FUTURE FLYING

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 81, 9 April 1929, Page 7

FUTURE FLYING

WITHOUT A FUSELAGE J | RANGE OF A THOUSAND MILES To those of us intimately connected with aviation, the forecasting of possibilities n'fty years hence is not so difficult as one woiilti at first think, the reason being that, great as is • the progress which aviation has made during the past twenty years, -it"; has, nevertheless, been on what' we might:term definite lines, and therefore it is possible to see the directions in which improvement and alterations will continue to be made, writes Sir Alan Cobhain in the "Capo Times." Let me deal with commercial flying first, .n fifty years' time aeroplanes will be something .very different to gaze' upon from thos? of today. For instance, tho .fuselage—or body—will disappear. The, commercial aeroplane of 1978 will have a span of something like 100 yards. • Passengers 'and goods, to say nothing of the engines, fuel, and crew, I''will- be carried in the wings. ' There- will bo . three wings, and 'thus tho ..aeroplane of the future will be known as a triplane. ■

In each -of tliese wings passengers will not only be able to sit in comfort, but will also bo able to tlino and sleep, and, in fact, promenade the deck as in the case of tho existing sea liners. To visualise tho "lay-out" of this accommodation one should picture a liner of today "cut" so as to show the interior. The iuside of the "wings" of the future will, to my mind, be similar.' Having got rid of the fuselage, "what of the engines? Our machine of- the futuro will certainly carry more than one engine, and in all probability they will be of the Diesel type. The, total horsQ power'of those engines will probably bo 1-about 10,000. -There will, of course, bq several propellers, but, unlike the machines of to-day, they will not be connected to an individual engine. The engines will be enclosed in a special engine-room or cabin,' and the propellers will be geared in such a way as t(> enable one . engine to drive more than one propeller. It will also; bo unnecessary for all of the engines to be at work if ordinary cruising speed is all that is required. - ' •

While dealing with engines,. 1 must say that I have not overlooked the possibility that one day power will be transmitted from, the ground by wireless, and thus render the presence of actual engines unnecessary.

One of the chief drawbacks to comfortable flying to-day is the terrific noise. This' will be largely obviated in the machine of the future, for already remarkable progress has been made in the production of experimental "silent" aeroplanes. ,Tho speed of our "dream machine" will be' round about 250 miles per hour, and I estimate-that the total weight of such a machine will be at least 50 tons, and.that about 125 passengers will be carried. .

By 1978 we shall overcome most of the -difficulties connected with the elements, and flying the Atlantic will be a comparatively routine job. The wireless direction finder has'already its value, and the pilot of to-morrow ■ivilj be able to fly "blind," knowing .full well that he will bo ablo ,to rely upon the airman's greatest ally—wireles_. / ■■••,■' , ■ ' .

The size mid weight'of the machine will be such, that^ it -will be physically impossible for aT pilot to handle the "joy-stick" in.the manner. o£ to-day. We shall* reach the-, stage when all that will be necessary will be, the operation of ii small lever with finger and thumb like the wheel of an Atlantic ocean liner. The. flying . range of these, machines will, be about 1000 miles, and I find it quito <to visualise- tho .year 1978 seeing the world girdled by a complete system of highly-organised and profitably connected air-lines, The,inereas- ;- ing vogue ior foreign travel should, with the help of the aeroplane, make it possible for people to spend tlfeir annual holidays in Egypt, India, Australia, or New.Zealand. ;v 1 What of-suitable "lauding grounds" or aerodromes? I have not forgotten the Helicopter, but while.. I think that 'the day .of machines rising -straight fi'om the ground -mil come, I,think that in-fifty years' time we shall still need "runways," though of considerably less distance than at the moment. The day will, come when places like large rail'way,■junctions will bo roofed over for the use of aircraft. • . . , ! Many people interested in aeroplanes are,-sometimes apt to, overlook the importance and value;:of the airship. For my part, I; believe that, whilst, the airI ship is at the moment rather more at the mcrcyv.of the weather than is tho v aeroplane, it will becomo the chief mode of conveyance over what I might term "the main trunk roads." Tho machine of the,future will undoubtedly be of metal construction throughout —what a contrast to the wood and fabric machines wo use today, and still more so if one makes tho comparison with the old F.B. and 8.8. machines with which our Expeditionary Force was ■ equipped at the commencement of the war!

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