SLOTTED WING FOR SAFETY

Taranaki Daily News, 10 February 1934, Page 7

SLOTTED WING FOR SAFETY

FRENCH PURCHASE OF RIGHTS. PAYMENT TO BRITISH FIRM. British Official Wireless. Rec 5.5 p.m. Rugby, Feb. 8. The French Air Ministry has concluded an agreement with Handley Page Ltd. and paid a substantial sum for the full rights of the French Air Force and a French manufacturer to fix Handley Page slotted wings to their aircraft in French territory. This decision was taken after exhaustive trials which fully substantiated the increased safety which the slotted wing gives. Incidentally they confirmed the wisdom of the decision of the British Air Ministry in standardising the fitting of Royal Air Force craft, the right to do so being acquired a few years ago for £1,000,000. The slotted wing consists mainly of auxiliary winglets which in normal flight lie flat against the front edge of the wings. When the aeroplane loses flying speed and gets into a potentially dangerous attitude the winglets automatically slide out, and the effect of the slot thus created between the winglets and the main plane is to preserve an unbroken air flow over the structure. The pilot thus maintains full control in circumstances which might otherwise send him into a nose-dive and spin—-a state of affairs which is responsible for 90 per cent, of fatal flying accidents.