ROSE AIR BOAT TESTED

Taranaki Daily News, 15 July 1929, Page 11

ROSE AIR BOAT TESTED

34-TON PLANE LIFTS EASILY

STIRRING MANOEUVRES SHOWN.

BUILT TO CARRY 120 PASSENGERS.

By Telegraph.—Press association. Australian Press Association. Received July 14, 5.5 p.m. London, July 13. The great Dormer flying-boat Dux, built to carry 120 persons, has passed her first actual tests at Fricdrichshaven. The vessel rose from the water three times while the populace were wild with delight. The twelve engines with which it is fitted, that are capable of developing a speed of 125 miles an hour, roared terrifically, bringing people from their homes. For two hours the machine dashed across the water, turning and twisting sharply. Then the inventor,Herr Dornier, megaphoned from a motor boat for the Dux to take the air.

The engines opened up and the great boat literally leapt into the air and rose easily to a height of thirty feet. The engines were almost immediately throttled down, and the machine dropped gracefully back to the water. This manoeuvre was carried out three times.

It was found that the air boat’s 34 tons weight was easily lifted while runnkig on the water at a speed of less than 60 miles per hour. After the take off her run was less than 500 yards. The Dux was built at Roivsehache, on the Swiss side of Lake Constance, and has been two and a-half years in course of construction. It has three decks, and is 131 feet long, 33 feet high and 156 feet wide.