TWO RECORDS BROKEN

Chronicle (Levin), 11 March 1946, Page 3

TWO RECORDS BROKEN

LANCASTRIANS' FAST TRIPS ARRIVAL AT OHAKEA Arriving at the R.N.Z.A.F. Station Oliakea at 2.20 yesterday morning, the ii.A.F. Transport Conjiiiaiid Lancas trian, eaptained by Bquadron Leadei A. J. Bradshavv, of Christchurch., iovver ed the elapsed time record set the previous day oy a sister Lancastrian, cap tained by Bquadron Leader J. Adams, D.F.C., A.F.C., also of" Christchurch, i'he time takou by Bquadron Leader Bradshaw a aircraft n*as 60 hours 46 miiiutes, as agaiust the sister ship 's 62 hours 5 miiiutes, a dilfereuce of 1 hour 24 ininutes.

Held up at Nortiiolt aerodrome, England, by taulty wiring, the aircraft piioted by Bquadrou Leader Bradshaw ieft Nortiiolt at 1.67 GMT on Friday, Aiarch 7, aud arrived just 24 hours after tlie Jirst pJaue, touching down ou Oliakea at .1420 GMT, or 2.20 a.m. New JZealand time. i Auoard the aircraft wero two com.plete crews who are uudergoiiig tinal traini'ug for special worlc with It.A.F. iVansport Coiumand. Oue of the crews was couiposed entireJy of New Zealand- ' ers and all the captains of both aircraft were New Zealanders. Flyiug with Bquadron Leader Bradshavv were F/Lt. E. King, 1).F.C., second - pilot, Lower Hutt; F/Lt. G. B. Knight, D.F.M., wireless oporator, Gisborne; F/Lt. E. Hill, navigator, Auckland; P/O. A. C.' Hilliam, flight engineer, Auckland; and F/tfgt. \V. J. A. Ball, flight clerk, also of Auckland. The other crew in the aircraft was eaptained by F/Lt. C. D. Milue, of Christchurch, tiiese men all being Englishmen. They were F/Lls. J. Cliainpiiiss, second pilot, London; «T. TowJer, navigator,. Yorkshire; V. Burdett, wireless operator, London; and F/O. \V. llicks, flight engineer, Canada. The naviga'tors reported that they struek head winds practically all the way, aud liad it not been for this the aircraft would have been three hours earlier tlian it actuully was. The leg from -NogembOj Ceylon, was the hardes" of the trip, the head winds eutting their speed down coiisiderably and u'sing the petrol to such an exteut that a iauding had to be madc at Carnarv. von, a sinai! township ou the coast of the Westeru Territories of Australia, to takc on more fuel. The winds lTom the Cocos Is.iands wero severe and had been unpredicted. Altogether the meteorological reports had been substantially correct. On arrival at Perth the aircraft was quickly refuelled and set otf 011 the loug leg to Oliakea. This was the flrst time this leg had beeu attempted and it cut down the elapsed tiiuq coiisiderably, also establishing a record. Wireless contact was established with Oliakea about 50U iuiles from the coast, aimost 2V hours' flying time. Maintenance and re-fuelling times on the trip were fast. At the lirst j stop, Whaibah, 6100 gallons of petrol were takcn aboard in 30 ininutes. Tho various times between the stopping places were as follow: —

Northolt to Bhaibah, a distance of 3150 statute miles, 12 hours 48 minutes. Shaibah to Negombo, a distance of 2663 statute miles, 11 hours .20 minutes. ' Negombo to Carnarvon, 3100 niiles, 15 >:liours--27 muiwUesoHCamarvou to Fenth, 500 miles, 2 hours 22 ininutes. Perth 1 to Oliakea, 3355 miles, 14 hours 20 I minutes. Melbourue was reacked in exactly 49 hours' flying time. The ' total distance covered in 56 hours 17 minutes of flying time -was .12,768 stat- ! ute iniJes. The average speed was 200 ! miles per liour indicated. At times the aircraft flew at 20,000 fcet, as the i weather conditions warranted, but j starting oif at 11,000 feet it averaged j a height of 11,000 to 8000. j The crews were well provided with ratious,. carrying sandwiches, cliocolate, fruit, aud tea made on board with an ! ele'ctric uru. They carried no passengers as did the lirst Lancastrian which I had aboard the Benior Administration ! Officer of the R.N.Z.A.F., London, i Wing Commander Crichton, of WellingJ ton. Wing Commander Crichton wiii return with the second Lancastrian piioted by Bquudron Leader Bradshaw at 1.15 _p.ni. today. The lirst aircraft was expeeted to arrive at Ohakca at 10 p.m. on Friday, but due to delay it did uot reach tli# aerqdrome until 3.35 o 'clock on Batur- : day morning. Even with the deiay it j had lowered the existing record set up | in December lust by Squadrou Leader Adams, 'wlien he brought the Minister ot' Mines (Hon. P. 0. Webbj to New i Zeaiand from Englaud in a Bkyuiaster, j in t'our days nine hours, with actual | flying time of 68 hours 30 minutes. This time Bquadron Leader Adams lowered the record by 6 hours 25 minutes. The crews of both planes were ftown t'cT Jheir homes as soon as they arrived at OUhkea, and the Euglish members of the ciT.iV3 were flown to Wellington, with the exl'-eption of some of the" maintenance stdff who remained ou the station to carry oUt any necessary repairs. A later report states that little serviciiig was necessary, and that from appearances all that was required was refuelling and a general straightening up. It left yesterday on the return trip to England, leaving the ground at1402 hours, and will follow the same route, providing the meteorological conditions are favourable..