NEW GUINEA GOLD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22226, 28 September 1935, Page 16

NEW GUINEA GOLD

MODERN PROSPECTING GREAT AERIAL PROJECT EXPEDITION THIS MONTH [from our own CORRKSPONDKNTI By Air Mail LONDON, Sept. 7 Three British aeroplanes will begin in Now Guinea toward the end of this month an exploration of 25,000,000 acres of the Dutch-owned western section of the island, which is probably the largest unknown area in the world. The flight from England is scheduled to take 14 days to Java. The machines will then proceed immediately to New Guinea, wflero landing grounds and camps Jiavo been established. The belief that gold and oil deposits of vast extent may exist in Netherlands New Guinea is the mainspring of the enterprise. At present the only known feature of the district to bo surveyed is the general course of the largo rivers. Aeriai photography will supply data for the compilation of accurate maps which will provide indication of sites where oil and precious mineral deposits may bo found.

Machines Specially Equipped The maps will also provide information of great value to government and to the development of forestry and agriculture. Detailed study of the maps and photographs will enable the forestry experts to trace groups of useful trees, especially those which yield the valuable copal gum.. Agriculturists will look for old lake beds and plateaux which may be suitable for intensive development. At the same time, the expedition will assemble a mass of general information about the country, including tho distribution of population and. the best tracks by which the native villages and settlements can be reached. Under the leadership of Mr. 11. N. de Ituyter Van Stavenick, 50 men will take part in the 18 months' expedition, half of them Europeans and the rest natives. Tho three Dragon-Rapido biplanes have been specially equipped for tho work. Each carries a vertical electrical ly-ope rated camera, which is housed below the normal floor level and can be used over a very wide angle with uninterrupted, view. Two auxiliary fuel tanks, each of 30-gallons capacity, are located centrally in tho cabin. Veteran to Lead Flight

A glass-covered aperture in the floor is fitted for use with a new kind of driftsight instrument; exact determination of drift is of paramount importance in aerial photography to ensure accuracy of subsequent mapping. Full "blind" flying equipment and transmitting and receiving radio apparatus are included in the navigation gear. The two GipsySix 200 h.p. air-cooled motors drive metal airscrews.

Leading the formation of three aeroplanes on tho flight to Java will be Mr. G. M. Cox, who has been flying for 20 years and is now with the de Havilland School of Flying. The other pilots in charge will be Flying Officer E. Fulford, also of the de Havilland School, and Captairi Koppcn, a wellknown Dutch aviator, who first flew in 1914.