COASTAL DEFENCE

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19799, 1 February 1936, Page 22 (Supplement)

COASTAL DEFENCE

CANADIAN PUROHABEB. VERSATILITY OF MACHINES. The Canadian Government has placed an order with the Balckburn Company l'or Shark ‘‘general purpose’’ coastal protection biplanes similar to craft supplied recently to the Fleet Air Arm. Production plans allow for delivery in the late spring of 1936. Acceptance flying trials will be done at Brough. Yorkshire, in accord with usual Air Ministry procedure, and the craft will subsequently be packed and shipped across the Atlantic. They will he supplied with wheel and float undercarriages; the job of changing from one form to the other is extremely quick and simple, thanks to many ingenious ideas embodied in design of the machine. Sesquiplane wings lift the Shark; the lower plane is much less in spin and ‘‘chord” (width from front to back) than the upper plane. The fuselage is a monocoque metal structure, divided into watertight compartments to provide buoyancy, in the event of a forced descent on the water, sufficient to float 30 per cent mors than the maximum loaded weight of the machine. Flotation bags usually carried by Fleet Air Arm machines in the wings and fuselage are thereby eliminated, with consequent reduction of “dead” load. The wings can be fqlded rapidly for housing in the restricted space allowed each aeroplane on an aircraft hangar; a hydraulic pump fitted in the centre section of the bottom plane on each side of the fuselage enables the locking pins that hold the wings rigid when extended to be withdrawn or engaged simultaneously by the movement of one hand lever. Many Duties. In function the Shark is exceptionally versatile. It is adaptable for any of the tasks allotted the “general purpose” naval or coastal protection 'plane. It is fitted to carry a 15001 b torpedo, or an equal weight in bombs. It carries a mass of equipment for aerial survey and photography, artillery spotting and long distance reconnaissance. A supplementary fuel tank can be slung in the torpedo orutches, bringing the range on one fuel load up to more than 1100 miles. Since the “prototype” machine was adopted by the Air Ministry for use in the Fleet Air Arm, some changes which have improved performance have been made. Instead of the Tiger IV, the more powerful Tiger VI molor is now fitted, increasing the level speed of the Shark, when equipped for reconnaissance work and with.a land undercarriage, to 162 miles an hour. The improved model is called “Shark II,” and the first craft of this kind will be delivered in the Canadian order which is, incidentally, the second order placed overseas for Shark aircraft. Early this year the Portuguese Government concluded a contract for the supply of Sharks to the national air force.