An Interesting Report
pp. 9-10 · Read in the full issue
P.A.A. At Noumea?
NO date has yet been given for the opening of the Pan American Airways trans-Pacific service be tween Honolulu and Auckland, postpon ed when the “Samoa Clipper" was lost near Pago Pago last Christmas.
There are those who believe that P.A.A. have abandoned the plan to fly to New Zealand and. instead, will fly direct from Hawaii to Australia, via Canton Island and New Caledonia. This belief is sup ported by the following:— The “Bulletin du Commerce”. Noumea, on July 30. announced that “official in formation” had been received there that the seaplanes of Pan American Airways, commencing in January, 1939, would call regularly at Noumea. The New Cale donia authorities have given P.A.A. au thority to instal at Nouville (near Nou mea) a base for seaplanes, and a wharf and other equipment would be provided.
The new Boeing flying-boats would be used in the service.
The newspaper said that, once a week a flying-boat in this service would ar rive in Noumea from San Francisco, on its way to Australia—which meant that mails from Paris could reach New Cale donia in 12 days.
Use Of Canton Island
Then there is this, sent by our own correspondent in Honolulu on August 22: Pan American Airways will abandon landlocked Pago Pago harbour as an op erating base and instead will use Canton Island. In May last the U.S. navy tug.
“Ontario” took the P.A.A. advance party to Canton (as reported in July “P.1.M..), with the result that to-day the site for a permanent company base, including hotel, employees'quarters and the neces sary overhaul and supply buildings has been surveyed and laid out.
Coral heads are being blasted out of the lagoon to prepare runways in various directions across the lagoon for the air boats. Later on. Pan American radio equipment will be taken from Pago Pago and installed at Canton.
U.S. Government employees on Canton have surveyed a site for a landplane run way 5.400 ft. long on the atoll’s north rim. It runs directly into the prevailing easterly wind.
These improvements at Canton will be available, of course, to the U.S. navy and also to the British aircraft that in the near future will operate between Aus tralia and Canada.
The U.S. officials in Honolulu, who made these facts known to-day. could give no details of the rest of the route to Auckland. They reported, however, that the company is making overtures for the use of Suva as a stop.
Application To Australia?
It was reported in Sydney in Septem ber that an application had been made to the Australian Government by Pan American Airways for permission to land
This diagram shows the maze of airmail services, actual and proposed, already, in the Paci fic Ocean. The black lines show the established services; the dash-and-dot line the service, from Vancouver to Hawaii-Canton-Fiji-Auckland, proposed by Imperial Airways; while the broken line, nearly parallel with it, indicates the route that Pan American Airways would follow on the Hawaii-Canton-Noumea-Australia run,
their service planes in Australia. If this is correct, it gives colour to the belief that Pan American Airways now are planning a direct service between Hawaii and Australia, via Canton Island and Noumea.
As against this, Mr. Harold Gatty (N.Z. representative of Pan American Airways) in a statement made in Auck land late in August, expressed pleasure at the likelihood of the opening of the Sydney-Auckland service in January next, “as it would provide Pan Ameri can Airways service with the needed link between Australia and Auckland”.
Base At Palmyra
It is reported that the Americans have completed plans for the immediate con struction of an airboat base in the Palmyra atoll (south of Honolulu), and near Panning Island. Coral heads are to be blasted away, so as to permit landing and take-off stretches to be prepared within the shelter of the reefs. There will be the usual shore equipment of underground tanks and beaching facili ties. It is not known whether this is to be a naval defence station, or a com mercial station, or both.