New Guinea Air
Two Planes Needed for First Flight
AFTER a series of exasperating delays, due to the failure of the Common wealth authorities to prepare the North Queensland and Territories aero dromes for fast airmail traffic and their slowness in installing directional and meteorological equipment. Messrs. W. R.
Carpenter and Co. Ltd. have completed all arrangements to officially start the Sydney-New Guinea weekly airmail on Monday, May 30.
Stamp-collectors’ eagerness to use this first airmail has been so excessive that it is practically certain that, to accom modate passengers and mails on this offi cial flight, two ’planes will be necessary, and the reserve De Havilland liner will be used. The ’planes will start a day earlier than schedule, and will spend an extra day in Rabaul, to permit mail-sorting.
Passengers will include the Minister for the Territories (Rt. Hon. W. M. Hughes) and the secretary of the Prime Minister’s Department (Mr. J. R. Halligan), who are going to Rabaul to deal with the Capital site question, and who will return to Syd ney about June 12.
During the past few weeks, while the ground organisation was being completed, W.R.C. Airlines (as the new organisation is called) have been running “survey” flights along the new route and testing out the new timetable. The ’planes car ried passengers and goods, but no mails.
Timetable details are given in the firm’s advertisement on page ii. of the cover.
Mr. R. J, Keegan, of the British Colon ial Administrative Service in the Solomon Islands, was in Sydney during May spend ing part of his long leave.