QANTAS AIRWAYS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 83, 5 October 1938, Page 6

QANTAS AIRWAYS

FLYING-BOAT BASE

RQNGOTA! OFFICIAL'S VISIT

After a month's tour in Australia, where he visited the majority of large airports, Mr. C. W. Roots, officer in charge of Rongotai Aerodrome, is very impressed with the progress being made by commercial and civil aviation in the Commonwealth. In an interview -he stated that he had taken the opportunity of studying control systems and ground organisations generally.

What Mr. Roots regarded as one of the most instructive of his visits was the one he paid to the Sydney base of Qantas Airways at Rose Bay. This is the terminur of the SouthamptonSydney run. Commander Bennett, control officer of the flying-boat base, took a great deal of trouble and time in showing Mr. Roots the methods and ideas used in the conducting of the large organisation. The method of mooring the floating buoys, the system used in clearing the running area of any. foreign matter, and the uses of flares',were among the many matters explained. At no time were less than two flying-boats moored at the base and frequent visits to the boats were made if the -water -was at all choppy. The administration was excellent and the staffs of traffic clerite, control-room officers, and others were highly trained and efficient. AIR DEFENCE. Mr. Roots was particularly impressed with the Richmond and Laverton bases of the Royal Australian Air Force. The general lay-out of the aerodromes was first-class and the efficiency and smartness of the personnel and machines.. could not be improved upon. Aerial defence was a matter of major- importance in the Commonwealth, Mr. Roots said, and with their Hawker .Demons, Ayro Ansons, and Other machines they were gradually developing a strong defensive organisation.

Australians were watching the progress of the New Zealand Civil Reserve of pilots with interest, as at the moment they had no such scheme themselves. In fact the development of New Zealand aviation as a whole was being • followed with interest by Australians, and on his tour Mr. Roots was received with the greatest consideration by the aviation authorities who were anxious to assist in any way the development of new ideas in New Zealand.