AIR DEFENCE

Opunake Times, 16 August 1938, Page 3

AIR DEFENCE

FIGHTING MACHINES AUSTRALIAN FACTORY The work of assembling the first Australian-built fighting areoplanes for the Royal Australian Air Force will be begun at the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation's factory at Fishermen's. Bend, Melbourne, in about six months. Production will be on a large scale, and as soon as it is. in fxill operation areoplanes will emerge from the assembly lines every few days. Parts will be ready for 40 or 50 complete aircraft at the one time. The magnitude of this task will bo realised from the fact that there, are about 10,000 separate parts in each body of an aeroplane, held together by half a million or so rivets, and that each engine is of 600 different units The Wirraways, as the fightiv<* aeroplanes will be called, will be as Australian as their name. Riven' part of the engines will be Australian-made. The Wirrnways will be an advance on the American model N.A. 33 areoplanes, for they will incorporate important Australian modifications to enable British armament and bombs in be used. Fewer than 20 of the present staff of 437 men at the factory had worked at aircraft construe tion six months ago. Soon there will be 900 men at. work on day and night shifts. Production can be extended un to 000 per cent. Tf necessary, a slipway for flv-liwv-boats can be built on +he river across the road opposite flic factory