WONDERS OF AIR TRANSPORT.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 236, 2 October 1920, Page 17

WONDERS OF AIR TRANSPORT.

The outstanding exhibit at the sixth International Aero Exhibition was undoubtedly the large Bristol triplane known as the "Flying Pullman." It is of massive construction, with an air ot stability more usually associated witn ground or seaoraft than aircraft. It has a total wing area of 405 square feet, and is Oft 6in in height. Its weight is about eight tons with full load, which would include two pilots and 16 passengers, while it is driven by four liberty engines giving a combined total of 1000 horsepower and a speed of 134 miles an hour. To the layman the most impressive part of the plane is the spacious and comfortably furnished saloon. In contrast to this triplane is the little Bat Crow —in appearance the aerial prototype of the motor scooter. It is a diminutive monoplane, in which the pilot sits in a little seat slung from the 'plane. It can fly for two hours at sixty miles an hour, but is really nothing more than lan elaborate toy, fit only for the adveni turous. j Another and more useful baby is tli<* little Avro, which made a, non-stop flight to Turin on a consumption of less than 20 gallons of petrol; while thore is also on show an Austin whippet, which folds its wings back after a flight, and crocS: snugly to rest in a nest measuring Oft by 17ft, the size of an ordinary motor gara-e.