FIRST JET FLYING WING

Chronicle (Levin), 18 December 1946, Page 5

FIRST JET FLYING WING

MAY START NEW AV1ATION ERA. Received Tuesday, 10.45 p.m. LONDON, Dec. 17. The first jet-propelled flying wing will undergo flight tests at Boscombe Downs early in 1947. The secrecy surrounding the evolution of Britain's • tailless and fuselageless aircraft was partially relaxed today when newspaper correspondents saw technicians at Armstrong Whitworth's factory near Coventry put the finishing touches on the 14-ton all-metal wing whieh may start a new aviation era

wnen Armstrong whitwortn's cmei test pilot, Squadron Leader F. Franklin, flies it next month. The wing comprises sheet metal constructed in curve the smoothness of whieh is within thousandths of an inch of the ideal. The machine is powered with twin Rolls-Royce Nene engines and has a span of 90 feet. The chief scientist to the Ministry of Supply (Sir Ben Lockspeiser) to whose specifications the machine has been built refuses to disclose the expectations of performance, but if the wing is successful another model six or seven. times larger will he built, possibly as the first of a fleet of night passenger carriers. The present model is designed tb carry only the pilot and observer, but Squadron Leader Franklin will probably initially fly alone because only the pilot 's compartment is fitted with an ejectahle seat to enable escape from the aircraft in the event of a mishap at topspeed.