"GEODETIC" 'PLANES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 57, 7 March 1936, Page 15

"GEODETIC" 'PLANES.

GREAT SAVING OF WEIGHT.

SOME OF THE CONSEQUENCES,

V* LONDON. Aeroplanes built on the "geodetic" principle, as embodied in a new type of Air Force general purpose, machine, will have so great a range that every capital in Europe will be within striking dis tance of bases in Great Britinn. It follows that any part of Great Britain w he within range of air bases ln eountne whose frontiers are 1500 miles away. Although the "Wellesley" general purpose machine was not designed especially for bombing, it could without sacrifice of the load safety factor, flyVßooo miles, sit could carry a considerable load of bombs 2000 miles, and return to its base, on one load of fuel. Thys, in the European area encompassed by its radius of effective action, lie Leningrad, Moscow, Athens, Rome and Madrid. , , ... Hitherto Great Britaui has been within striking distance of bases in France, Belgium and Western Germany,- but in no serious daiiger from places faitlier away. The .pew situation .now created is being very seriously considered. It will of course, be remembered that aeroplanes on a war errand must not pass over neutral territory, and that deviations to avoid doing this can on y be made at the cost of time, fuel and some of the war load, aeariy. qucstions of alliances and ententes will inevitably take on new aspects in the light of the capabilities of aircraft constructed on this new weight-saving of equal importance may be the effect upon commercial aviation as the prospects of services across- • t Atlantic and other oceans. Without entirely putting:' them aside.it ml U inevitably narrow the opportunities foi such costly range-increasing methods as refuelling in the air, seadromes, catapulting, or aerial launching. The "geodetic" method of construction consists of--a.web of lnptal.mein hers. It results in an immensely stion and comparatively light striictui e, an entirely hollow-wings and bodies adaptable for storage., The saving of weight, bv comparison with cantilever "stressed skin"'-structures, is ot tno order of 35 to 40 per cent.