REPLY TO ZEPPELIN

Taranaki Daily News, 25 February 1935, Page 5

REPLY TO ZEPPELIN

NEW BRITISH SCHEME PLANES LAUNCHED IN AIR SPANNING THE ATLANTIC FUTURE OF PICK-A-BACK By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Rec. 7.30 p.m. London, Feb. 23. The “pick-a-back” plane may be Imperial Airways solution of the problem of spanning the Atlantic with a regular air service. The present difficulty is getting a plane possessing a sufficient range with a full load of petrol off the ground. This it is hoped to overcome by the introduction of a huge plane with special climbing powers, on which a fourengined seaplane, capable of 180 miles an hour and carrying ten passengers, baggage and mail, can be borne aloft to the height of several thousand feet. The pilot will then release mechanism enabling the seaplane to start across the Atlantic under the most favourable circumstances. Major R. H. Mayo, Imperial Airways engineer, devised the plan and Messrs Shortt Bros, are building an experimental pick-a-back. Seaplane test flights will be possible in the summer. The Air Ministry is financing the The “pick-a-back” and seaplane plan, if successful, will be Imperial Airways’ answer to the Zeppelin.