AIRCRAFT PLANS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 152, 8 September 1941, Page 6

AIRCRAFT PLANS

BIG EXPANSION IN AUSTRALIA FRONT-LI NE FIGIITKII PLANNED) A tremendous expansion of Australia's aircraft industry, undreamed of in time of peace, is suggested by official announcements that the Federal Government intends to reinforce existing aircraft production by, building in the Commonwealth two new types of modern Avar planes—a fighter machine and a bombing machine. Chief interest in the present stage of Australia's rapid entry into the ranks of the world's Air Powers, is the Government's proposal to build in Australia what the Minister for Aircraft Production, Senator Leckie, has called '"a front-line type of fighter plane which will be better than the Spitfire or the Hurricanc, Some authorities consider that the ideal machine for Australia's purposes is the Beaufighter, Britain's latest, largest, and probably the most powerful fighting aircraft in the world. It is a large machine, more like d medium bomber than the accepted pre-war ideas of a fighting .machine, and has two engines of a particularly powerful type.

The principal difficulty would be associated with the local production of engines. The Sydney built twinrow Pratt arid Whitney Wasp engine, developing 1200 h.p., is not sufHcientlv high powered for so large a fighter plane. An engine developing about KiOO li.p. would be required.

Before an Australian-built Beaufighter can be built, however, there teems likely to be an Australian designed and built medium bomber.