THE KING'S PLANE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 32, 5 July 1939, Page 7

THE KING'S PLANE

UP TO DATE GADGETS THE NEW MACHINE DESCRIBED Work has now begun here on the new aeroplane ordered bj r the King for his personal use. It is a standard. De Havilland ".Flamingo,'' except for interior furnishing and other details-. The cabin which is air-conditioned, is particularly large for this type of aircraft: 7ft 4in wide and (sft 7ini high. The available cabin length for all purposes is 24ft 2ins. The high wing will shade the sun from the Royal passengers and at the same time give them unobstructed vision. The door will be only 27 inches above the ground, so there will be no flight of steps to climb on entering the plane. The volume of air in the cabin will Jbe changed every two minutes and the temperature controlled by steam heaters. The ''Flamingo" 1 is of all-metal con. struction. A feature is the way in which many major component parts on the port and starboard sides arc interchangeable. It will be possible to change a, complete power unit in two hours and to remove a wing in one hour. The wheels will be changed in only a few minutes. NOVEL SAFETY IDEA. The ''Flamingo" is a medium capacity airliner and during the summer several of these new British ma., chines will be flying. It is claimed that they will be better than anything of this type produced, in the United States which hitherto ha,ve had a monopoly of it. Previously British firms had been handicapped in the production of this class of machine as they had to compete with foreign aircraft mahufac. turers who were subsidised by theii Governments. Now 7 that the British Imperial attitude towards subsidies has been modified, it is felt that foreign competition can be met on equal terms. The new airliners are high-wing twin.engine monoplanes, each engine of 800 h.p. They have a cruising speed of 210 m.p.h. and a range of (Continued foot previous column)