FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1952
1952 - 0348.PDF
THE foggy winter morning which chilled the New Zealand Prime Minister and men of the R.N.Z.A.F. at Radlett on January 30th must have made them all the more anxious to climb aboard the first Hastings C.3 and take off for the warmth and sunshine of their own far-away country. Mr. S. G. Holland was present to receive officially from Sir Frederick Handley-Page the log-books of the first of four of these military transports ordered by the New Zealand Air Force. R.A.F. Hastings are now handling a wide variety of duties and in particular they have been carrying reinforce ments of men, weapons and materials to Singapore and Japan and returning over the 10,000-mile route as ambulances to bring home casualties from Korea and Malaya. Hastings, also, recently carried thousands of troops to the Suez Canal zone and evacuated Service families from the area. In addition these aircraft are operating with Coastal Command on weather patrols. As a trooper the Hastings C.3 will carry 50 seats, or as an ambulance 32 stretchers and 28 sitting cases. The payload for 1,535 miles at a cruising speed of 247 m.p.h. is over 20,000 lb for an all-up weight of 80,000 lb. The maximum range of 3,820 miles can be attained while carrying 7,100 lb of payload. The selection of Hastings by the R.N.Z.A.F. is a step forward in the policy of standardization in aircraft and equipment among Commonwealth air forces. Mr. Holland said that the R.N.Z.A.F. intended to co-operate as closely as it could with the R.A.F. Reference was made last week to the handing-over ceremony and, briefly, to the differences between the C.3 and the R.A.F. C.2 Hastings. In particular, attention was drawn to the improved take-off, climb and speed at lower HASTINGS FOP NEW ZEALANC Official Ceremony at Radlett Marks Deliver of the First C.3 Long-range Transport Aircraj "FLIGHT" PHOTOGRAPHS
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
