AVIATION.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20085, 14 November 1930, Page 8

AVIATION.

ATTACKS ON WARSHIPS. DOUBLE PURPOSE AEROPLANES, j (TROil OUa OWW CORBIBPONDINT-) LONDON, October 3. Sea-going performance is linked with increased speed and carrying . load power in a new float seaplane, which is the largest in the world. The Society of British Aircraft Constructors, Limited, announces that the , aircraft, called the Valetta monoplane, has been designed to obtain comparative performance data of float and boathull seaplanes of equivalent power and size. It is a three-motored craft of approximately 1500 horse-power, and weighs ten tons when fully loaded. Tho floats are notable in size, each being nearly 40 feet long and displacing 22,500 pounds. This larger craft has shown a maximum velocity of about 140 miles an hour in seaplane form. A feature of the internal equipment is the wireless receiving and transmitting gear; under normal atmospheric conditions the set has a transmitting range of 300-400 miles using telegraphic signals, and between 200-250 miles for direct telephony. Provision is made and special equipment provided, in the form of a derrick which may be fitted above the engines when needed, for the removal and refitting of any powerplant, while the craft is afloat. The Valetta. is constructed by Short Brothers (Bochester and Bedford), Limited; the engines aro Bristol "Jupiter" air-cooled radials, . and the wireless equipment is Marconi. A Duralumin Machine. The Valetta is alternatively designee [ as a landplane with two immense landing wheels on a normal type undercarriage, which incorporates an oil-damp-ing system and rubber springing. A similar land or-seaplane, but built first in the landplane form, has also begun flying trials within the last few days. This is the Viastra, a high-wing monoplane, in which even the wing coverings are of metal instead of the "more usually employed fabric. A smaller aircraft than the Valetta, the Viastra is designed for operation with one, two, or three motors, according to the needs of the aircraft operator. One twin-engined and one single engined machine have been ordered by West Australian Airways for - their air mail line between Perth and Adelaide; the craft now flying in this-country has three motors, totalling about 700 h.p. The Viastra is built entirely of duralumin, and marked efforts are apparent to cheapen the cost of production and provide speedier methods in the design.

j In the interests of economy new straight-sided. Mats are being tested; these cost approximately 15 . per cent, less than floats of .the usual boat-shape and the slight loss in efficiency caused by their use may' be considered by the air line operator ' as more than balanced by saving in first cost. The Viastra is built by Vickers (Aviation), Limited; the engines in tho three-engined oraft are ArmstrongSiddeley Lynx geared air-cooled radials of 240 horse-power. . Flying Before Dominion .Delegates. '• . Empire delegates to tho Imperial Conference will be shown at tho London Air Station, Croydon, ■ on October-. 25th a demonstration of British civil and military aircraft. Tfie. Evolutions cf the military, including eome of the fastest service bombers in the world, will comprise examples of the celebrated Royal Air Force .formation flying as well as individual displays. . An effort is to be made to exhibit some of the latest types of commercial aircraft, .apart from, the craft included in the fleet of Imperial Airways. The -demonstration,- linking military and civil craft in the on© occasion, represents an unusual enterprise in British flying, and is intended to give the delegates, in the of one afternoon, an impression of British flying in a sense wider-than is achieved at the predominantly military annual displays of the Royal Air Force. Vulnerability of Warships. Service aeroplanes engaged in an utfcack on the Atlantic Fleet off tho southern coast of England during combined war exercises . gained notable Buccesses. A powerful torpedo attack nas launched on Nelson and Rodney, two of the most formidable warships in the British Navy. The aeroplanes achieved a surprise raid, and, great "damage" was done to the -surface craft, the two battleships struck by . eight out of the seventeen torpedoes launched against them from the air. The surprise was sufficiently com r plete to find them without their main anti-aircraft defence ready for the fray.. In addition, single-seater ship fighting aeroplanes harassed the Fleet with maehine-guu attacks, the pilots diving their craft at high speed and 6weeping. the fighting tops and decks with bullets. Knowledgeable observers of, the clash, between sea and air forces admit that the attack proved the vulnerability of warships from the air. The importance of this lesson is emphasised when the material employed by the air arm is considered. The torpedo-drop-pers and fighters were all obsolescent machines, some of which have been in service for several years, and given modern machines the task of the fleet m coping with the sudden threat from the air would be still more diflieult. The swiftest surface ships cannot hope to compete in eajse of control, speed of turning, and sheer velocity with an aircraft. Though the exercises did not establish that a fleet may f»© turned back by air action alone they demonstrated clearly that air ac-

tion, particularly if undertaken,*. r large number of machines and Vtelligently . handled,, can. always^ - ously • harass a fleets and; grave damage. ' ' ■United States Order. The Government of the United"Statef: of America has paid a high British aero-engine design and cotibwjW' - tion, having placed an. order for three' r Eolls-Boyce 825 h.p. "XL" engines. This is probably the -Wott 1 powerful water-cooled aero-engine ' regular production in the - world),*&£• from it was evolved the Boyce racing engine which powered=tM., s. victorious seaplane in .the last ScaßßjM)£v •. Trophy international contest,.aad, ia'-Sj*.,. same flying machine, holda three . 1 speed records. -.The -.United States ernment contemplates using the ordw». v ,, engines for research and - ezperinffW; purposes, and a guess is made British experts that 'the order thing to do with ■ a possible ■' States entry next year for the Trophy contest. However that niay?§§jp? : the entire British aircraft industiytafißj, pride in this supreme tribute nation which holds a tion among the world's prodneers^K* > aero-engines. "2^|s The racing engine. evolved froffl^ttfeisv ■" "H" motor develops more h.p. with a weight of only —an achievement which seemed a&Mjpdll impossible a very few years ago.-'®®®£) "H" engine, intended for trouble-free output over long: •instead of tremendous powerment, still shows excellent the ratio of power to weight, 525 h.p. being, produced; by 1460qgjWWS'' 1 V of motor- The engine is eicepftWjjW'vr I .' light and rigid; a new light duced by the Bolls-Boyce .K cently begun to play an importantJW*. in.construction. - _ V''- - Several big British" machines} •ing one of the biggest flying-bo^^gßgf'g built in this country, are powerettSpWJS® ;the "H" engine. :Six "H*' ■will provide the power for th 33-ton boat, Great Britain heavier-than-air is being built by the Supernyufflfl ■/, tion Works, the firm responsible record-breaking racing seaplanesM£^-^jF||