BIGGEST JOB
AIRCRAFT CONVERSION SUNDERLAND SOON READY FOR SERVICE Daily Times Special Service AUCKLAND, March 24. Marking the end of the biggest aircraft conversion ever undertaken in New Zealand, the National Airways Corporation Sunderland flying boat Takitimu will make its first flight in the Auckland-Suva passenger service on Saturday next week. The corporation’s engineers and technicians have been engaged at Hobsonville air base since September on the conversion of the aircraft, formerly a Royal New Zealand Air Force service machine. Engine tests were completed on Wednesday, and the Takitimu was weighed to-day. On Monday, the flying boat will be launched for four days’ water and flight tests. When the Takitimu enters service at the end of next week, the corporation’s flying boat Mataatua, which has made regular flights to Suva for more than a year, will be withdrawn for complete survey. It is probable that it will in future be used as a standby machine. The Takitimu, like the Mataatua, will carry 26 passengers and a crew of nine.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Daily Times, Issue 27039, 25 March 1949, Page 6
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169BIGGEST JOB Otago Daily Times, Issue 27039, 25 March 1949, Page 6
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