GETS "GOLOSHES."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 4, 6 January 1938, Page 5

GETS "GOLOSHES."

ATLANTIC CLIPPER. WINTER RUN "OVERSHOES.' I TO « DE-ICE " WINGS AND PROPELLERS. XF.W YORK. A corps of mechanics liavc been bus} at tlie Port Washington. L.1., sea plain base removing tlie transatlantic fuel am oil tanks from the big Hornet-motore< Sikorsky flying boat used last sunimei by Pan-American Airways in a series ol survey trips over the New York-Ix\ndoii route ami installing "overshoe'' de-icer; on the craft's 118-foot wing for wintet operation 011 the line's New York-Ber-muda run. Tho twenty-one-ton Clipper is tin largest aeroplane 011 which such an instill lation ever has been made, and the iirst Pan-American ship of any type to be s< equipped. Heretofore, the biggest 'plant to be litted with wing "overshoes" is the Douglas DC-.'?, a twelve-ton, twin engined transport now in service 011 al the major domestic air lines. The de-icers are strips of black, lein forced rubber which cover the leading edge of tiie wing. Between them and tht surface of the wing are laid paraJle flat rubber tubes which extend along the entire span of the ship and are connected to air pumps, driven by the Clipper"? engines. These alternately inflate and deflate the tubes, stretching the "overshoe' and breaking up any ice that may start to form on it. 300-Pound "Goloshes." Due both to the great spread of the Sikorsky's wing and to the fact that the outer wing panel's leading edges swee|i buck at a decided angle from that of the wings centre section, separate de-icers, operated by separate pumps, were at taehed to these portions of the giant airfoil. In addition, each of the ship's four motors have been provided with ;i propeller hub "overshoe" and a so-called "slinger ring" de-icer which keeps the propeller blades clear in freezing wea tlier by dribbling a mixture of alcohol and glycerine into them at their base, centrifugal force distributing it over the blades' entire area. K. \V. McY itty, Pan-American's Atlantic Division engineer in charge of fitting the Sikorsky with her aerial goloshes, said that the stabiliser and fin of the craft lia] also been equipped with de-icers. He estimated the total weight of the flying boat s "overshoes," tosether with operating pumps and necessary tubing. at more than 300 pounds. Mr. Mc\ itty said the company did not plan to put de-icers on the struts which help support the wing and tail surfaces, since the entire installation is purely a precautionary measure , and does not indicate that Pan-American will go in for bad-weather flying 011 anything like the scale attempted by the domestic air lines. Month Needed for Installation. Because of the great thickness of the 1 Sikorsky's wing, lie saiel that it had been necessary to install five expander tubes along the leading edge beneath the elastic de-icer fabric. This compares to three such tubes ordinarily used 011 domestic air liners, the wing span of which is less than 100 feet,'with a corresponding reduced thickness. All the equipment used in the clipper's de-icer installation was of the type developed by the B. F. Goodrich Company in conjunction with the air lines and the Federal Bureau of Air Commerce. In the case of the Sikorsky it has merely been scaled up to the necessary size. Mr. McYitty said that the restwhile transatlantic survey plane will replace the Bermuda Clippc. on the Xew York-Bermuda run.