SPAL Still Has Plans Despite UK Blundering

No Airline,

No Compensation

SPAL Still Has Plans Despite UK Blundering Over Christmas Is.

The following notes on the plans of South Pacific Air Lines, which intended to run a flying-boat service from Honolulu to Papeete via Christmas Island, are from Captain Bryan Monkton, formerly of Trans Oceanic Airways and later an executive vice-president of SPAL. He has now resigned from the latter company and is at present in Sydney.

THE plans of South Pacific Air Lines to establish the long awaited regular air service be tween Honolulu and Tahiti are still suffering as a result of the decision sf the British Government to use Christmas Island as a nuclear test site.

SPAL —an American airline com pany—received full authority from :he US Civil Aeronautics Board to sstablish regular scheduled air ser vices over this route in August, 1953. It planned to operate this service with Solent four-engined fly ng-boats direct into Papeete larbour, and received strong sup port from the local Tahitian Gov ernment and from France as any proposal to use landplanes would rave involved the re-activation of he war-time strip on 170-mile iistant Bora Bora, and the at ;endant problem of transporting he passengers by sea or amphibian tom there to Tahiti; or the Gov ernment would have been faced vith the construction of a land lirport on Tahiti itself at a pos lible cost of about $4 million.

However, although the use of the Solents avoided this problem, hese aircraft did not have the economical range to fly the 2,800 niles between Honolulu and Tahiti ion-stop and so it was planned to efuel at Christmas Island, a large lat coral atoll enclosing extensive agoons for flying-boat operation md ideally situated almost at the lalf-way point along the route.

At that time, Christmas Island one of the territories whose (wnership was mildly disputed oy Jritain and the US. During the Second World War it had become l condominium, shared jointly by hese two nations, and the US Air r orce had built an airfield and ither fairly extensive installations m the island.

At the end of the war the US brees eventually moved out and Eft the airfield and buildings in he somewhat doubtful care of the iritish authorities. Then the filbert and Ellice Island Colony Government took over the coconut •lantations and, with a labour force f about 200 Gilbertese, started to iroduce copra again from the 1-

million or more trees, most of which had been planted on the island by former residents.

When SPAL proposed to build a flying-boat bass and other facilities on the island it approached both the US State Dept, and the British Colonial Office for the necessary authority.

The US gave SPAL an indefinite lease of the former US Air Force installations for a peppercorn rental, on condition that SPAL maintained the landplane field in a reasonably satisfactory condition to permit occasional aircraft to land there.

The British, through the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, entered into an agreement with SPAL granting the company the lease of an area of land on which to establish the shore in

stallations—radio station, power [rouse, personnel living quarters and passenger accommodation—as well is landing rights and the use of ;he seaplane operating area.

This agreement was to remain in :orce for as long as the CAB certificate, granting the franchise m the route, remained valid, the iresent certificate being due to ex fire in 1960.

On this understanding SPAL icquired three Solent flying-boats md other allied operating equip nent and started the lengthy pro edure of obtaining US certification or these British-built aircraft.

At the end of 1955, the aircraft almost ready to go into service nd SPAL began to prepare the oute. A large volume of equip aent for the base at Christmas sland —cranes, tractors, diesel enerators, tank trucks, radio towers nd transmitters, buildings, refrig rators and the hundred and one ther things necessary for such an peration—was assembled in Kono ilu and in February, 1956 was ispatched to the island by barge nd tug.

At the same time a party of 25 mstruction workers and tech icians, under SPAL engineer R. S. [ills, flew to Christmas Island by bartered DC4 and set up camp on le site of the base.

With the arrival of the main luipment, construction work was immenced and by the end of April le base was 80 per cent, completed, he power-house was operating, ation living quarters finished. The Dwerful 1,000-watt radio beacon as on the air and the storage nks almost ready to receive bulk applies of aviation gasoline. A ntative date for the inauguration ■ the service had been set for ugust, 1956. pHEN without warning, it was an- L nounced that the British Gov ernment intended to use the land as a base for making the •st British aerial H-bomb drop.

Later SPAL was informed offici ly through the US State Depon ent that they could not use the land as a base until after the nclusion of the atomic tests and at all SPAL men must be off the land by June 1, 1956.

No commercial aircraft being 'ailable for charter at the time. 3 AL had to appeal to the US )ast Guard and as a result an iT3 transport aircraft took every ie back to Honolulu. No time is available to take measures to otect the valuable equipment fich had to be more or less landoned, but the RAF and Royal igineers who moved in almost ?ht away no doubt made good use At first SPAL considered that it ight be better to await the con

finish flhmit ho AnSjft s {Sf 7 dul^d f , t 0 August) 195 3,’ . rat £f r than go to the expense and trouble Biif 6 n^ n thp g niHin n^ w eq^ 1 P me . nt fv? 1 6 has been m " formed that the present tests may be repeated from time to time in

the future and that each time a test is scheduled, commercial flying operations to the island would have to cease. Such a restriction would be quite unfeasible, of course, and the airline has decided to re organise its plans to permit the

operation of the route without the use of Christmas Island.

Alternative plans have entailed thp use of such islands as Palmyra, or Penrhyn as refuelling bases for the flying-boats but each has certain distinct disadvantages, nrincinalof which is the uneven Feneths involved with result-

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Lw fS Sian most favoured in-

Now, the Plan most n?ine direct from Honolulu to Bora plane f a So i e nt Bora ?pS to make the fly mg-boat p P a P^ et f h^e m a 7d the connection between there a re TF t8 pvHpr for » Lockheed Super n Mndel has bFen Constellation Model placed . d L„?°!! a L fnn fh® parent company of SPAL and th hf Mav of this year ft P in May of this yea .

TT is fairly obvious that the British 1 authority which is concerned with the planning of nuclear tests such as that which is scheduled to take place on Christmas Island must have known of the forthcoming experiments long before hf^act m< St>baSy > before Iven the Al Lr/emtnt with tL colonial w g aF 1 ri this is a verv nf nffiri and

the" SSfffi

know what the left was up to.

Having made the blunder and completely upset the plans of the Eiirline and deprived Tahiti of its much-needed air service, it might be thought that the British Government would hasten to make amends by promptly paying the rightful claim of SPAL for compensation in the matter.

But is now almost a y ear smce the rug was jerked out from under tho airline , s feet and it has not seen a penny to repay it for the equipment left on the island or the loss of profits and prestige. The &PAL claim is for about 200,000 dollars. In any case it is difficult to understand why, with a dozen other suitable islands to choose from, it had to be Christmas Island. t Some wily Indians in Fiji, dismmlifipd as bus and taxi drivers, have been beating the traffic authorities by using other_ men's driving licenses. The Police Department now has come back with a now syste m which will not be so si ly circumvented. From January onwardS( every pub lic-servicevehicle driving-license must carry with it a certified photograph of the license-holder. All licenses not carrying such identification became forthwith invalid. It was a drastic remedy-but it appears to have been effective.