Completing her twelve days’ delivery flight from Southampton, the Tasman Empire Airways flying boat Aotearoa alighted on the Auckland Harbour just after 2.30 o’clock this afternoon, having made the crossing from, Sydney with the aid of a following wind in approximately seven hours twenty minutes. Thus she easily beat the previous record of nine and a quarter hours put up by the Centaurus in December 1937.

The Aotearoa’s arrival had been forecast the night before for about 3.30p.m. but, after it had become known that she was flying ahead of schedule, crowds began to gather around Mechanics Bay base of Tasman Empire Airways and on Campbell’s Point early in the afternoon. In spite of rain, which was falling intermittently, by 2 o’clock several thousand people had assembled, and many more were sitting in cars along the waterfront road. Prospects of a good view of the arrival were not bright till, a little after 2 o’clock, the sky in the west and south began to lighten and sunshine gleamed fitfully on the harbour waters. The windsock on the end of the breakwater indicated a gentle westerly breeze.

Inside the base building was a large official party and a score or more of other guests. When the rain ceased a battery of motion-picture cameras was set up on the flat roof, from which the whole expanse of the harbor could be seen. Press photographers also found the roof a good vantage point.

OUT OF THE MIST

Just before the half hour, the Aotearoa made a sudden appearance over North Head, emerging from the mist fringing a big rainstorm which covered Hauraki Gulf. In a few moments she was heading diagonally towards King’s Wharf  and the subdued hum of her engines could be distinctly heard. Banking at an angle which enabled the red paint on the upper surface of her wings to be seen, she turned a comparatively narrow arc, descending as she did so, and roared past the rear of the base buildings at a height that seemed little more than 150ft.

From this salute the machine rose again and made a second and wider circuit, passing over Albert Park and Parnell. Reappearing, she came down on a long slant towards a large patch of water off Point Resolution, which was being patrolled by two base tenders and the Harbour Board’s launch Ferro.

Lower she came, skimming along with her shadow spreading beneath her and touched the water in the fairway at a comfortable distance from the end of the mole. As her hull sank deepert, she quickly list was in a welter of foam, and, with slowly-turning propellers, taxied into the basin, while spouts of water rose on either side of her silver hull.

Two launches hurried in after her at full speed. The mooring hatch in the nose quickly opened and the head and shoulders of a man appeared. A staff was pushed up between the wings, and another member of the crew climbed out to fasten the New Zealand civil aviation flag to its top.

To experts as well as laymen, the facility with which the flying boat was berthed, tail first in the Braby pontoon, was remarkable. When she had turned she stopped precisely in position alongside the buoy. Two heavy lines attached to electric capstans were taken out to her in punts, one being run through a block on the buoy and the other fixed to the stern. Then slowly the massive boat was warped into the horseshoe of the pontoon, half a dozen Air Force ratings from Hobsonville easing her into her final position with rubber ended poles.

Less than 15 minutes after his craft had alighted, Captain Burgess emerged through the opened door, and the whole ship’s company, together with four aircraft engineers, who were passengers, march up the staging to an accompaniment of applause and cheers. The were met by the port health officer, Dr. Watson, and conducted to the examination room, where formalities were completed in a minute or two.

OFFICIAL RECEPTION

The official reception was brief. There were no speeches. Captain Burgess and his first officer, Mr. W. J. Craig, were welcomed with handshakes by the chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board, Mr. W. B. Darlow, the Mayor, Sir Ernest Davis, Mr. C. A. Furlong, of the Department of Internal Affairs, representing the Prime Minister, the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom, Sir Harry Batterbee, the Controller of Civil Aviation, Group-Captain T. M. Wilkes, Messrs. J. N. Greenland and C. S. White, representing Union Airways, and Mr. H. Gatty, New Zealand representative of Pan-American Airways. Mr. Craid was also greeted by his father, who had come to Auckland from the country to meet him.

Immediately after the reception, Captain Burgess had a happy meeting with his wife and son. His baby daughter, whom he had not seen, was deemed too young to be present.

A lane had to be cleared by police through a crowd of several hundred cheering people before Captain Burgess and Mrs. Burgess could reach the car which carried them home.

After the delivery of two other Tasman flying-boats, the regular service between Auckland and Sydney will probably be started in November.

A statement was made tonight by Union Airways, in confirmation of information received from Sydney, that it was hoped the Australia and the Awarua, the two remaining flying-boats to be used on the crossing, would be flown to New Zealand in October.

The vice-chairman of Qantas Empire Airways, Mr. A. E. Rudder, stated in Sydney last week that the fact that Tasman Empire Airways, which would operate the service had not yet been formed into a company, was of small moment. The company would be formed well before the service was ready to begin.

Till the other two flying-boats are delivered the Aotearoa will be used for training of personnel, and it is probable that a number of survey flights will be made. These will embrace the Pacific as well as the Tasman, and it is understood that when the comprehensive engineering check to be started tomorrow is completed, the first flight will be to Suva.

THE TRIP ACROSS

From the time her silver hull left the waters of Rose Bay til she moved to her moorings at Auckland, the Aotearoa was never out of touch with base authorities. There was regular interchange of information between the flying-boat and the Musick Memorial radio station at Tamaki, and officials at the base at Mechanics Bay were constantly informed of her progress.

Assisted for the most part by following winds, and flying at altitudes ranging between 6000ft and 9000ft, the machine experienced good weather till she approached the New Zealand coast. This was only the second occasion during the 12 days’ flight from Southampton, that bad weather was experienced, and though laconically described by members of the personnel as being “pretty dirty”, it failed to qualify their statement that the long flight was completely uneventful.

The wind was strong from the north-west when the flying-boat left Sydney at 7.12 a.m. (New Zealand time), Captain Burgess stated, but at 8 o’clock, when the machine was flying at 6000ft, there was a following south-west breeze. At 11 o’clock she was making 151 knots, with only 520 of a total of 1400 miles left to cover. Progress was maintained till several hundred miles from the New Zealand Coast, when the wind veered to north-west.

“Approaching New Zealand we encountered a tropical storm” Captain Burgess said. “We saw the coast, and, after first trying to go round to the south of the disturbance, we finally pushed on through it direct for Auckland, flying on wireless bearing and crossing the coastline six to ten miles south of the city. We would have arrived twenty minutes ahead of schedule had it not been for the storm that was encountered”.

The quality of the aviation radio service that was available for the Tasman crossing was praised by Captain Burgess. Meteorological data had been obtained from Lord Howe Island, but it had not been necessary to make use of the Tamaki-Awarua-Lord Howe “triangle” to obtain reciprocal bearings.

MACHINES PERFORMANCE

The earlier stages of the flight from Southampton were described by Captain Burgess, and members of the crew, as uneventful. Excellent weather had been encountered, with two exceptions, the first occasion when the Aotearoa crossed the monsoon belt between Calcutta and Penang, and the second when the flying-boat was near New Zealand. The machine had performed perfectly, it was stated, and no difficulty had been experienced in maintaining the schedule.

In addition to her commander and crew, the Aotearoa carried five engineers. The flying-boats personnel. All of whom will remain in New Zealand is as follows: Captain J. W. Burgess, commander; Mr. W. J. Craig, first officer; Mr. R. A. Phillips, flight steward; Mr. R. S. Peek, engineer; Mr. E. MacNamara, engineer; Mr. S. J. Bradshaw, instrument engineer; Mr. B. Knee, chief engine inspector; Mr. J. Brown, Smith-Sperry, engineer.

In addition to Captain Burgess, Messrs Craig, Peek and MacNamara are New Zealanders.

Many items of luggage were unloaded from the flying-boat before she was transferred to her overnight moorings. These did not escape the usual customs formalities.