Flew Blind.

Guinea Airways’ Pilot’s Skill.

THE skill of the pilots of Guinea Airways, Ltd. is proverbial in the Mandated Territory and was demonstrate strated once again by Pilot H. V. Mc- Gilvery on May 10.

McGilvery left Lae in the morning of that day in a triple-engined Junkers 'plane with three tons of cargo for Bulowat. Following the usual route —via the Wampit Valley—he encountered a ter-

rific storm with particularly dense cloud formations, which made further progress impossible. The journey usually takes only about 40 minutes; but Mc- Gilvery was flying for two and a half hours trying to find a landing ground.

Only his ’plane’s remarkable climbing powers saved him when he was forced to fly blind in the mountains and several times he skimmed over hill tops with only feet to spare. He was unable to return to Lae, as the storm was more violent there and a flight to Watut was out of the question for the same reason.

After a further attempt to reach Lae, McGilvery, remembering a pilot’s chance remark that a landing for Junkers ’planes was possible at Kaiapit, descended there and landed perfectly in long grass after being in the air two and a half hours. Next day a search ’plane arrived with petrol supplies, so his interrupted journey to Bulowat was completed. After the cargo was discharged, the Junkers was flown by McGilvery back to Lae and later returned to Wau carrying Major Marr and his party.

Curiously, it was one of McGilvery’s last trips in a Junkers ’plane, as he is leaving Guinea Airways at the end of May.