SECRETS OUT

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 153, 30 June 1945, Page 5

SECRETS OUT

| BRITISH INDUSTRY 224-Passenger Plane In The Model Stage N.Z. Press Association—Copyright Rec. 11 a.m. LONDON, June 29. British industry's answers to some of the challenges of peace, secrets of the war agamstv Germany and new equipment for the war against Japan were revealed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. . The most Important achievement is the new Centaurus engine, rated at over 2500 horse-power, because it is the powerful heart of new service aircraft and of long-range airsea rescue craft and the basis of plans already far advanced for the super-airliner Brabazon I. It is deceptively compact, for all its 18$ cylinders. Of radial design, it employs sleeve-valves. It is the newest development of the motors that powered the Halifax, Tempest and Beaufighter planes. The radial engine, which has been found the most suitable for bombers and fighters operating in the tropics, enables a new air-sea rescue-craft to cruise up to 4300 miles. The range is reduced to 2500 miles when the newest type of Centaurus is used, but the top speed is stepped up. to 50 knots and space economy enables four engines to. be used. Production Next Year The airliner Brabazon I. is taking shape in the workshops as type 167 at a "mock-up" stage in wood. It has taken a long stride toward the production line from which the first finished machine is expected next year. It is possible to walk through the vast "mock-up," which is partly furnished and see cabins of two to six berths, where 80 passengers are to sleep. The dining room bar holds 24. A maximum of 224 passengers could be carried on short stages by day. London papers publish pictures of the wooden structure for the giant Brabazon 1., which has a Wing span of 230 feet and will be powered with eight engines. The plane, which is intended for flight from Britain to the United States, will cross the Atlantic in 12 hours. It will have a top speed of 340 miles per hour and .will travel in the stratosphere.

A plane, designed to fly direct from London to New York non-stop, is also at the "mock-up" stage. It is a four-seater helicopter, like a dragonfly, with its long fine tail and bulbous head. There is room for four passengers to sit in the same comfort as in a car. A high standard ,of safety is expected.

Much nearer production is the great shell of the Bristol freighter, which will also be the basis for the "wayfarer" airliner, designed to provide cheap and comfortable air travel. In the fuselage there is room for a large truck or 36 passengers. Pre-Fabricated Aluminium House Another section of the factory is working on a pre-fabricated aluminium house primarily designed to help meet Britain's housing shortage. There are two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. It is attractively finished in dull cream. The kitchen is fitted with built-in refrigerator, stove, cupboards and drying racks. The walls are several inches thick and are effectively insulated against cold, heat and noise.

The plastics section, which made many components for service planes, is ready to tyrn out a wide variety of household fittings and utensils in a range of colours as surprising as they are attractive.

The "mock-up" stage of aeroplane construction consists of the making of a non-flying model in wood as a guide to the building of the eventual operational plane.