BENEATH THE WINDSOCK

Evening Star, Issue 23100, 28 October 1938, Page 15

BENEATH THE WINDSOCK

by Gypsy moth

YOUNGEST R.A.F. INSTRUCTOR. To New Zealand has fallen the honour of providing the youngest instructor in the Royal Air Force (states an exchange). Pilot-officer lan D. Strachon of Wellington, who has been serving with tho Royal Air Force for the past year, is being transferred to Egypt as an instructor. Pilot-ofiicer Strachan, who is a former pupil of Wellington College, recently completed his training in England, being classed as an exceptional pilot. He broke three Royal Air Force records during his training, and at the completion of the course was transferred to the training school for instructors. His is an unusual procedure, as instructors are usually only appointed after yeans of flying experience. Pilot-officer Strachan ie 21 years of age. AMERICAN DEVELOPMENTS. News of American plans to build a giant aeroplane to travel in the stratosphere was given at Auckland by Mr F. T. Wheeler, who for 10 years was associated with the Douglas Company. He arrived at Auckland on his way to take up the position of factory manager for Commonwealth Aviation Limited, at Fishermen’s Bend, Melbourne (states ‘ Wings ’). His first task there will be to superintend the building of 100 new planes for Australia’s Air Force. The new giant plane, he said, would be supercharged with oxygen. That was to say, the main cabin of the plane would be sealed to the atmosphere, and would contain oxygen at a pressure of 51b to the square inch. This oxygen would be used when the rtiachine reached an altitude of 18,000 ft to 25,000 ft. Travel in the stratosphere, he added, was the move of the future. It was estimated that the cruising speed of the machine would be thus increased by 33 per cent. Mention of this new project led Mr Wheeler to speak of the present largest aeroplane in the world, built by the Douglas Company, the D.C.4, which was powered by engines of 5,000 h.p., had a top speed of 245 miles an hour, and a cruising speed of 195 miles an hour. It had accommodation for 40 day passengers or 25 night passengers—that is, would “ sleep ” the latter number. Among its amenities were a honeymoon suite, a lounge, a men’s and women’s dressing room, and a bullet. One of the safety devices recently incorporated into the D.C.4 were what was known as dump valves. They Were the means by which, in the case of need, petrol could be “ dumped.” The device, he said, was the result of research carried out following the tragic loss of the Samoan Clipper on January 12 last, when that plane was inaugurating the commercial air service between San Francisco and Auckand. The valves, he said, protruded below the wing, and were connected with four of the main tanks. Tests of actual dumping had been carried out, and no trace of the discarded petrol had been found on the machine afterwards, it had been specially treated so that signs of it would remain if it had contacted tho machine.

Speaking of the new machines for the Australian Air Force, Mr Wheeler said that, in his opinion, the type was the most advanced and finest training “ ship ” in the world. They were described as North American General twoplace machines, and they were to be used for advanced training. They were fitted with Pratt and Whitney Wasp engines, generating 50 h.p., though that horse-power would be increased. The expression “ two-place,” he explained, meant that the machines were for two men, the pilot and his companion. There were two machine-guns, a fixed Lewis gun in the front cockpit, and a flexible gun in the rear cockpit. IMPERIAL AIRWAYS EXPANSION. Imperial Airways has 25 new luxury air liners nearing completion, and orders for six new aircraft, considerably larger, have been announced; but the growth of air traffic on the Empire routes, with extensions across the Tasman to New Zealand and across the Atlantic, will absorb these planes as soon as they are available. It has become evident, therefore, that preparations for ft further big expansion aro a matter cf immediate concern.