GIANT ’PLANES

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 September 1928, Page 10

GIANT ’PLANES

ITALY’S CRAFT OF 6000 H.P.

I-ieavier-than-air ships of gigantic wing span, which a few years ago were held to be merely the extravagant and fanciful . conceptions of romantic dreamers, have, become the concern of the- aeronautical designers and . constructors of to-day.

The propulsion through the air of bodies representing a score or more tons of. dead weight is an accomplished aero-dynamic fact, and a race is on to see which country can design the craft capable of lifting the greatest weight tp the greatest height. At present the race is - confined to European countries. No efforts which are comparable to those now going forward in England, France, Germany and Italy, are being made in America to build airplanes of such size as to pass all classifications with standard aircraft as it is known in the United, States. ' ' There is no indications cf definite limitation of size in the builqing. .of large airplanes, in this new movement.,Not so long ago it was generally, believed that there existed a limit, be-" yorid which it would be impossible to go in. the construction of heavier-tha-m air craft. -Not only has this obstacle not appeared, but of even greater importance is the fact that in going io_ gigantic sizes in aircraft- construction, the. engineers have not been forced to abandon- the lines of designing which; have L been generally, accepted.-,as - standard.

The title of “biggest”, is one which is ri.bt--.long held by one ship to-day. At present, the title of biggest monoplane in the world is claimed for the Inflexj-: ible, a ship completed recently .by the’ Beardmore Company of Great Britain.

The Inflexible is an all-metal monoplane. the first of its type finished linder the-direction of the British Air Ministry'- So large is this planet that its-Pphere of operation has..bebh.some-' what -limited -by the lack of landing, fields in Great Britain of sufficient size' to accommodate it.

The plane, which is powered with three Rolls-Royce Condor water-cooled motors, has a wing spread of 150 feet, and a. dead weight empty of 15 tops. When it is loaded it will weigh considerably more than 20 tons, without crew And passengers. ./,■ •'

Early performance tests are said to have shown that the ship will fly easily on one.motor with half load. It. gets off-'with a run of less than 2000 feet, and has a comparatively low landing speed on its wheels, which measure seveii feet six inches from the ground. The fuselage has a depth of twelve feet,- nearly twice that of the three-. motored 7 -ships now in standard produp;tion in the United States. The rudder fin 'has a. height. of more than .eleven feet-P- ’ /■ ' ' -i EVEN LARGER ONES'FLANNED.

But As great as this plane is. there sire now -uhder’construction in other European Countries planes which will be eYon'.larger than the Inflexible. Reports have been received of the building of. a. giant seaplane for transAtlantic service, in the shop of Dornierwerke, in Switzerland, which will exceed in size the British. Beardmore. This piano is said to resemble the Dornier-Superwahl, but its dimensions will oX'ceed those of the latter type, in every .respect. It will be equipped with twelve motors arranged in pairs on the main wings in such a-manner that six will act as tractors and six as pushers. The totpl strength of the motors will be about '5OOO horse-power. This machine is especially constructed for regular trans-oceanic air-service and the muselage has been built along standard marine.lines to withstand the heaviest waves ill''tkp Atlantic,. . The

machine will have accommodation for' thirty passengers as well as' space for cnsiderable mail and freight. Large as this ship is, however, it is reported that it will be smaller than the giant special Dornier, plane which has been in construction at Friedricksrafen, Germany, for nearly a year. This' plane, which has been frequently described, will be able to carry 100 passengers, and its entire motor knit will be of 8000 horse-power. The .Junkers Companj' of Germany is another organisation which is espe-- (

, cialty interested in‘the possibilities ef big ships. Their''engineers are concentrating on.ithe performance of large planbs at groat, altitudes, and in this work are reported to be approaohing the ideal of all aviation, the flying wing, where all of the working parts—the motor, the fuel and the pay load — are carried inside the wing.Italy also is" active in the field of bigshipbuilding. The design upon which ■the Mussolini regime is pinning its hopes for legitimate claim to the largest airplane .is incorporated, in a new

MarchdtthSavoia plan. This calls for a ship of 350-foot ying spread. 'The piano will be powered with : eight motors in tandem, and the, motor .unit will have a total of 6000 horse-power. The Italian Air Ministry will co-oper-ate in the building of the plane.

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