Post by chrisnpl on Dec 30, 2006 20:41:23 GMT 12
I'm just wondering if anyone has old NAC timetables from the 1950s and 1960s. I've got hold of 1948 (part of - domestic only; no Pacific services) - 1952 (NAC domestic, Pacific, TEAL, and BCPA schedules on it also), 1956, 1958, 1962.
As I've put in other threads, I'm working on a history of Whenuapai, and the timetables are a good source to show how busy it was becoming.
I particularly wanted a timetable after 1962 - especially 1965 (any month but November/December) would be fantastic - as more airports were being sealed around the country during the 60s, and Whenuapai became busier and busier during the early 1960s; and the runways really started to take a hammering.
In brief - in 1952, there were 14 domestic flights a day: 11 flights departing to the south and three to the north (Rotorua and Whangarei used the Dominie, as Rotorua had an extremely short airstrip at the time.)
Sunday flights within the country were not introduced until 1955.
Each week four international services departed; with two more fortnightly. (Five a week departed with TEAL from Mechanics Bay, downtown).
1958: Five flights departed to the north, and fifteen to the south. The first Viscount was introduced this year, and there were two flights Mon-Sat and one on Sunday. Whenuapai and Christchurch were the only airports that could take the Viscount - Rongotai was under heavy reconstruction at the time, and Paraparaumu (using DC-3s only by then) was Wellington Airport.
On Sundays six flights departed, all to the south, and all to Wellington, Christchurch, or Dunedin.
Internationally: 16 flights departed Whenuapai each week.
The two most notable ones were with Canadian Pacific with same plane service Whenuapai - Nadi - Canton Island - Honolulu - Vancouver and non-stop to Amsterdam, with DC-6B aircraft: and Transports Aeriens Intercontinentaux with same plane service Whenuapai - Noumea - Brisbane - Darwin - Saigon - Karachi - Athens - Paris Orly.
1962: 18 flights departed Whenuapai Mon-Sat, four Dominies to Whangarei and a DC-3 to Kaikohe/Kaitaia, one Friendship (Palmerston North/Nelson), six Viscounts on the main trunk route, and DC-3s to various points around the North Island.
Ten flights departed on Sunday - to regional as well as main trunk destinations, using the same mix of aircraft except for the Dominie (no flights to Northland).
Internatonally, 25 flights departed each week; by far the majority Lockheed L-188 Electras of TEAL and Qantas, but also Canadian Pacific's Bristol Britannias (Sydney, Nadi, Honolulu); Pan American's DC-7Cs (Nadi), a weekly TAI service by DC-4 to Noumea, and a Qantas DC-4 to Norfolk Island. By then, Whenuapai was a spur-line service, to connect with the jets at Sydney and Nadi, and the international heyday was over.
So - if anyone can send me photocopies of NAC timetables from 1948 - 1965 and those two years in particular - that would be great! Thank you in advance.
As I've put in other threads, I'm working on a history of Whenuapai, and the timetables are a good source to show how busy it was becoming.
I particularly wanted a timetable after 1962 - especially 1965 (any month but November/December) would be fantastic - as more airports were being sealed around the country during the 60s, and Whenuapai became busier and busier during the early 1960s; and the runways really started to take a hammering.
In brief - in 1952, there were 14 domestic flights a day: 11 flights departing to the south and three to the north (Rotorua and Whangarei used the Dominie, as Rotorua had an extremely short airstrip at the time.)
Sunday flights within the country were not introduced until 1955.
Each week four international services departed; with two more fortnightly. (Five a week departed with TEAL from Mechanics Bay, downtown).
1958: Five flights departed to the north, and fifteen to the south. The first Viscount was introduced this year, and there were two flights Mon-Sat and one on Sunday. Whenuapai and Christchurch were the only airports that could take the Viscount - Rongotai was under heavy reconstruction at the time, and Paraparaumu (using DC-3s only by then) was Wellington Airport.
On Sundays six flights departed, all to the south, and all to Wellington, Christchurch, or Dunedin.
Internationally: 16 flights departed Whenuapai each week.
The two most notable ones were with Canadian Pacific with same plane service Whenuapai - Nadi - Canton Island - Honolulu - Vancouver and non-stop to Amsterdam, with DC-6B aircraft: and Transports Aeriens Intercontinentaux with same plane service Whenuapai - Noumea - Brisbane - Darwin - Saigon - Karachi - Athens - Paris Orly.
1962: 18 flights departed Whenuapai Mon-Sat, four Dominies to Whangarei and a DC-3 to Kaikohe/Kaitaia, one Friendship (Palmerston North/Nelson), six Viscounts on the main trunk route, and DC-3s to various points around the North Island.
Ten flights departed on Sunday - to regional as well as main trunk destinations, using the same mix of aircraft except for the Dominie (no flights to Northland).
Internatonally, 25 flights departed each week; by far the majority Lockheed L-188 Electras of TEAL and Qantas, but also Canadian Pacific's Bristol Britannias (Sydney, Nadi, Honolulu); Pan American's DC-7Cs (Nadi), a weekly TAI service by DC-4 to Noumea, and a Qantas DC-4 to Norfolk Island. By then, Whenuapai was a spur-line service, to connect with the jets at Sydney and Nadi, and the international heyday was over.
So - if anyone can send me photocopies of NAC timetables from 1948 - 1965 and those two years in particular - that would be great! Thank you in advance.
