BIRTH OF AN AIR FLEET

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 258, 28 July 1936, Page 9

BIRTH OF AN AIR FLEET

First of Empire FlyingBoats Completed IMMENSE AIRCRAFT First of the Imperial Airways’ flee* of Empire flying boats, designed to bring Australia within a week of England, Canopus was completed on July 2 and brought from the privacy of the Short Bros., erecting shops at Rochester, Kent, out on to the slipway to be launched on the river Medway for preliminary flights. Canopus weighs nearly IS tons fully loaded. Her four Bristol Pegasus aircooled engines, each developing 740 h.p. are mounted in the wings, and, driving controllable-pitch propellers, will pull her through the air at neary 200 m.p.h. In addition to crew, fuel, passengers and baggage, she will carry a mail load approximating three tons. “One of the most impressive aspects of Canopus, when one views the flyingboat from the vantage-point of an adjoining slipway, is the great depth of its fuselage, says one of the spectators. This permits the adoption of a twodeck arrangement of the interior of the hull, the top deck being occupied by the crew, while the lower deck is reserved for passengers. This passenger accommodation comprises luxurious saloons, smoking-room, and promenade, and also a method whereby the saloon accommodation can be converted into sleeping-berths for passengers for night-flying.

“One of the chief attributes of flue aeronautical design is said to be an ability to make any very large object appear smaller than it really is. If this is the case, then Canopus can be acclaimed as a veritable triumph of design. Wings, hull, and tail-sur-faces merge smoothly into lines that delight the eye. It is this beautiful streamlining which gives rise to a deceptive impression, and it is not until one approaches the monster closely that one realises what an immense vessel the new flying-boat actually is. Another striking indication of the size of this leviathan of the air comes when one sees mechanics—tiny figures silhouetted against the skywalking to and fro on the great metal wing to make adjustments of the engines. , And when these motors wake to life under an engine test, one gains an idea of the mighty power that will waft this winged ship through the sky in day-and-night flights enabling an air journey right. through from England to Australia to be accomplished in not more than about a week. Any ordinary conception of the word aircraft appears hardly to apply when one climbs up into the enormous hull of this latest triumph of British aeronautical design. A great supermachine of modern transport is this wonder-craft of metal, and it seems hard to believe, as one moves from deck to deck, that it is built to leave the surface of the water and go soaring high through the air. In the busy shops, just behind where Canopus stands, one finds a vast hive of skilled activity. The hulls of. others of the 27 companion-craft ot Canopus rise high on their stocks. Huge wings of an intricate design are seen taking shape under the hands of busy workmen. For it is here in these enormous shops, amid a clang of metal merging into a deep-toned hum, that the great new air fleet is being created which, carrying loads of lettermails in bulk, will turn next year yet another page in the romantic story of inter-imperial communication.