Planes Over The

Pacific

Steady Growth of New Transport Lines

mHERE are six great oceans in the J. world, but a glance at the map will show that only one —the Paci fic—is destined to be the home of a great aerial transport industry. That is be cause, of all the oceans, the Pacific is the only one which is liberally sprinkled over with islands, great and small, which are suitable for use as aeroplane stations.

Already, the British, Dutch and Aus tralians/ with regular services, have linked up the Netherlands Indies and New Guinea with Australia and the mainland of Asia. The Japanese are thrusting down southwards, and now have established a regular service be tween the islands of Japan and the Mariana, Caroline and Marshall Islands.

Already, Pan American Airways are running a regular service, east and west, across the North Pacific, between North America and the mainland of Asia, via Hawaii and the Philippines.

Soon, there will be another air mail service across the Pacific, from Hawaii, south-westward to New Zealand and Australia, via New Caledonia and Fiji.

During March, squadrons of United States Navy planes made several long distance flights out from Honolulu to the west and south-west. Six large bombers made a mass flight from Hono lulu to Johnston Island, and on their way back they landed at Canton Island, where Pan American Airways have now prepared a seaplane base.

And so it goes on. One looks at the map of the Pacific, and wonders what aviation developments the next 20 years will see. It is certain that regular lines of flying-boats, carrying passengers, mails and urgent cargo between the continents of North America, Asia and Australia, will criss-cross this great ocean in every direction.

The one continent which borders the Pacific, and which is not yet in the avia tion picture, is South America, There is not much traffic between Australia and South America; but there is con siderable trade between Asia —especially Japan—and the Latin republics.

Sooner or later, someone will try to organise a flying service which will run eastward from Fiji to Samoa, thence to the Cook Islands, thence to Tahiti, thence through the eastern portion of French Oceania, and then across 3,000 miles of empty ocean to the coasts of Chile and Peru.

Probably, that last 3,000 miles will pro vide a problem that will not be solved for many a long day. It is an interest ing fact that the one notable area of land, away out in this wilderness of water, is the mysterious Easter Island, repository of a thousand strange images carved of rock, relics of a civilisation of which all records are lost.

It would be, indeed, a strange irony of fate if Easter Island, lonely, barren, weird and grim, should flourish once again as an important station on the South Pacific air mail route between Australia and South America.

Brother H. McCormack, who spent nine years on the staff of the Marist Brothers’ School in Western Samoa, has returned to Auckland, New Zealand.