Captain Musick Encountered No Unusual Problems

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 62, 31 March 1937, Page 7

Captain Musick Encountered No Unusual Problems

-Presg Aftsooi&ticm.)

RADIO'S UNEfRING GUIDANCE ' * " ' *■ ' ' 1

(By Telegraph-

AUCKLAND, Last Night. Out of a grey eastern sky the Pan-American Airways Clipper Sikorsky fiying-boat iflew gracefully over Auckland Harbour at 4.45 this afternoon to- complete- the great survey flight from San Praneisco's ■ Golden Gate to "Waitemata. Thousands lined both the Auckland and North SKore waterfronts tb wave and eheer an excited wele'ome to the plane which by its flight to-day completed an important page in New Zealand ?s history. A dense crowd gathered at the landing dais between King's "Wharf and the Devonport vehieular- ferry and a great crescendo of cheering hroke out as the Clipper roared its way to its moorings. .

The clipper left Page Pago at 5.30 ; a.m. to-day (New Zealand tixne) and ! ! thxoughout her 1850 miles flight she j was in constant radio communication . with Pan-American Airways radio ' shack in Auckland. Frequent progress, messages were received thronghout the1 , aayi j At 4 p.m. Captain Musirk xadioed that he had sighted the Great Barrier] ialand and as news of the appfoach of| the Sikorsky spread round the town ini crowd on the waterfront rapidly grewj : and the excitement increased. At 4.43 j the clipper was sighted at Tiritiri light--house and two minutes later the great! siiver and grey leviathan of the skies: came ont Of the clouds between Mount: Victoria and North Head, roating its way up the harbour, around the city' and back over Orakei to come up the. harbour again. ; With all the grac© of a bird she' skimmed the water and as she landed cheers broke from the thousands which lined the waterfront. So keen was the' interest taken in the aTrival of the clipper that as early as 2.30, two and ahalf hours before she had radioed she would arriye, a small crowd started to gather on the waterfront. By 3 o'clock if was increasing in size and when at 4 p.m. Captain Musick flashed a massage that he had sighted the Great Barrier the stream of people Itowards the waterfront increased fiveffold. Men, women and children lined the waterfrot, wharves and piles of coal slack on the border of the reclamation. ..From King's wharf to Orakei the Tamaki drive was lined with cars and the city rooftops were thick with people eager to wateh the great clipper land on the cairn waters of the harbour on whieh launches cruised slowly. Shortly before ten minutes to five a. Ipurple flare fired from the Union Company 's Monowai, moored off Orakei, lit the dull grey sky. A second follow•ed and then away in the distance beitwcen Monnfc Victoria and Nqrth Head Auckland caught its first glimpse of ithe Sikorsky. With her cruising speed of 150 miles an hour she fast approached. Flying up Rangitoto channel and then turning gracefully up the haxbour she flew high, her siiver grey fnsefage' flasMng against the patches of blue asshe flew tnto the westering sun. Another easy sweep and the clipper' moved slowly round the sky towards. the west, flew over the heart of the! pity, circled again and then flew overj Parnell and mado towards Orakei. She was rapidly iosing height and now pre-i : paring to land. Over Orakei point shei tnrned again and started to come downi fast for her- up-harbour landing. Shej i appeared almost to graze the tops of| the welcoming launches and she moved' pwiftly past the Monowai. Out ini front of her was a speed-baat churning; a trail of foamas it piloted the clipper; to its landing. She had come out of a sky that. was heTs alone, for by order no circling aeroplancs welcomed her. All harbour : craft had been ordered to keep clear until the clipper arrived, an instruction .that was carried out in the fullest de--tail. Speed boats, power craft, and a yacht or two hovered in the offing but it was not until a line was got aboard the silver-grey clipper that fhey began to close in after the clipper had taxied /slowly up to her mooring pontoon, her ; jfonr propellers flashing anti-clockwise [ jin the sunlight. . 3>r. Graham Russell and Dr. C. Gil- ' bfert boarded the Sikorsky and grantedi pratiquc. The Customs and other offi-; cial inspections completed, Mr Haroldj Gatty went aboard to weleome Captain i Musick and his crew. Amidst ringing; cheers Captain Musick aud his men ac- i eompanied by Mr Gatty, stepped fromj the plane and walked up the gangway ' to the enclosure where the o&ciaJ speeches of weleome followed. First Aboard the Clipper. The flrgt person to board the Clipper after she had been brpught to rest was Dr. Graham Bussell, port health officer. of Auckland. It was his duty to carry out an inspection of the plane before members Of the crew could disembark. The testing of the petrol tanks was one of Captain Musick Js first duties. With two assistants he climbed on the wing and with a sort of ehart began to nieasure the contents of the tanks. ft was obvious Captain Musick and hi-i staff were xnucli more conCcmed with the performance of the job in hand > than with acknowledging the plauditsi of the crowd. Air ForcC mechanic's wOre busy in the meantime getting lines fast to the clipper and towing her in. The great. ship of the air was brought in with her, tail toward the shore. |

s your . cinema . cameramen worked j . vigorously ta.reeord these first glimpsesj of the Clipper and her complernent. Th'e nnmber. of. the .clipper, MC16,734, was an indication of the very large; number of serviceable craft registeredi in the United States. As a large force; of aircraftsmen brought the clipper toi her moorings, Captain Mnsick and hi3j assistants finished • their task on the! wings and descended, disappearing once; more within the cabin. The most delicate part of the job had: > to be nndertaken as the helpers pnlled the clipper alongside- the pontoon. Very; great care was nsed in this operation.j About a dozen old motot-car tyres were j jlashed to the side of the pontoon as: ■ buffers. She was made fast at 5:30' I 1 p;m. Quarantine officers boarded thei jclipper before Captain Musick and his; icrew came off. Mr Gatty approached4 the clipper, and after waving greeting,; turned back and walked along the! • pontoon. Auckland 's Gfficial Weleome. ! . Prolonged . eheerjng .greeted Captain Musick as at about 5.55. p.m. escorted by the chairman of. the Auckland Haribour Bo.ard (Mr C. G, Macindoe) he mounted the dais in front of the landing stage. Captain Musick stepped lightly on ,to the platform as though he had . come from a short journey instead of a 12 hours' flight. Aiso on the platform were Hon. H. G. B. Mason, AttorneyGeneral, representing the Government, the t Mayor of Auckland, Mr Ernest Davis, and members of the crew of fihe clipper and representatives of public bodies and prominent citizens. j "The occasion is a historic one,"! said Mr Macindoe, in his welcCming J , speech. "It marks not only the forging; ■of a link between two peoples who have! ,a common language and common as-j j^irations. It testifies to the triumph of ! iscientific achievement over what have ;hitherto been considered. in superable | barriers, and it bears witness to .the skill, determination and invincible .eonrage of those who undertook the jtask of establishing permanent rela;tions between our two countries. You .have in . a measur-e annihilated jth© distance between the two countries j separated by long intervals of space," 'continued Mr Macindoe. "The accomI plishment compels our Tespectful admirjation and we heartily congratulate you upqn the fulfilment of .the great task which you undertook." Mr Mclndoe also paid tribute to Mr. HaTold Gatty in bringing to completion an agreement between Pan-' American Airways and the New Zea- • land Government which would, he said, result in the estajilishment of- a permanent airway service between the ! United States and New Zealand. | Mr. Ernest Davis extended a hearty jwelcome on behalf of the citizens of: i Auckland, and Hon. H. G. R. Mason,: ; Attorney-Geaer al, said the Government' 'was fully appreciative of all that was being done and he accorded Captain Musick and his crew a hearty weleome.]