AERIAL SURVEY OF QUEENSLAND COAST

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6803, 5 January 1929, Page 9

AERIAL SURVEY OF QUEENSLAND COAST

GREAT SAVING OF TIME. United Press Association —By Electrio Telegraph—Copyright. SYDNEY, Jan. 4. An amphibian seaplane to-day descended in Sydney harbour after many months of interesting survey work iu conjunction with H.M.A.S. Moresby at the Great Barrier Reef, in Northern Queensland. Flying-Officer Crowthcr, of the Australian Air Force, stated in an interview: “Hydrographical work has been revolutionised by aircraft, which enables surveys to be made in a fraction of the time hitherto taken by ships. A flying boat rises to a height of 8000 feet, from where photographs are taken dead vertically, rendering it possible te gauge the sea depths within a few fathoms, as the gradation of the shade indicates the depth, a light survey ship uses these photographs and proceeds to the shallow water and takes soundings and registers of exact depths. Obviously, there is no need to visit deep water. A survey in theso circumstances has been carried out within a radius of 200 miles of the base at Bowen.