NO TIME TO LOSE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 19, 23 January 1937, Page 10

NO TIME TO LOSE

AIR ; DEFENCES

AUSTRALIA PREPARES AMERICAN 'PLANES i : . fCnited Tress AMoClntlnn— By Electric Telesrapl — Copyright.! (Received January 23, noon.) MELBOURNE, This Day. The Minister ;o£ Defence (Sir Archdale Parkhill), preferring to the Government's decision to have forty American aeroplanes built in Melbourne, said: "A;, Minister of Defence I do not hesitate to say that there is no time to lose,! and it is imperative that our defences preparations should be advanced wiih speed and determ ßeplying to this statement that the Commonwealth A ircraft Corporation in Melbourne was a constituent part of the General i Motors Corporation, Sir Archdale Parkhill said that British aircraft companies were not prepared to invest money for aeroplane construction in Australia, and that the Melbourne company was absolutely Australian." 1 POSITION; EXPLAINED CHOICE OF TYPE MANUFACTURE AT MELBOURNE (From "The Post'si" Representative.) SYDIJIEY, January 15. An order, probably costing £250,000, for 40 aircraft and Ji number of spare engines for the Roj'al Australian Air Force, will be offered by the Commonwealth to the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Pty., Ltd., Melbourne. A definite contract will be signed as soon >as agreement _ is reached with the cojnpany concerning prices, period of delivery, inspection, and tests. -The order" will cover mainly two-seater general-purpose military aircraft of a metal, low-wing monoplane type, fitted wifjh American Pratt and Whitney Wasp H. engines, _ "From the defence .aspect, this is the most 5 nportant stepi towards Australia's self-sufficiency smd security yet taken," said the Minister of Defence, Sir Archdale Parkhjll. "The aircraft is the NAl6' AmerjJcan type, which represents the most modern development in service general-purpose aircraft. It has been i-most strongly recommended by the oVir Board as best suited for Air Fore*; requirements in the immediate futune. It is a principle of Imperial dnfence that the equipment of the Empire forces should be of standard pattern. The decision to produce this typ a of however, has been arrived at in view of certain speoial considerations: whic have been the subject of consultations with the United Kingdom Governm ßy the end of the <;year 700 workmen will be busy buildimg the aeroplanes at Fishermen's Band, Melbourne. Wing-Commander L. J- Wackett, manager of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, will leave for the United States this month to complete nGgotiations with Norh h meric an Aviation Incorporated for thg bul !f' n f ooptf p th t e t NAI6 in Australia, and with the Pratt and Whitney Company for " the manufantiire here of itjs famous tyro engines. He will bring back to Australia a number of American experts in aeroplane construction and factory organisation. THE AMERICAN COMPANY. ' General Aviation Corporation, one of the companies Ajrhoae merger formed North American Aviation Inc., is the holding company of uviation interests of General Motors. HJiis company subscribed portion of ttw £600,000 capital of the Commonwealth Aircraft Pty., through General Motors-Holdens, Ltd., which formed tl*e» Australian concern with Broken Hill Pty, Broken Hill Associated Smelters, and Imperial Chemical Industries |of Australia and New Zealand. Defence authorities have felt that British military aerofl .lanes are not so suited to Australian conditions as American. They poll (it out that British aircraft are primarily short-range types built for the defence of a small country whereas Amcsrica with its long distances approximates to Australia s position. British aeroplanes with which the R.A.A.F. is equipped at present cannot fly from Sydney to Melbourne without refuelling. The NAI6 has a range of 940 mules: It can be used as a trainer, a fighter, a light bomber, or for observation. Cruising speed is 212 m.p.h., the type, with retractable undercarriage and flying at 5000 feet, is stated td> be capable of 218 miles an hour, monoplanes, built of chrojtne molydenum steel and fabric-covened, they will have a wing span of 4! 2 feet and be 27 feet long. The Pratt «ind Whitney engines will be 550 horsie-power. AN EXPERT'S C RITICISM. There has been considerable criticism of the Government's decision to use American-type aircraft. One leading aviation expert h«?re said that the NAI6 type was already obsolete and would be superseded! by the time the first one had been completed in Melbourne in 1938. He) also pointed out that the NAI6 could :not fly from Sydney to Melbourne w}th a normal military load without mfuelling on the journey. 1 "Leading pilots," Ifle continued, "emphasise that there arc British types still in use, the performance of which is superior to the I fAI6, and yet they are being taken ouij. of production in England to give pla*:e to 1937 developments. The replacement types going into production in England are an enormous advance fl ti the older types. It would be much more satisfactory to build these typea in Australia, and have up-to-date aircraft when production commences, eU'en if there is a little delay. That British service types of aircraft are superior to American is borne out by thti predominance of British types purchased by European countries where the- two meet on common ground in opeai competition. It is generally agree*! that aircraft should be manufactured in Australia, but a right start sfapuld be made. A start should not bei made with something that will be useless except as a training machine whian it is produced. Under the present -scheme Australia in 1942 will be producing a type which was obsolete in 1935. Australia should co-operate with Britain in defence matters. This proposal will render cooperation, from the 1 point of view of equipment, impossible. The statement that British types be manufactured as soon as suitable designs arc available sounds plailisible, but experience proves that owe any particular type has been placc d in production, that type tends to r? main."