FOR PEACE OR WAR

Evening Post, Issue 25, 30 January 1935, Page 16

FOR PEACE OR WAR

AIRCRAFT OF TODAY

THE EXHIBITION IN PARIS

DOTEBING: MACHINES

Unlike the annual Motor Show, the Salon de I'Aviation takes place in Paris every two years, says the "Manchester Guardian's" Paris correspondent. The first show was held in 1909. This year's show has attracted a particularly large public, for many of the visitors, without knowing anything about the technical side of aviation, havo been attracted by the "human interest" of tho thing. There has been so much, talk lately of the sinister part that aviation will play in the next war; and a grim touch is indeed added to tho show by tho display of General Niessel'a popular manual on anti-air defence, full of practical suggestions on what we are to do when the gas bombs begin to drop on Paris. "It is no good waiting till tho last moment; take all the precautions now," is the keynote of the book. It contains instructive pictures showing the wise citizen sitting comfortably in his cellar with a- gasmask over his nbse, and the foolish* citizen running to the chemist's through a fog of poison gas and a haistorm of exploding shells. SOUTH ATLANTIC SERVICE. But these dismal thoughts are not the only reason why people have gone in thousands to the aeroplane show; air travel has made some remarkable progress in France during the past few years. Most notable in this respect are the 22 crossings of the Southern Atlantic—a preliminary to the establishment of a regular France-South America service. Privato flying has also progressed favourably in France, in spite of the economic crisis, for v there are already about 800.private machines in use, and the Ministry of Air is at present trying to encourage the manufacture of aeroplanes at less than £200. Several foreign military attaches have visited the show, and it is prqbable that it will result in some important transactions; though some experts have observed that while some of the exhibiting countries (particularly Germany) were obviously anxious to create an impression, their most amhitious exhibits are not technically the most up to date.

An exhibition 'of aeroplanes under shelter (where they look more formidable than in the open spaces) is like a display of stuffed prehistoric monsters. There is something ominous in the stillness with which these giant birds,'these ''future destroyers of the human race," lie motionless under the glass roof of the Grand Palais. GIANT JUNKER. At the far end of the hall, with the three engine Junker towering above the, rest, is the German family of monsters, with the Nazi swastika painted on all their tails. The giant Junker, through whose fuselage thousands of visitors i file every day, is what has impressed I the generall public most. It is like the embodiment of Germany's technical | efficiency. A German whom I met at j the show gasped with admiration'as he spoke of the '.heavy-'oil' engines with: I wHic'h the Junker is equipped. " The! French military authorities have appar- 1 ently also been, impressed by this, en-; gine, for the Ministry of Air ,tias just' offered a prize 'for the best heaVy-oil i engine to be adopted for serial produc-1 tion". Experts have also been greatly impressed by the Haenckel five-seater | touring aeroplane, which can fly at 200 miles an .hour and is alleged to-have considerable military possibilities. |

The' most remarkable among the Italian exhibits is Angello's aeroplane, the holder of the world's speed record.

The French section, which is important,' is partly military and partly civil. Among the military aeroplanes tho most impressive is the Breguet 41-M4, a twin-engined fighting, bombing, and reconnoitring machine with a cruising speed of 200 miles an hour and a Tango of action of 650 miles; it is capable of carrying 20001b of bombs. It can be equipped with either Hispano-Suiza or Gnome-etTßhono engines of 880 h.p.

THIRTY-FIVE ORDERED. , Thirty-five of these ma'chines.,, are understood to have been ordered by the French Air Ministry, which has lately been complaining a grestt, deal of the obsoleteness of -most of the French -.air material; The- French civil aviation exhibits include' the serially-produced. Leo H-24—2 seaplane, which is used for the regular Marseilles-Algiers -service. Hispano-Suiza show the. engine that is used for the flights to South America. The'British exhibits include , some aeroplanes and' an autogiro from A'. V. Roe's,' Manchester; and also the latest aeroplanes and engines made by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. The engines include the Bristol Aquila,' Pegasus, and Mercury. There are also important Czechoslovak and Polish exhibits. The'greatest "human interest" attaches to the Russian section, which comprises the unpretentious mail aeroplane—with much of its paint scratched away—with which Molokoff rescued the crew of the Chelyuskin off the northeast coast of Siberia. This remarkable Polar epic is illustrated by numerous photographs and illuminated maps. Of almost equal "human interest" is the gondola of Prokofieff's. stratostat. In. tolling a Paris paper the story of his rise into tho statosphere, Prokofieff modestly declared that he was little moro than a disciple of Piccard. The stratosphere, he said, would still require much investigation before it: could be used for travelling purposes. Much interest was also aroused by the reduced model of the "flying city," the Maxim Gorki, with its eight engines. The joyful faces of the Chelyuskin heroes made one feel that tho aeroplane was not, perhaps, after all, entirely the devil's invention.