MORE MACHINES ORDERED

Southland Times, Issue 23376, 7 December 1937, Page 8

MORE MACHINES ORDERED

EMPIRE AIR SERVICES

LONDON, November 10.

Orders have been placed by Imperial Airways for eight more high-speed aircraft —five four-engined monoplanes and three Empire flying-boats. Together with 18 other machines now in construction, this will bring the company’s fleet to 79 aircraft. The new monoplanes are de Havilland D.H.91 machines of the Albatross class. They will be powered with four of the new Gipsy-Twelve air-cooled supercharged engines, each giving more than 500 h.p. for take-off. Their cruising speed, on the basis of test flights with the first Albatross should be more than 200 miles an hour. Imperial Airways are expected to take delivery in the new year. The Albatross machines will be built entirely of wood on a new system which combines immense strength and durability with reasonable structural weight. The first two monoplanes of this class were ordered some time ago by the Air Ministry to meet an official trans-Atlantic specification calling for a four-engined aeroplane capable of carrying 10001 b of mails at least 3000 miles non-stop.

The three new Empire flying-boats will bring Imperial Airways’ total order to 31, of which 24 have been delivered. No seaplane manufacturer in the world has approached the rate of output attained by the Short Company in building these machines. The first, the Canopus, made its first flight in June 1936, and was in service by October . Since then one flying-boat has left the factory every fortnight.