Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 5, 2024 21:56:52 GMT 12
This is from The Press, 10 September 1969:
Longest Solo Flight Over Pacific
"The Press” Special Service WELLINGTON, Sept. 9.
A Wellington man, Captain J. C. Verleun, has set a record for the longest solo flight over the Pacific, and may have equaled or passed Lindbergh’s longest solo time over water.
A National Airways Corporation pilot, Captain Verleun returned to Wellington recently after delivering a New Zealand-built Fletcher top-dressing aircraft to Canada, during which the longest time aloft was 27 hours 15 minutes — between Honolulu and San Francisco. Lindbergh’s solo trans-Atlantic flight, also in a single-engined aircraft, took 31 hours. Not all of this time was spent over water, so Captain Verleun’s flight may be the longest solo flight, over water.
Captain Verleun has now completed 20 delivery flights for Air Parts N.Z. Ltd, a Hamilton firm. He has flown 16 Fletchers to Australia, two to the United States and one to India. In the past four months, he has visited 19 different countries.
His recent flight, which ended at Kingston, Ontario, may have been another “first.” When he left Honolulu for San Francisco 27 hours away, the aircraft was carrying more than its own weight in fuel. At take-off, the Fletcher weighed 5600lb, far above the maximum of 4700lb.
Leaving Honolulu, the plane managed only 90 m.p.h. at 500 feet. But, as the fuel was used, he was able to fly faster and higher. Even so, the top speed was generally about 100 m.p.h. With no automatic pilot, he had to fly the aircraft manually all the way. The only modifications made to the Fletcher were extra fuel tanks giving 32 hours endurance, a long-range radio and extra instruments for blind flying.
Longest Solo Flight Over Pacific
"The Press” Special Service WELLINGTON, Sept. 9.
A Wellington man, Captain J. C. Verleun, has set a record for the longest solo flight over the Pacific, and may have equaled or passed Lindbergh’s longest solo time over water.
A National Airways Corporation pilot, Captain Verleun returned to Wellington recently after delivering a New Zealand-built Fletcher top-dressing aircraft to Canada, during which the longest time aloft was 27 hours 15 minutes — between Honolulu and San Francisco. Lindbergh’s solo trans-Atlantic flight, also in a single-engined aircraft, took 31 hours. Not all of this time was spent over water, so Captain Verleun’s flight may be the longest solo flight, over water.
Captain Verleun has now completed 20 delivery flights for Air Parts N.Z. Ltd, a Hamilton firm. He has flown 16 Fletchers to Australia, two to the United States and one to India. In the past four months, he has visited 19 different countries.
His recent flight, which ended at Kingston, Ontario, may have been another “first.” When he left Honolulu for San Francisco 27 hours away, the aircraft was carrying more than its own weight in fuel. At take-off, the Fletcher weighed 5600lb, far above the maximum of 4700lb.
Leaving Honolulu, the plane managed only 90 m.p.h. at 500 feet. But, as the fuel was used, he was able to fly faster and higher. Even so, the top speed was generally about 100 m.p.h. With no automatic pilot, he had to fly the aircraft manually all the way. The only modifications made to the Fletcher were extra fuel tanks giving 32 hours endurance, a long-range radio and extra instruments for blind flying.
