BRITISH AIR POWER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23702, 9 January 1939, Page 4

BRITISH AIR POWER

THE NEW MACHINES PERFORMANCE AND SPEED With the removal from the secret list of the Supermarine Spitfire by the Air Ministry, and with the disclosure of the construction used in the new de Havilland Flamingo airliner, it becomes possible to take a general view of the technical position of this country’s aircraft (wrote the air correspondent of the Observer on November 20). The official statement about the speed of the standard Spitfire, as it is used in the Royal Air Force squadrons, is that it is in excess of 350 miles an hour (563 kilometres an hour). This machine is therefore, the fastest at present in use in service squadrons. A specially modified version, with a highly tuned engine and small wings, has been prepared, and is being used for high-speed development work. The Air Ministry denied, however, that this machine was to be used for an attack on the international landplane speed record now held by Germany The official statement is that there is no present intention of attacking this record. It is fairly generally believed, however, that the objective of attacking the record was in view when the special modifications were undertaken. If no attempt on the record is made it must be assumed that the machine is not likely to be able to capture it A New Bomber ~ Comparable with the Spitfire among the fighters is the Handley Page Hampden among the bombers. This is the machine that is to be built in Canada. I* is an unusual type of bomber, in that the wings are sharply tapered and fitted with slots and slotted flaps. It is claimed that this arrangement enables a high top speed to be secured together with a low landing speed. The actual performance figures for this aircraft are still secret. The Spitfire is a single-engined machine, fitted with the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Both it and the Hampden have retractable under-carriages. The Spitfire carries eight machineguns. The Hampden has machine-gun positions both fore and aft. Neither machine mounts a “ cannon,” and it is to be hoped that future fighters will mount this type of armament. It is n.,t yet permissible to say what are the armament plans for the new fighters. In civil machines a significant development is the de Havilland Flamingo This is an airliner fitted with two sleeve valve aero engines. It is expected that it will be able to cruise at well over 200 miles an hour (322 kilometres an hour). The Flamingo is entirely built of metal. Special Light Planes

At the other end of the scale . number of special light aeroplanes is being built largely for use in training Civil Air Guard members. Some of these machines are of unconventional layout. One, for instance, is to be of the “ cannard ” or tail-first type. Another is a tailless machine. Yet another is a normal type of pusher. Two have tricycle under-carriages. The object of the designers of these Civil Air Guard types is to obtain a safe aeroplane which is easy to build and cheap to sell and which will guard the pilot, so far as is possible, against the ordinary risks of learning to fly. If a general view is taken of British aircraft at the present moment it is clear that, with the possible exception of Germany in military machines and the United States in civil machines, Britain is as far advanced technically as any other nation. In both military types and in civil types the performance figures are satisfactory. and if the British machines fall short in one quality it is usually found that thev are in advance in another. High top speed with reasonably low landing speed and good all-round service qualities are special features of modern British aeroplanes.