GIANT AIR LINER

Hokitika Guardian, 22 July 1936, Page 7

GIANT AIR LINER

OrtvMACHINE OF 50 TONS. CONSTRUCTION’ IN AMERICA. HONOLULU, July 20. Honolulu, the hub cf trans-Pacific aviation, is deeply interested in the announcement from California that world aviation experts are watching with hopeful eyes the preliminary work on the construction of a 50-ton air liner that would bring Now Zealand within almost 24 hours’ flying time ot America. This new aeroplane, dubbed “Air Giant,” is being built at the Douglas works at Santa Monica, California. Its range will be 10,000 miles and its (cruising speed, when throttled down to .60 per cent power, will be 260 miles an hour, faster than many military pursuit aeroplanes. It will be twice the size of the present transPacific Clipper machines. The designing engineer, Mr George Strompl, predicts that the advent of this now type will mean commercial round the world in a week air services within five years, nine-hour non-stop trans-America services and air liners ranging over the frozen Arctic wastes in a new series of “over the top of the world” airways, linking America a.”d Europe. This Douglas giant will bring into the realm of actual transport service the one-factor that has balked a round-the-worlcl service—a. cruising range capable of negotiating long ocean hops, or carrying safely over the polar cap. j The Arctic ocean as a channel for air traffic has long been the dream of aviation leaders, who have foreseen in the northern wastes, a medium of fast, diiect air loutcs between America and Europe. Ultimately, it is forecast, the i Arctic will become to air travel wlmt, the Mediterranean Sea became for ships. * Landing stations for refuelling J at Wrangel Island and similar places, j would permit an easy hop over the poiar cap. The distance from San Frail-1 cisco to Oslo, for example, would be only a little more than flic tra s-Atlant-ic airline distance from New' York to London. 1 I reliminary work on the new aeroplane has been conducted in the greatest secrecy, but to-day’s announceme'-i; stated that lilt- first machine would be m air within 12 months, that a fleet of them would he built for each of the five major airlines operating in America. including Pan-American. Twenty-five, it is said, will be Imi fc for European airlines. The machin s will have four engines, each of 1 (),'),f ,L P-> an(l in size will dwarf the latest 1 Douglas Pullman, which is twins the size of the regular transport. i Work was originally started through the five major opera toys conferring and

their experts deciding on an ultramodern type which they would all use/ thus eliminating cut-tlnoat compea- | tion in new designs every year. This ' new machine will bo standard equipment on all United States trunk lines.