FUTURE OF FLYING.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LVI, Issue 41, 24 May 1935, Page 4

FUTURE OF FLYING.

Mr A. Gouge read a paper on "Flying Boats and their Possible Developments" at a gathering of engineers and shipbuilders in New-castle-on-Tyne. The subject, he said, was extremely important, as it was more than probable that the airways of the future, particularly as far as Great Britain was concerned, would be largely over water. Equally important was the development from the naval standpoint, as the flyingboat was beginning to assume duties normally assigned to naval vessels. Considerable attention had been concentrated on the possibility of using compression-ignition or Diesel engines, and a large amount of experimental work had been carried out by the Air Ministry as well as by private firms. Although several com-

pression-ignition engines had been built in Germany, America and Great Britain with excellent results, the powers of these engines had been well below those which were being obtained from the petrol engine. This tended to retard their use, as the tendency in modern aircraft was for more and more horse-power. Another point of importance was that the petrol engine with its additional boost, high-octane fuel, etc., obtained a power for take-off which could not as yet be approached by the ' com-pression-ignition engine. It remained to be seen whether the compressionignition engine would catch up with its petrol rival, but at the moment it seemed likely that the petrol engine would retain its supremacy for several years. As far as he could foresee, it would be at least a matter of 10 years before they would see regular Plymouth - New York crossings in a large flying-boat carrying passengers.