SECRET DEVICES

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LVIII, Issue 70, 3 September 1937, Page 6

SECRET DEVICES

CATAPULTING AEROPLANES.

REMARKABLE FACILITIES

CLAIMED

(From The Guardian's Special Corres-

pondent—By Air Mail)

LONDON, August 14

Remarkable new aeroplane catapults, still on the British Air Ministry's "Secret List," will make it possible to launch fleets of fighting aeroplanes against an enemy, even if every aerodrome in the country were destroyed. '

The new device will also make it possible to launch machines from mountainous or boggy country, where no aeroplane can take off.

Two types of catapult are now being constructed. One is a heavy model for building into bomb-proof shelters on aerodromes. The other, a light model, can be carried on a motor lorry and taken to any point for a quick launch when emergency arises. The built-in model comprises a huge girder-base bar with a sliding engager gear which fits into the undercarriage of the aircraft. At the back is a miniature "cannon" into which a charge of gun-cotton is loaded. The explosion carries the engager forward, and the aircraft takes off without touching the ground. In the lighter model the girder is replaced by the body of the lorry, in which the engager gear and trip run through a slot. Instead of using | an explosive charge for launching, it is done by compressed air, which is pumped up to enormous pressures by means of the lorry engine.