GIANT AIR LINERS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17453, 30 December 1930, Page 12

GIANT AIR LINERS

IMPERIAL AIRWAYS’ FLEET SPACE FOR 38 PASSENGERS LU X URTOI! S ACCOMMODATION LONDON, Nov. 17. A luxury never before , available in aerial transport will be provided by the new giant Imperial Airways four-engined passenger-planes,' the first of which, (known.,as the Hannibal, has just been undergoing! successful flying trials at the Radlett aerodrome, Hertfordshire, England. These great machines, of which eight I have been ordered by Imperial Airways from Messrs. Handley Page, Ltd., at a I total cost for , the whole equipment of I more than £200,000, will form a fleet ol the biggest passenger-carrying aeroplanes in the world, and are an epitome of 11 years of air transport progress. _ • These new liners of the air, which will bo used by Imperial Airways on their European and Empire routes, represent something much more than a great step forward in size. Technically they are a triumph of specialised design. Each is driven, by four Bristol Jupiter engines, developing! a total of 2200 horsepower. If any one of these motors should fail while in the air—a contingency very unlikely in these days of engine reliability—the machine can continue in flight," maintaining its, height without any difficulty. This means an Immunity from any risk of a forced landing in open country, because, even if there is any partial breakdown of his power-plant, the pilot will flv on with his remaining engines until he reaches some main or-intermediate air-station.. THE FOUR WATCHWORDS

Speed, safety, reliability, and comfort live been the watchwords in the evolution of these new “clippers of the clouds.” Although, when fully-loaded, liiev will weigh iust on 13 tons, they will attain a maximum speed of 120 miles an hour, and will cruise for long distances at 105 miles an hour. * As for safety, apart from the security obtained bv (heir multi-engined system, thev will be fitted with the Handley Page “Auto-slots,” obviatingi any . risk of a machine becoming uncontrollable through loss of flying speed. Another feature.of their equipment is a system of wlieel-brakes which will enable them, despite their size, to be pulled up quickly on alighting, and manoeuvred when on the ground with the greatest ease. ~ Reliability is ensured in these now airliners by the distribution and equipment of their power units, while from the allimportant aspect of the comfort of their passengers they represent the _ biggest stride so far made in airway design. In their hulls, which are 86ft 6in in length, the accommodation is'as luxurious, and as spacious, as in the most modern lailwny Pulhnnn-car. Two big lofty saloons are provided, connected by a corridor along! which are a toilet compartment and refreshment buffet. At the latter, while high aloft, passengers will be able to enjoy cocktails with an added zest. In the front saloon there will be luxurious seating for 18 passengers, while the rear compartment will accommodate 20. making 38 in all. Thanks to the metallic construction of the machine, and the fact that all pe trol is earned in tanks high up on the top plane, it will be possible so to eliminate fire risks that it is proposed to allow smoking in the rear saloon. . As for the internal equipment of t the saloons, never before has such spaciousness, combined with luxury, been provided in anv heavier-than-air flying machine. Wide corridors, < softlycushioned sents, shaded electric lights, and neat tables for one’s refreshments nr books; these are all at the traveller s service, while a touch upon an electric hell will summon the steward from his buffet. . ... Owin'* to the fart that the great hull is slung benenth the wings, the ad-mirably-placed windows of the saloons wq 1 provide an uninterrupted panorama of the landscape over which the air-liner is passing. LESSENING THE NOISE

Ingenious steps have been taken to ensure that the least possible noise reaches the ears of travellers while the air-liner is in rapid flight. No engine is mounted directly on the body. All am nut on the wings some little distance from the hull, and this in itself will be an important factor in noise-reduction. Still anothei improvement lies in the fact that tho section of tlie hull immediately adjacent to the motors will be devoted not to passengers but to mails and cargo, while a further lessening of nnise will be ensured bv the fact, that the hull is built with a double wall, the snare between the two sections being filled with a special sound.-dendemng material. ' The net result of these improvements will he that, even when the air-liner is flvine; at full sneed, the noise that passengers hear will not Ho more than what wo are accustomed to in a tube, oi m the coaches of an express train. Not onlv will thev ensure speed, safety, reliability, and comfort, but these new Imperial Airways craft' will also carry such a paying load, for their total horse-power, as will enable them to pul a new and still more favorable aspect ori the commercial issues of aerial transport Each of these winged liners, even when firing at more than 100 miles an hour, will he able to carry ns much ns 81691hs of paving load in the form of passengers, mails and urgent freight.