TRANSATLANTIC TRIALS

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4958, 20 February 1937, Page 2

TRANSATLANTIC TRIALS

THE BEARER PLANE. London, January 23. First experimental flights across the North Atlantic, in preparation for establishment of the regular Anglo-American services will take place in the late spring or early summer. They will engage the two Sh' rt four-engined monoplane boats which have been specially fitted with long range fuel tanks and probably the Mayo composite aircraft now scheduled for trial flights in the spring. By that time, also, the first of the high-speed Albatross fourengined land planes built by the de Havilland Company may be ready for the ocean crossing.

The recent achievement of the Caledonia, one of the long-range boats, in flying non-stop nearly 1700 miles from Alexandria to Marseilles in little more than 11 hours has demonstrated the powers of the craft in striking fashion. Mr. Gouge, chief Short designer, has revealed that the maximum non-stop range of the Caledonia is no less than 3800 miles in still air, while against a steady 40 m.p.h. gale the craft can fly no less than 2450 miles at an airspeed o£ 180 m.p.h., or 2700 miles at an airspeed of 143 m.p.h. Five of these notable boats, which set new world standards in comfort and performance of marine commercial aircraft, have led the Short works. Three of them—Canopus, Centaurus and Castor —are engaged in the Mediterranean. Fifth is the Cavalier destined for the New YorkBermuda run.

Twenty-three of the Empire boats, t including the Cambria, remain to be delivered to Imperial Airways. Most of them will have Bristol Pegasus poppet-valved engines, but a few will be powered with Perseus sleevevalved engines, 25 of which have been ordered by the transport company. Yet another similar boat, modified for its peculiar duties, will be the “bearer plane” of the first Mayo composite aircraft, the British invention that seeks to combine large payload and long range in one and the same aeroplane by arranging for it to be launched in mid-air from the back of another and much bigger machine. Helped by a substantial sum provided by the Air Ministry, Imperial Airways placed the first order for a Mayo composite aeroplane and will be charged with the long-distance airmail experiments for which the craft is chiefly intended. The Castor has inaugurated an im-

portant change in working of the Empire services. Up to the present, passengers and mails have travelled between Paris and Brindisi by train. Henceforth, two of the services in each direction each week—the outward Indian services and the inward African—will be worked by air between Alexandria and Marseilles. The change does not accelerate the journey schedules but substitutes one night in the train and one night in a hotel for two nights in the train that were formerly necessary, and thereby adds considerably to the comfort of the passenger. Further, it marks a useful step towards the entirely aerial working of the Empire services which will be possible immediately Southampton is ready for temporary duty as English terminus, pending completion of the great £750,000 seaplane and landplane harbour at Portsmouth. Big acceleration of the schedules will follow adoption of night flying. For the present the new flying-boats work only by day.