EMPIRE AIR DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 104, 4 May 1936, Page 7

EMPIRE AIR DAY

PUBLIC DISPLAYS

SEVERAL NEW WfACHINES

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, April 3.

Nearly fifty Royal Air Force station! will be opened to the public in all parts of Great Britain and at Aldergrove in Northern Ireland on May 23, to celebrate Empire Air Day. Inaugurated in 1934, this annual event was an instant success, and last year about twice as many visitors as in 1934 entered the gates of Air Force aerodromes. Officers and men of the R.A.F. give up their half-holiday, and the proceeds go to the R.A.F. Benevolent Fund.

Since last year more than a dozen new squadrons of the Royal Air Force have been formed and additional' squadrons are rapidly coming into; being to make up the 129 squadrons of. the expanded Metropolitan Air Force. Pilots'and airmen undergoing train-' ing at the Service schools exceed 10,000; their instruction has involved the or-, ganisation of large numbers of courses of instruction in flying and "ground" subjects.

Already the proceeds of re-equip* merit of the squadrons with more modern types of aircraft has reached a stage where its results will be perceptible to visitors. Included in the craft available for inspection will be the Hawker Hind light bomber, the Avro Ansoh. general reconnaissance monoplane, and the Gloster Gauntlet singleseat fighter. The Hind displaces the world-famous Hart; which it closely resembles at first glance. Improved design and a more powerful supercharged Rolls-Royce Kestrel motor enable the Hind to reach a maximum speed of some 200 m.p.h. and to carry a considerably heavier load over longer distances than the Hart could compass.

The Anson is the first aeroplane with retractile.under-carriage to be ordered in numbers for the Royal Air Force. It is listed to form-the equipment of seven, new "general reconnaissance" units, the duties of which will be concentrated on coastal patrol and protective survey of the seas around our shores. Equipped with powerful radio apparatus and able to stay aloft for several hours on one fuel load the AnBon: monoplanes will fly far out from the English coast, thereby extending the national air'frontier beyond the limits imposed by the coastline and facilitating the task of protecting the country from aerial attack. Each Anson derives power from two Siddelex Cheetah 350 h.p. air-cooled radial motors. Its maximum level speed, with full military load, is 188 m.p.h., and it cruises at 160 m.p.h. Of mixed metal and wood construction, this type owes its capabilities largely to excellent streamlining and skilful design of every component. It carries a.crew of three, and is equipped with full defensive machine-gun armament as well as a considerable load in bombs.

The Gauntlet single-seat biplane is the aeroplane that puzzled the experts by attaining a speed of some 10,m.p.h. higher than was forecast by the most optimistic manipulation of the. sliderule. Tests to. discover the precise reason for that extra; speed are still going on. Meanwhile, fighter, squadrons of the Metropolitan Air Force are receiving in place of obsolescent aircraft an aeroplane which has earned the highest praise not only because of its outstanding performance but also because of its exceptionally fine and agreeable flying qualities. With.full military load, the Gauntlet makes 231 m.p.h. at a height of 16,000 feet above sea-level. It climbs to 20,000 feet in nine minutes. ■ ■ ■

An immediate successor to the Gauntlet—the Gladiator—has also been ordered in considerable numbers.. This is a four-gun' fighter biplane which, overshadows even the Gauntlet. It flies at' 264 m.p.h., which is far above the speed of any comparable craft yet in service with any of the world's air forces.