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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0016.PDF
FUGHT International, 2 January 1964 11 By Flying-boat to the Sleepy Lagoons By Gp Capt T. F. U. Lang, AFC TAHITI, France's tourist paradise in the Pacific, has become the centre of a controversy about traffic rights. The French, who want trans-Tasman rights between Australia and New Zealand for their DC-8 airline IJTA, have just revoked the Tahiti landing rights of the NZ airline TEAL— potentially a serious blow to the latter's hopes next year of operating DC-8s from Auckland to Los Angeles via Tahiti. Here are a passenger's impressions of the flying-boat service—one of the few such services left in the world—that links Tahiti with some of the other Society Islands. ONE of the few remaining flying-boat services still in existence—and one making a profit—is operated by RAI (ReseauAerien Interinsulaire) from Tahiti to several of the numer- ous islands that form the archepelago of the Society Islands. The islands are Bora Bora, Raiatea, Huhahine and Rangiroa, and they are served by a Bermuda-class Short Sandringham, F-BOIP, which is also on call for air/sea rescue and casualty services when required. The Sandringham is mainly used for the tourist trade, although some local Tahitians use it for suburban island-hopping. From the tourist's viewpoint, Bora Bora offers the greatest attraction; there one can swim, fish, sail or just beachcomb to one's heart's content. There is still something very romantic about a flying-boat, and especially, perhaps, in the area of Tahiti, where it has opened up so much glorious atoll scenery which would otherwise be denied to the normal traveller. My wife and I, on our travels last year, had flown by TAI's* DC-8 service from Los Angeles on the night of August 10, a flight of 4,240 miles at a speed of 543 m.p.h. Just after dawn we had swept over sleepy Papeete and on to the coral airstrip at Faaa. Nearby the flying-boat floated quietly at her moorings. On August 11 we rose very early, at 5.30 a.m., as the departure time was at 7 a.m. The wharf was alive with activity at that early hour, and baggage was being loaded into a small launch until it looked as though there was no space left. Then the little craft chugged happily over the green lagoon to the Sandringham, followed a few minutes later by two launch-loads of passengers, mostly for Bora Bora. On reaching the gleaming boat, painted in the typical TAI/RAI white with its broad stripes of green along the hull and a huge "RAJ" on its fin, we entered the main passenger compartments. In this case there were five cabins of varying sizes and seat confi- gurations, with a total capacity for 45 passengers. We chose two red-leather seats in the front cabin, under the starboard wing, but had only just settled down when Captain D. Wertman (ex-RAF 209 Squadron) appeared and invited us both to the flight deck. We were thus given a unique opportunity of seeing the whole area and also the operation of the boat under the very capable hands of the captain and his co-pilot, Paul Duval, a delightful, portly Frenchman. At exactly 0700hr, with 36 passengers on board, we slipped our mooring and one by one the four engines came to life. A preli- minary warm-up took us over the calm waters of the lagoon, while the French fire control boat kept station ahead. Engines tested, * TAI merged last summer with the other French independent airline VAT to become UTA. we faced into the soft wind and with full throttle surged forward into the sun. At 0703 we were airborne, turning on to a course of about 250° for the flight to Raiatea. Soon afterwards we passed Moorea on our left, and about 45min later the atoll of Raiatea came in view through the fleecy clouds. We swept in over the reef, made a half-circuit and headed into a strong easterly wind. Soon we felt the clatter of the waves on the hull as we smoothed on to the lagoon and taxied slowly to the mooring off the main jetty. Within seconds the launch had appeared, ten Tahitian passengers were un- loaded, and we were on our way again, an elapsed time of only 21min between landing and take-off (refuelling on this flight is not necessary). It was only a very short stage to Bora Bora, a mere 30 miles—14 minutes' flying-time—away. Having unloaded our passengers and taken on an even greater number, we were airborne after 48min with a load factor of 100 per cent. Our third leg took us back round the island, out over the reef and on to a course of 55° for the flight to Rangiroa, a distance of 285 miles. Estimated flying time was 2hr, but we were heading into an easterly wind of over 25 m.p.h. and our actual landing was to be 14min late. From time to time Paul left the co-pilot's seat and came back to the navigator's table to take drift readings and make the necessary calculations, all in French. Although there is a short- wave beacon at Bora Bora, and naturally a long-range beacon on Tahiti, all navigation on this leg must be by dead-reckoning. We flew through occasional rain clouds, with the seat-belt signs glowing in the cabins, but F-BOIP rode the bumps solidly as the rain spat- tered heavily against the windscreen for a few minutes at a time. After an hour we ran into clear weather just before we came to the main line of atolls which stretch for hundreds of miles from west to east in this area. Idyllic Luncheon Eventually the atoll of Rangiroa came in sight, the blue of the ocean being broken by the silver and gold reef and then by the clear turquoise of the lagoon, an area about 40 miles in length and 20 miles wide, with the tiny village of Tiputa standing in a palm grove at the northern entrance. The water was rough inside the reef, with a long swell, though this had subsided considerably since the pre- vious trip two days earlier, when the call had had to be missed out. However, all was well; Capt Wertman put down the Sandringham along the swell and slightly out of wind, with Paul raising the flaps immediately and cutting both the inboard engines as soon as we were waterborne. This time we were all unloaded as there was a stop-over of almost 4hr. At the village wharf we were met by the local guitar orchestra and choir; one of the musicians was plucking at a "double-bass" made from a Mobiloil drum, a long piece of bamboo and a length of thick cord, but the end-product was very pleasing. As soon as we had all been garlanded with floral hats, and suitably greeted in typical Tahitian style, we were led through the village arm-in-arm, preceded by the orchestra. Eventually we reached the Club Meditarrane, whence we had all been invited to lunch as guests of RAI and offered facilities for bathing, fishing or just beachcombing. In due course, after a drink at the local open-air bar, we sat down to a three-course lunch: marinated fish, curried chicken, and the inevitable figure-miner poi, a popular dessert with the Tahitians. Time passed all too quickly with the orchestra playing and the choir singing their native songs, while small children and the local dogs wandered hopefully round our tables set under a canopy of palm leaves and open to the trade-winds. It was now time to depart and once more we sped out to F-BOIP in several launches, em- barked through the forward door, and in a few minutes were again airborne, this time heading on a course of 205° with a strong tail- wind for Tahiti, a distance of 210 miles. After 20min we passed the mineral island of Makatea, completely different in shape from the other islands in the area; no atoll surrounds it, and it rises with precipitous cliffs straight out of the sea for over 100ft. About 20min later we saw the silhouette of Tahiti's peaks, Oro- hena and Aorai, rising above the clouds. Paul's ETA had been correct this time, much to his delight, and we made our final turn into wind and put down parallel to the main runway on schedule. A few minutes later we were finally attached to our mooring and off-loaded into a waiting launch for the short run to the wharf. Our visit to the outer islands was over for a year. Next time, with the prospect of other areas being opened, we shall return to enjoy the simplicity of these Polynesian islands, so far unspoilt by com- mercialized tourism.
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