First Air Mail Flight To Antarctica

Chronicle (Levin), 5 August 1948, Page 5

First Air Mail Flight To Antarctica

CHRISTCHURCH, Aug. 5. '• A Catalina amphibian flyingboat landed at Wigram at 12.45 o'clock this morning. The aircraft was a Royal Australian Air Force ma~ chine, which was returning from a flight to Macquarie. Isiand, one of Australia's Anrafctic. dependehcies. Flying from Hobart tosMafequarie Isiand, the aircraft provided the tirst air mail service i'n the Antarctica. The commander, Squadron Leader R. H. G. Gray, said tnat the .purpose of the flight was primarily to take an engineer to the Australian Antarctic research expedition's base at Macquarie Isiand to replace an engineer who had been drowned. Opportunity Mad .also been taken to carry mails from Australia to the isiand, and to pick up return mail. Thus the flight was actually the first air mail' .flight to the Antarctica. Some' stores and.equipment for the expe-l dition had been flown there and' the Catalina was taking back to Australia scientific material col-i lected by the qxpedition. . I The Catalina left Hobart at 5 a.m. (Australian time) yesterday morning and arrived at Macquarie Isiand, where it landed on the sea at 1 p.m. (Australian time). It left at 3.15 p.m. (Australian time) for' New Zealand. The Catalina had a bad trip down to Macquarie Isiand, but the flight to New Zealand was( made in good conditions.