Selection: Michalis Katsigeras

TWIN PIONEER: London, 6 – Three Twin Pioneer aircraft are to stop over at the Hellenikon airport in Athens for one night on their flight from Amsterdam to Dutch New Guinea. They are the first British aircraft to be bought by a foreign airline and are expected to arrive in Athens on Monday, July 8, at 3.50 p.m. and leave the next day at 9 a.m. for Damascus on their way to their final destination. The Twin Pioneer is a passenger aircraft that can take off on a runway that appears more suitable for a helicopter, that of just 137 meters. It is safe, simple and easy to handle, and this luxury “air bus” can carry a crew of two, 16 passengers and fuel for a 804-kilometer flight. It is powered by two Alvis Leonides 531 radial engines. Thanks to the shape of its wings, it can land at a speed of 80 kilometers an hour. If used as a hospital aircraft, it can accommodate nine stretchers, two seated passengers and two assistants. The aircraft is expected to bring air access to isolated or forested areas, swamps and deserts where small airports cannot accommodate the large passenger aircraft which require a long asphalt runway.