1959-04-03 — Page 1

CHINA MAIL COMET SUPPLEMENT, FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1959.

Jet Age Journey...

High above the blue Pacific a sleek, shining, jet-powered plane will forge the final link in the world-wide belt of British air communications. And to mark this memorable development at a time when more and more people are 'going by air-the China Mail surveys this age of air travel in armchair comfort at very nearly the speed of a bullet. First report from Donald Gomery

(left) in London.

EAR

ARLY morning mists swirled coldly round London Airport, but we were watching the progress of a man in the sun. Captain Donald Anderson was high over the Pacific, travelling from San Francisco to Honolulu, at the controls of a Britannia. With him: five other captain pilots.

by Donald Gomery

as though he had just returned

On the back of each model from a stroll round the park. plane on the map is a pilot's At the big cities on the What a small-boy world name.

the names of other pllots wait- ing. their turn, with their map are small plastle signs with crews, to take over a plane

a

The Britannia we were looking at was a four-inch model crawling

called Movements Control, over a vast horizontal map of the work. Along the fuselage of the of fascination is this office Britannia a tag read "ANDERSON." This was in the Movements Control from which one can watch

Office at London Air- vast air fleet encircling the port, and there were a globe.

G.E.C.

ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT

for

AIRCRAFT & AIRPORTS

The G.E.C. is proud to have been chosen once again by B.O.A.C. to supply the electrical galley equipment for the Comet IV.

B.O.A.C. stewardess Ann Hughes Comer's prepares dimer in a G.E.C, equipped galley

and serves it to passengera shake the waiternft in over the Atlantic Ocean.

45 MAJOR AIRLINES

Specify

three pilots at Hongkong, four

at Singapore, three at Sydney.

Take one of these plones at are random. one of these pilots. of There are Here, on the west coast

from America, Rellered South

away Bone's usual routes, is a brown Britannia with "CRACKNELL" on Its fuselage.

seore and more of little The Britannia models aeroplane models on the coloured brown.

white models, 100, map in all parts of the over the map. These are the world.

brilliant Cometa.

There are yellow models, the

which Douglas called more easily Seven Seas";

Stratocruisers;

blue Argonauts,

DC7C1

are

red

Tut this one model, Coptam Anderson's Britannia, held our especial interest, for his is a plencer fight-a "proving Bight"

in the Boac Heet there part of a new world-circling. ali-Brites, all-jet air link of are 31 Britannias, eight Cornets, which the British can ell bo 14 "Soven Seas, 12 Strato

cruisers, 16 Argonauts. And on prót:d

books of Воле

1,007

From now Comet jets flying the cast to Hongkong and Tokyo pilots. will connect with a new service of Beltanning lying the Pacife from San Francisco.

Anderson's Britannia was the Jest to By the new route. That's why he has five other pilot: with him, for they too must learn every vagary of the Fonte in time for the passenger service.

And so we stood in Tandon looking at the model Britannia ard thinking of the real plane 3,000

and uf miles away, Anderson, the big Scot from Perth, with the dry wit and the manner, 47 always-cheerful yvarx

old, a war veteran North Allantie ops; a man who will return to his home at Burnham. Buckinghamshire, and put up his feet as nonchalantly

of

Danb

Captain Douglas Crnekneli is on V.I.P. trip.

Crucknell

began flying 24

In years ago and is 49 now. the war he was a wing-com- mander, D.SO., DF.C. and bur, in Bomber Command and then as a Pallinder,

He has been lying Britannias for a year trow. One of the inulti-millionaires of the air

nen who have flow over a million miles,

... around the ever-shrinking

World

SHE'S GOT a new hat,

સ

a new suit, and au airline ticket to romantic places. An excursion ticket with a difference, a see-the- world trip of a life- time from London back to London via places like Bangkok, Tokyo, Honolulu, New York. The cost: £711 15.

Get off where you like. Stay as long as you like. You can make the trip last weeks- or you can go just for the ride, just 86 hours 50 minutes.

She is also an excellent cook, 5,000 signals pass into London there are showed under, except She lives in Airport cach day, most of them one which has been cleared and a skilled nurse, London, and is unmarried, but needing the attention of Allan can be used for emergency only.

his staff—nost I do not know her address. 11 Dewdney and

Sometimes the signal is more Blood plasma is shows you, though, how of them simply indicating the dramatic, Just

theso Boac times of arrival and departure needed for o men in Tripoli, accomplished

of planes at airports all over the Can Boac help? world.

So . goes on, for EVETY

There is a protty girl in this

plane golden-haired, stewardesses are. blue-eyed Diane Kelly. Sho These are some of our As we watch A SIGNAL minute of the 24 hours of the

from Frankfort: is the stewardess who, with thoughts as we watch the arrives

a day, this watch on 21 giunt to be air fleet.... three men stewards, waits world from Movements Con- cracked oil cooler has

replaced and the plane's As I left, Cuplala Anderson's on the V.I.P. poisongors and trol, which is the nervo departure may be delayed.

contre of Doac. Suporvis- A SIGNAL from New York A romantle life. truly enough, ing it in Allan Dewdnoy, that a fight of chinchillas is on A SIGNAL from Goose Buy - in Canada that the runways

the crow.

B stewardess's. But Lake closer look at this girl Dlane who once was an officer in its way.

nalub Kelly-who is worth a second the Morchant Navy.

Maka

Lanai Mad

LAWANG SHILO

glance in any part of the world.

There is much, much mora She can speak six languages

this map alone. and take shorthand in four of to it than them. Once she worked as a There are all the huge black- Secretary In the British Em- boards round the room as well, bassy in Mexico City. She has making the place look like a "tote" with their chalked a medal for ski-ing.

idorkings.

Congratulations

to

BOAC

on the inauguration of their

round - the - world

Jet Services

by

Comet 4

and

Britannia 312

Carlton Hotel

G.E.C

GALLEY EQUIPMENT

NIGHT CLUB

BAR

́RESTAURANT

There is a blackboard for each type of plane, Incoming and outgoing, and at-a-glance details of its position, its pilot, the time it left its last airport, the calinated time of arrival at its next station the time, 15 any, it is behind schedule, and the reason-fag, perhaps.

Then there is Captain Robert Alabaster, who flew Mr Mac- millan's plane to Moscow re- cently.

Britannia, with its ve pilot- passengers, was being moved one stage nearer Honolulu. Ono stage nearer the completion of an exclling new world air link..

-London Exprena Service).

Send it by air-anything goes...

THERE were Eenic, Meenie, Minie, Moe, and Arf a Moe-five elephants which flew from Siam to Britain for a circus.

-Holland to London for the

Bank of England.

There were two live whales

There use racehorses and octopuses, diamonds, and stained glass windows, day-old chicks and boa constrictors, Old Masters and steel gantries, English tennis balls and houses in sections,

the

Nothing comes as surprise, nothing is too difficult, for the air freight lines now that shopkeepers of the world have Laken to the skies.

Today about £200 million worth of all Britain's annual

A great character, "Alaby." A dat hand at photography, music lover, nan who will play for hours with model rail- ways, A D.S.O. and bar, D.F.C. and bar la the war.

Once, strangely enough, he (small ones) flown from Alaska worked in the legal department to the aquarium at New York's overseas trade is airborne, of London Transport Board. Coney Island.

Strangely enough, one of the Once, as a commercial pilot, There were 2,000 Australian headrches of the designern of two engines of his Argonaut earthworms, in their native soll, aircraft floors which have enught fire between Lisbon and sent by air to feed a pair of carry such things as hippopota- Rio, but he llew on for three duck-billed platypuses

en muses is-women. Women who hours and landed on un island American zoo.

wear stiletto heels. 300 miles of the Brazilian coast. There was holf haggis When a woman weighing 10 For that he got a royal com- own to Lusaka in Rhodesla to alone throws her whole weight mendation for valuable service be eaten there on St Andrew's for a second on to a tenth of a was sure inch of heel, then the Day while, the other hatt

penetrating preasure Is much,

In the nir

Feeding uk this information being eaten in London.

Д

21

to

to Movements Control is the There were £40,000,000 worth much greater than the wide-

Hown Signals Offer next door. Here of

-banknotes

from-spread hippo's-hool

Compliments

to

BOAC

ON INAUGURAL FLIGHTS

Comet IV-London-Tokyo and

Britannia-Hongkong-San Francisco

from

Cable & Wireless Ltd.

'Aerodio. Maintenance. '& Telecommunications Advisers

to Department of Civil Aviation