NOVEL AIR PROJECT

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 205, 13 August 1932, Page 2 (Supplement)

NOVEL AIR PROJECT

TASMAN ROCKET TRIP EXPLOSION INTERVENES. FANTASTIC EFFORT DELAYED. Sydney, August 4. Two Sydney men, who have conceived a fantastic plan of crossing the Tasman from Sydney to New Zealand by means of a rocket, have suffered a grave disappointment. While they were carrying out certain experiments on Tuesday night the acetylene cylinder attached to the welding plant exploded and their model was destroyed. They were fortunate enough to avoid injury, and

when they escaped from the garage in which the explosion occurred, they discovered that their clothes had been singed, but nothing worse than that had befallen them.

The men are sad in the knowledge that they have been delayed six months at least, for their model rocket, built to their own particular design, had been destroyed. Now they must start at the beginning again, but they express confidence that they will be able to devise a rocket that will carry them across the Tasman at the rate of about 800 miles an hour. They say they intend to carry on. The mon concerned in this ambitious plan are Kenneth Forman and Ernest Frazer, and for a number of years they have been experimenting on explosive propulsion. Now they are working in conjunctidn with the science master at one of the high schools in tho country. They have studied the achievements of Herr Opel, the German inventor of roc-ket-driven cars, and their idea is to construct a strange craft that will hurtle at a tremendous speed through the stratosphere, or the rarefied air, at a height of 60,000 feet (between 11 and 13 miles). The occupant of the special chamber would breathe from special air containers, and through thick plate-

glass windows he would be able te see his destination not long after leaving Sydney. The landing would seem to present great difficulties, but these two young men have an idea worked out in detail. When close enough to the loud, say about 100 miles off, tfie rocket would ba deflected downward and the propelling mixture reduced. At the height of 10,000 feet the pilot would bail out and

descend by means of a parachute. However, the rocket, which would be of considerable value, would not be allowed to go to destruction. Time mechanim would release another and larger para-

chute, and this would assist the steel rocket to land gently on New Zealand soil.

Borman says that he and his compao. ion made their first model in 1830. It was small and crude, but it behaved very satisfactorily. It was fired from a certain point with the idea that it should land at a given spot three and a-half miles away. It landed within six feet of the spot. They then went ahead with the building ofr a large model and it was this larger model, which was nearing completion, that waa destroyed.

It was hoped that aviation officials would have seen this rocket shoot over a distance of 100 miles to a set point. The two enthusiasts would then have gone ahead with the construction of a rocket with a range of 1200 miles. The explosive to be used is the invention of an Australian, and it is claimed for it that it possesses all the advantages of liquid air without any of its dangers.