AVIATION IN BRITAIN.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18352, 24 August 1929, Page 17

AVIATION IN BRITAIN.

Foolproof Plane Produced. AMAZING NEW FEATURES. (Britiib Official Wireless.) RUGBY, August 22. A new British airplane, with which it Is hoped to win the Daniel Guggenheim Safe Aircraft Competition in the United States this autumn, will soon leave this country for America. Those who have seen It fly say It has remarkable properties of slow flight at amazing angles to the ground. The Aeronautical Correspondent of “ The Times” says the machine has been designed by the Handley Page Company, and full advantage has been taken of the automatic slope, the use of which retains lateral control of the airplane when its speed has become so slow that otherwise it would stall and spin Into the ground. Its wings are more than usually well provided with slots, and in addition there are flaps along the trailing edge which also greatly add to its capacity for slow flight under perfect control. A photograph of the machine represents It leaving the ground at an angle of at least 45 degrees. Such an angle is impossible for a normal machine, and the fact that it could fly off the ground in such a position with perfect control Indicates that the pilot, when landing, should be ab]e to do so at such a low speed that the machine can be regarded as almost fool-proof. The first prize In the competition Is of a value of about £20,000. All competing machines must be presented at Mitchell Field, Long Island, on or before October 31 next. According to the latest information there are at least 12 entries.

SCHNEIDER CUP CONTEST. BRITAIN’S SPEEDY ’PLANES. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, August 22. The seaplane Gloster Napier 6, a competitor for the Schneider Cup, and of which great things are expected, was to be tested at Calshot, but unfavourable weather conditions prevailed. It is now revealed that the modifications, which have been secretly carried out to the seaplane supermarine S 6, or Blue Rocket, as she Is now called, have added substantially to her speed since she was first flown at Calshot. When Flying-Officer Waghorn flew this machine yesterday her great Increase of speed was remarked upon. Although the Blue Rocket has not yet been fully tried out, and her engine has yet to be completely opened out In the air, officials at Calshot would not be surprised if on her last trial flights she attains a speed of between 370 and 380 miles an hour over a straight course. What the untried Gloster Napier 6 will be able to do cannot yet be estimated. It is though, however, that she will not be slower than the supermarine S 6. One of the Italian pilots, Captain Canaveri arrived at Calshot to-day with seven non-commissioned officers. With them came a number of huge packing cases iron-bound and sealed, containing the parts of one or more of their machines. An armed guard provided by the Royal Air Force has been placed over the hangar which houses these. There is also an armed guard over the British shed and there will be one over the hangar allotted to the American, Lieutenant Williams, should he arrive. The Italians maintain the utmost secrecy regarding their machines. AMERICAN CUP ’PLANE. FAILED TO LEAVE WATER. (Uoltaa Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) (Received August 23, 7.30 p.m.) WASHINGTON, August 23. Six attempts to get America’s Schneider Cup ’plane off the water today failed. The experiments ended by Lieutenant Alf Williams, being half poisoned by gas fumes. He was rescued by his comrades.