AIR BASE VISITED

Waikato Times, Volume 117, Issue 19597, 8 June 1935, Page 22 (Supplement)

AIR BASE VISITED

NEW BOMBERS INSPECTED. GOVERNOR-GENERAL INTERESTED TWO MACHINES UNDER TEST. The first visit to Hobsonville' Air Base by the Governor-General, Viscount Galway, paid this week, coincided with tests of two of the new Vickers Vildebeeste bombing aeroplanes imported for the Royal New Zealand Air Force. His Excellency and members of the official party displayed keen interest in the machines, which were flown in the vicinity ol the aerodrome for a short period. They also inspected the seaplane base and hangars. After a short period to allow the motors to warm, Squadron-Leader Isitt took off one machine, followed by Flight-Lieutenant Wallingford in the other. -The visitors were impressed by the exceptionally short run required and the unusual silence of the machines In the air. No acrobatics were attempted, but both craft were dived in front of the official party and then pulled up in climbing turns. The Vildebeeste flown by SquadronLeader Isitt had not been in the air previously in New ZealandRapid Climbing Powers. After a short period in flight, during which they demonstrated their rapid climbing powers, Hie two bombing ■machines were landed and taxied back lo the hangar. His Excellency then left the base, and on his way back to the city called at the headquarters of the Air Survey and Transport Company, Ltd., agents for de Havilland aircraft, at Hobsonville. The new aeroplanes, which are of a type being supplied to the Royal Air Force in large numbers, incorporate many ingenious fittings. The bombs, carried in racks under the lower planes, are released electrically, it being possible to fire any one or the whole cargo with a minimum of delay. Instruments arranged so as to be easily read by a man lying prone in the fuselage, indicate the altitude and air speed, while a special sight is provided to secure accuracy. Other Special Features. The machines are built largely of duralumin, on account of its lightness and strength, and each has special equipment for use in case of a forced landing on water. Within reach of the pilot is a control which releases the 'contents of a cylinder of gas into a large container folded in the fuselage, thus providing a high degree of buoyancy. In Hie event of the pilot being unable to operate Hie control himself provision has been made for the automatic release of the gas following the contact of the machine with the water. ' , , Both short and long-wave wireless equipment is carried, and llicre is also the usual system enabling Hie tluoe members of Hie crew lo _ converse among themselves. Petrol is carried in wing tanks, and a special radiator for cooling Hie oil is mounted under I lie fuselage. The machine also has wheel brakes and a. steerable tail wheel, enabling it to be turned and manoeuvred on the ground with unusual case.