EXPRESS AIR LINERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22631, 24 July 1935, Page 10

EXPRESS AIR LINERS

UNION AIRWAYS SERVICE .. . \ THE DE HAVILLAND MACHINES It was announced on Monday, on behalf of Union Airways, Ltd., that three four-engined De Havilland express air liners had been purchased for the mail and passenger service between Palmerston North, Blenheim, Christchurch, and Dunedin, which, it is. expected, will commence in December. The De Havilland express air liner (says the Press) will be the fastest and largest aeroplane seen in New Zealand, as well as much the most modern. The type was developed for the QantasEmpire Airways service between Singapore and Darwin, and about six of the machines are in use on that route. Others are being used by Railway Air Services, Ltd., on internal lines in Great Britain, and by Imperial Airways, Ltd., on two or three new European routes. Two or three others are in use in Australia.

The maximum speed is 170 to 175 miles an hour, and the .cruising speed from 145 to 150 miles an hour, so that the time from Palmerston North to Dunedin is likely to be not much more than four hours, including stops; a performance that is good by any standards.

The machine is of the Dragon family, its wings having a pronounced taper and sweep-back like those of the Dragon Rapide. It is, however, larger, and has to be structurally stronger because of the added power that the four Gipsy Six engines give it. The cabin is said to be quieter than is usual on any but the biggest British machines, and it is roomy —more thkn Ifl* feet long, five feet wide, and with an average height of more than six feet. Because of the jpronounced taper of the wings the vifew from the cabin windows, which run the full length each side, should be very good. The four engines .make the machine safe over any sort of country, for with three engines it can maintain- a height of 15,300 feet, with only one engine on each side working, a height of GOOO feet, and with the worst combination of two engines—two, dead on one side and two working on the other—a height of 3000 feet. There ,were “ teething ” troubles with the earliest of the type built, but these have been completely overcome. Various improvements, including flaps which reduce the ■ landing speed and enable smaller grounds to be used, have been incorporated in the latest models. The machines will be equipped for two-way radio, and will have a full modern instrument equipment. A novelty in New Zealand is the electric self-starting of the engines from the cockpit. The passengers’ comfort is looked after by separate ventilators for each person, and by a cabin-heating device. If the New Zealand machines are equipped, as the message says, for 10 to 14 passengers, they will certainly not be cramped, for the cabin can be fitted to carry 10.

The choice of these machines by Mr M. C. • M'Gregor, who left for England to select equipment some time ago, makes New Zealand commercial aviation an almost 100 per cent. De Havilland market. Air Travel (New Zealand), Ltd., and East Coast Airways, the only two companies now operating scheduled services, use Fox Moths and Dragons respectively. Cook Strait Airways, for which company Mr G. B. Bolt is acting in England, recently chose Dragon Rapides. The choice of Great Pacific Airways (New Zealand), Ltd., which has a license to run a service between Auckland and Invercargill, has not been announced yet.