BRITAIN HAS NO-WHEEL BOMBERS WHICH HAVE NO UNDERCARRIAGE

Wanganui Chronicle, 24 March 1950, Page 5

BRITAIN HAS NO-WHEEL BOMBERS WHICH HAVE NO UNDERCARRIAGE

LONDON, March 33 (Recd. 8 p.m.) —The “Daily Mail” says Britain now has no-wheel bombers which land on spring-mattress ships. Tests with a flexible deck on aircraft-carriers have been carried a stage farther and fast heavy planes have now been landed without the use of an undercarriage. Mr. James Callaghan, Financial Secretary to the Admiralty, revealed this latest development. Last year it was announced that a jet-fighter fitted only with skids had made flexible-deck landings, but Mr. Callaghan was referring to later experiments made in trying to find a perfect system of putting down really fast heavy planes. He said: "Very successful experiments have been undertaken on H.M.S. Warrior.” Mr. Callaghan was outlining during the Naval Estimates debate an Admiralty plan to kill the submarine menace. He also gave this news about aircraft: "It is proposed to bring in a new attacker aircraft, a single jet with a speed approaching 600 miles an hour.” A new single-type antisubmarine aircraft, the GRI7, was also being developed for carrier operations. It had already been deck-landed successfully. Mr. Callaghan had this to say about a new and deadly secret weapon: “In the experimental stage are a lumber of new-type of homing torpedos that may be launched from the surface from an aircraft or fired from under the surface. These will nose out an enemy submarine, will set their course and will home on the submarine in due course.”