Paris-N. Caledonia Flight
p. 155 · Read in the full issue
25Th Anniversary Of
A SHORT ceremony led by the High Commissioner for France in the Pacific, M. Aime Grimald, marked on April 5, the 25th an niversary of the first Paris-New Caledonia flight.
The ceremony took place before the monument (at the entrance to the Tontouta aerodrome) which commemorated this event.
On April 5, 1932, the two-engined plane built by Couzinet and called the “Biarritz” landed at Tontouta after a flight of 134 hours flying time, but 28 days out from Paris.
Unfortunately the plane on landing
was badly damaged. The crew of three consisted of De Verneil, pilot; Deve, navigator; and Munch, en gineer.
By way of contrast, the regular plane of the French line TAI, a Douglas DC6, left the aerodrome during the ceremony and would land it’s passengers in Paris just two days later. t The Pacific Islands Society met on April 23 at 77 King Street, Syd ney. The guest speaker was Sister Margaret Evans, of the Royal North Shore Hospital, who spoke of a recent trip through Spain and Portugal and illustrated it with a colour film.