Mallard Over Tahiti 1951-1955
Hotson
and Rodina’s valuable book on the elegant twin-engined post-WWII
amphibious flying boat, the Grumman G-73 Mallard, traces the
individual histories of many of the 59 examples produced at the company’s
Long Island, N.Y., works between 1946 and 1951. But of the 29th production
airframe, the authors were able to say only that it:
"Had been sold by the
Ford Motor Company to the Government of Tahiti. Little is known of this
operation, other than the aircraft was named "Ciel de Polynésie"
(Sky of Polynesia). It returned to the U.S. and sat for sale in 1956-57,
then was reported demolished or sold but was never heard of again."
(Fred. W. Hotson and Matthew E. Rodina Jr., Grumman Mallard: The
Enduring Classic, Robin Brass Studio, Montreal, 2006, p.72.)
Perhaps the following information and images may help to fill the gap, at
least for Grumman Mallard F-OAII’s Tahitian days. Many of the
details are taken directly from the logbook of my father, Captain A. Frame
(1916-1983), a wartime flying boat pilot who was awarded the DFC in 1941
for service in 210 and 228 Squadrons (RAF), particularly in the
evacuations of Greece and Crete in 1941, and who later served with 490
Squadron (RNZAF) and commanded 204 Squadron (RAF) in West Africa. [Author’s
note: The earlier of these episodes, and other aspects of his flying
career, are more fully described in my recently published book Flying
Boats: My Father’s War in the Mediterranean,
Victoria University Press, Wellington, 2007.]
Mallard F-OAII first flew for Air
Tahiti in 1951, and was involved in one of the oddest airmail
inaugurations in the South Pacific when, on May 3, 1951, with Captain
Joseph Pommier at the controls, it made the journey to Aitutaki in the
then New Zealand-administered Cook Islands.
The Pacific Islands Monthly of June 1951
recorded the reception on alighting:
It was approached only by
persons wearing gloves and masks. It was then realised [sic] that
Tahiti, from the New Zealand viewpoint, is infected with polio and is
tabu. . . The seaplane returned to Papeete with its load – simply the
most extraordinary incident in the dismal record of the many attempts to
establish an airmail service for Tahiti.
Captain Frame joined Air
Tahiti in February 1953 from the colorful Bryan Monkton’s financially
exhausted Trans Oceanic Airways based at Rose Bay in Sydney. The Mallard
served mainly in linking the principal islands around Tahiti (Raiatea,
Huahine, and Borabora), and to improve the reach of the Government of
French Polynesia to the outlying island groups. The logbook records a four
hour "˜mercy flight’ to Anaa in the Tuamotu Islands on April 12, 1953.
Frame’s laconic style: "˜evacuation sick native (harpoon).’ On July
1, 1953, the logbook records a flight to Hikueru: "˜vol sanitaire –
emergency alighting fuel shortage.’ . . . .
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Air Tahiti’s Mallard
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