YOUNG MEN BUILD PLANE

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1928, Page 8

YOUNG MEN BUILD PLANE

DESIGN SAID TO BE EXCELLENT. COST LESS THAN QUARTER MOTH. (By Wire—Special to News.) Auckland, Last Night. Handicapped by the lack of money and working in their spare time only, two young Aucklanders have built a light aeroplane similar in design to the Southern Cross. The young men are brothers, Ernest and Arthur Everson, of Herne Bay. The plane is built entirely of New Zealand material with the exception of the engine, which is out of a motor-eycle, they told the Sun yesterday. All the woodwork is of New Zealand kauri, and the plane is built on the Fokker design with the wing over the top and all the weight underneath. The monoplane weighs 3001 b and is considered to be about as light as any machine yet produced. The plans, which were drawn by the elder brother, Ernest, who is a draughtsman iu the employ of an Auckland architect, were submitted to an ex-Air Force officer, who was perfectly satisfied the machine was of an excellent type. The young men state the machine cost no more to build than an expensive motor-cycle, and they could turn similar planes out for about £2OO, about a-quarter of the price of a Moth. The machine is built entirely on safety principles. The work has so far taken five months, but the engine has yet to be put in place.