Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 28, 2022 19:03:04 GMT 12
BY DC10 DOWN AND AROUND N.Z.
(By PAUL CUTLER)
Soda water and an ice pack is the cure for an upset tummy on Air New Zealand’s newest and most advanced system in air transportation—the DC10.
Even New Zealand’s latest and most sophisticated aircraft will not stop an attack of air sickness, but a pretty blond hostess with a proven recipe can work wonders. However, I was not alone in my short-lived misery. I was reassured to know that at least one other passenger and two flight stewards also felt the effects of a hedgehopping tour of central New Zealand. For much of the three and a half hour flight, Air New Zealand’s chief pilot (Captain P. L. Le Couteur) had the luxurious jet flying as low as 1500 ft.
The jet took a route from Auckland through the middle of the country, stopping traffic, businesses and schools in Hamilton, Rotorua, Cambridge, Taupo, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, Timaru and Ashburton.
To enter the DC 10 from a Viscount would be like taking a Bangladesh refugee from his home in a concrete pipe and placing him in the lounge of a plush Cashmere home. Apart from the obvious engineering and mechanical differences there is no comparison. Even to enter the jet suggests the feeling that you are already airborne. A large amount of space beneath the passenger cabins is devoted to air cargo (a very valuable passenger).
Before its departure at Auckland, the jet was completely surrounded by hydraulic lifts, service equipment, trucks and staff all busy packing the cargo and preparing the aircraft for its publicity flight.
The small number of passengers aboard made the huge jet even more spacious. The colour scheme is light and placid and this also has a wide-open effect. A full flight crew was used on the flight, four hostesses and seven stewards being on duty. A reserve crew for today’s flights around Christchurch flew as passengers.
The Pacific theme has been adopted throughout the three cabins. Silver ferns and hibiscus flowers decorate the walls, and Polynesian drawings hang on the back of the film screens.
Even the staff represent a number of cultures. There are hostesses from Hong Kong, Scotland, and New Zealand, including a Maori.
Seven music channels include one wholly Polynesian, with John Rowles (“Cheryl Moana Marie”), Kiri (Haere Mai), and Gray Bartlett (Fijian Girl). The aircraft is extremely quiet both inside and out; people who hoped to see the jet were told to watch for it, not listen. Whenever the jet circled a city, cars could be seen stopped on the side of roads and school children were lined un outside their rooms.
The jet briefly halted decision-making in the capital and performed a very low fly-past at Wellington Airport.
It appeared to steal the thunder at the opening of Parliament; and even at 1500 ft it was obvious that not all members of the guard of honour had their eyes front.
PRESS, 16 FEBRUARY 1973
(By PAUL CUTLER)
Soda water and an ice pack is the cure for an upset tummy on Air New Zealand’s newest and most advanced system in air transportation—the DC10.
Even New Zealand’s latest and most sophisticated aircraft will not stop an attack of air sickness, but a pretty blond hostess with a proven recipe can work wonders. However, I was not alone in my short-lived misery. I was reassured to know that at least one other passenger and two flight stewards also felt the effects of a hedgehopping tour of central New Zealand. For much of the three and a half hour flight, Air New Zealand’s chief pilot (Captain P. L. Le Couteur) had the luxurious jet flying as low as 1500 ft.
The jet took a route from Auckland through the middle of the country, stopping traffic, businesses and schools in Hamilton, Rotorua, Cambridge, Taupo, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, Timaru and Ashburton.
To enter the DC 10 from a Viscount would be like taking a Bangladesh refugee from his home in a concrete pipe and placing him in the lounge of a plush Cashmere home. Apart from the obvious engineering and mechanical differences there is no comparison. Even to enter the jet suggests the feeling that you are already airborne. A large amount of space beneath the passenger cabins is devoted to air cargo (a very valuable passenger).
Before its departure at Auckland, the jet was completely surrounded by hydraulic lifts, service equipment, trucks and staff all busy packing the cargo and preparing the aircraft for its publicity flight.
The small number of passengers aboard made the huge jet even more spacious. The colour scheme is light and placid and this also has a wide-open effect. A full flight crew was used on the flight, four hostesses and seven stewards being on duty. A reserve crew for today’s flights around Christchurch flew as passengers.
The Pacific theme has been adopted throughout the three cabins. Silver ferns and hibiscus flowers decorate the walls, and Polynesian drawings hang on the back of the film screens.
Even the staff represent a number of cultures. There are hostesses from Hong Kong, Scotland, and New Zealand, including a Maori.
Seven music channels include one wholly Polynesian, with John Rowles (“Cheryl Moana Marie”), Kiri (Haere Mai), and Gray Bartlett (Fijian Girl). The aircraft is extremely quiet both inside and out; people who hoped to see the jet were told to watch for it, not listen. Whenever the jet circled a city, cars could be seen stopped on the side of roads and school children were lined un outside their rooms.
The jet briefly halted decision-making in the capital and performed a very low fly-past at Wellington Airport.
It appeared to steal the thunder at the opening of Parliament; and even at 1500 ft it was obvious that not all members of the guard of honour had their eyes front.
PRESS, 16 FEBRUARY 1973
