- | bourne with the Royal Air Force boats during the ceil toil ary celebrations, and upon returning to England accepted an appointment with Imperial Airways, which commenced with an intensive training in the navigation and management of the great machines designed for the long-distance mail services throughout the Empire. J Captain Burgess is now in command lot the Castor, one of the largest of the fleet, and is making regular flights between Southampton ana Alexandria, in Egypt, which is part of flic' route lor air-mail communication between New Zealand and England. The Castor flies direct to Brindisi in Italy, and completes the journey to Egypt in the second hop. It is a four-engined flvingboat with horse power of 3680, capable of providing a maximum speed of 200 miles per hour, and a cruising speed of 160 miles per hour. The loaded | weight of tho Castor is 40,5001 b.