FAST AIR LINER

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 146, 5 June 1936, Page 13

FAST AIR LINER

10-Seater at 211 M.P.H. GERMAN MACHINE (Owu Correspondent—By Air Mail.) LONDON, May 2. Germany’s latest air liner, built by tho famous firm of Junkers, which eau c.ruise at 211 miles an hour, is the fastest machine of its class in Europe, and I do not believe a faster one can be found even in America, says the “Star” aviation writer. The Junkers Sfi, as it is called, has completed all its trials and will shortly be put in service by the Lufthansa company for cither, passenger or goods work. As a passenger machine it has room for ten in a cabin that in <omfortably furnished in accordance with modern ideas of decoration. The seats are adjustable and upholstered in leather, and near each is an adjustment for ventilation and heating, which can be controlled by the passenger. Along the whole length of the roof there runs a strip of glass, behind which is an attractive form of lighting. The cabin walls are sour d-proof ed. Entrance to the cabin is through a door on the starboard side, but there is also an emergency one on the port side. At the front of the cabin, which is oval in cross-section, is a door leading to the pilot’s cockpit in which are two seats that provide an excellent view. All the latest navigational devices are on the dashboard. In a recess between die cockpit anil the cabin is space for luggage. There aro two further goods compartments, ono in the nose, and the other aft of tho cabin. If the machine is required to be used as a goods carrier it can swiftly be converted by removing tho cabin furnishings, which have been expressly designed for this purpose. Tho Junkers 86, built entirely ot metal, is powered by two American engines of 760 h.p. each. It min carry a useful load of two tons amt has a normal range when cruising at 211 miles an hour of 665 miles.

One cannot help thinking of this for midablo machine equipped as a bomber although it has been designed primarily for the German air lines. Both as a military and civil aircraft its perform ance is bettor than the best of its contemporaries.