AUSTRALIA'S GIANT FLIER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18380, 21 April 1923, Page 12

AUSTRALIA'S GIANT FLIER.

AFFECTED BY CLIMATE. WATER COOLING SYSTEM. " The great Vickers-Vulcan aeroplane in which several passengers have had a journey de luxe by air from Melbourne right across Victoria and New South Wales to Longreach, in Southern Queensland, has suffered in a peculiar and unexpected manner from the climate in the north. Built by the famous firm of Vickers, Ltd., who constructed the machine which carried Boss Smith across the globe, this huge ; importation can* carry eight persons with almost ludicrously meticulous provisions for comfort. One of the passengers remarked that the only unpleasantness was that it'.: was impossible to converse owing to the noise of the powerful engine. A shout became less than a murmur. < A message from Queensland states that the trouble is due to' the peculiar climate of Central Queensland. Over the Longreach-Cloncurry route is a belt of hot air reaching to a considerable height. The Vickers-Vulcan is a heavy machine, and it had been found that before it can rise -through the hot air belt the ' water used for cooling the engines practically boils. It is a trouble that could hardly have been foreseen. In Victoria not the slightest difficulty was caused by the cooling system, which acted perfectly in all'the tests. "