RETURN JOURNEY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 July 1940, Page 3

RETURN JOURNEY

CLIPPER LEAVING TODAY. EASE FACILITIES AT AUCKLAND APPROVED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND. July 19. Returning to San Francisco on the return section of the inaugural flight of Pan-American Airways South Pacific service, the American Clipper will take off from Waitemata at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning on the 1100-mile hop to Noumea. New Caledonia. Witn favourable weather conditions expected. it is anticipated that the journey will be accomplished in about eight hours. . Dwarfed by the 152 ft wingspan of the Clipper, engineers worked tirelessly today performing a routine check of the engines and equipment. Each of the four 1500 horse-power radial motors was minutely examined. Moving parts of fractional dimensions were skilfully tested, oil levels were read simultaneously, refuelling was carried out, 2800 gallons of petrol being pumped into the capacious tanks which, when filled to the maximum capacity of 4200 gallons, give the machine a range of 4275 miles at her normal cruising speed of 150 miles an hour. The flying-boat uses far more petrol in two minutes than a New Zealand light car owner receives in a month under the rationing scheme. Nothing is left to chance. Instruments and apparatus are all subject to a careful check, and in the shadow of the 14ft propellers, mechanics straddled the engine nacelles, plying intricate tools with practised skill. Actually all lour engines are accessible for servicing while the flying boat is in the air. Weather reports from the whole of. the Pacific have been collated and plotted and the forecast showed an absence of major disturbances on the course to be followed to Noumea. This task continued throughout the night and it will not be till early tomorrow morning that the final forecast will be prepared. The base facilities at Auckland drew spontaneous comment from several members of the Pan-American party. One of the officials said the conditions were equal to any on the route, and by reason of its proximity to the city the Auckland base had an advantage shared by very few flyingboat centres.