HUH WINGS FOR !W TIMS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 16, 20 January 1939, Page 7

HUH WINGS FOR !W TIMS.

BRITISH INVENTION. Success Follows Three Years of Research. PERFORMANCE ENHANCED. " British Official Wireless. (Received 12.30 p.m.) RUGBY, January 10. Considerable interest has been aroused throughout the aviation world bv the announcement of a notable British invention, which is the result of three years intensive research. It is now embodied in the form of retractable auxiliary wings in a new 270 miles an hour air liner produced by the Fairey Companv. High cruising speeds, reasonably low take-off and landing speeds are combined in the performance of this aircraft, which is scheduled for series production next year. The new device provides an effective means of varying the wing surface, and, therefore, of changing the load carried by each unit of the wing area. For the take-off auxiliary are let down from recesses in the" after portion of the main monoplane wings, converting the machine temporarily into a hi-pjane. In this position tliev add sufficiently to the lifting area to reduce the load carried by each square foot of the wing from 321b—appropriate for fast cruising—to 2.">lb, a fijjure suited to the relatively low take-off speeds and quick rate of climb. For landing the auxiliary wing* are further extended to form a kind of wiim flap, which serves as an air brake and again increases the lift. Landing speed is thereby reduced by about 10 m.p.h. The device enabled the designers to make the main wings 30 per cent smaller, which means less .head resistance, as well as high wingloading, and the performance is again enhanced. The new air liner is designed to carry 30 passengers.