IN THE AIR.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 10241, 2 September 1909, Page 4

IN THE AIR.

AUSTRALIA'S BONUS. [By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.] (Per Press Association.) Received September 2, at 10.40 a.m. Melbourne, September 2. The Minister for Defence has approved the regulations for a prize of | £SOOO for the best flying niachme suitable for military purposes. The inventor must have been a resident of Australia for at least two years, and Aus-tralian-born or a naturalised British subject. The machine must not be supj ported by any gas, but must be lighter than air and, as far as possible, must be constructed in Australia by Australians. It must be capable of poising and returning to a starting point, travelling at a rate of not less than 20 miles an hour in a test, and must carry at least two passengers, the total loading above the complete weight of the machine to be not less than 350 pounds. The invention must possess sulhcient novelty to warrant granting letters patent; the successful machine, if satisfactory for military purposes, to be placed at the disposal of the Commonwealth Government for a period of three months at a price to be fixed by arbitration.