FURTHER TEST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 30, 6 February 1933, Page 7

FURTHER TEST.

Mount Everest Biplane Reaches 37,500 Feet. SUCCESSFUL TRY OUT. (Received D.30 a.m.) LONDON, February 5. A test was carried out with a West-land-Wallace, two of which will take part in the survey flights over Mount Everest. The pilot and observer wore electrically heated suits and oxygen masks. The test was made in unfavourable weather, but the flight is described as having been very successful. The biplane reached an altitude of 37,500 feet, but the height was not corrected. This might, when corrected, be from 34,500 to 35,000 feet. The temperature was minus 59 degrees centigrade. A MISS IMPOSSIBLE. AFTI-AIRCRAFT DEVICE. LONDON, February 2. ■An anti-aircraft device, with which, it is claimed, it will be impossible to miss the target, has been invented by Maurice Nathan, of Glasgow. Its one drawback at present is that it can be operated only at night, as it involves the co-operation of searchlights. The invention consists of a collar to which tlie searchlights are attached, to enable the beams to converge on the target, the gun firing through the collar. The speed of the moving target can be calculated and allowed for, and if the target is within range it must be hit. The invention has been offered to the British Government. DARWIN-SINGAPORE. PROSPECTS OF AIR SERVICE. LONDON, February 2. Imperial Airways is preparing its tenders for the supply of the SingaporeDarwin aerial service. In addition to mails, the company hopes to establish a regular passenger freight service between England and Australia. The new Atlanta machines which the company is now building are capable of carrying nine passengers with the utmost comfort. The fare each way is estimated at between £170 and £200. The company's traffic superintendent, Mi-. C. A. Barnard, has completed a technical commercial survey of the route to Singapore. It is estimated that full service will be in operation seven years after the tender has been accepted. NEW LABORATORY. RESEARCH AT CAMBRIDGE. RUGBY, February 5. The Royal Society's Mond laboratory at Cambridge was officially opened by Mr. Stanley Baldwin, Chancellor of the University. It provides a home for Professor Kapitza's research into the properties of matter in intense magnetic fields which was begun about 10 years ago in the Cavendish laboratory. Mr. Baldwin said the laboratory must be regarded as an extension of the Cavendish laboratory, which had been the scene of many important discoveries and notable developments in physical science.