NEWEST IN AIRCRAFT

Chronicle (Levin), 26 August 1949, Page 5

NEWEST IN AIRCRAFT

(N.Z.P.A.-

-Reuter.

World's Best Will Be ,Seen At Air Display

copyright)

LONDON, August 25. Aipong the new aircraft which will be seen at the Society of British Aircraft Coiistructors ' air display to be held at Farnbo rough Airfield, Hampshire, from Septenu fer 7 to 11, are the world's higlicst fiying bomber, the world's Fastest fighters, the world's fastest conmiercial airliner, the fastest irainer and a helicopter which tppears to have the world's airspeed record for its class within its reach. \ Forty-one of the 56 aeroplanes on show will take part in the flyng programme. Thirty-three have i op speeds above 300 mil.es liourly, 14 caii travel at inore than 500 miles, eight ean reach speeds between 600 and 700 miles and two lre supersonic. Only eight have top speeds below 300 miles. Twenty-two of the .41 aeroplanes seheduled to flv have made their first flig'lits sinee the 1948 air display. Of 19 other types, 12 have gone into production during he past 12 months. Twenty-one of the 56 aeroplanes appearing have gas turbine engines, 14 being jet-propelled and the rest having turbo-propel-ler engines. One has two piston engines and two turbo-propeller engines. Not one of the aeroplanes in the fiying programme was built for researeh and only two are experimental. Some of the aeroplanes at Farnborough eannot have their pert'orinanee revealed but it can be liselosed that both the Hawker P 1052 and Vickers Supermarine. Type 510, can fiy faster than the speed of saund. The high fiying bomber making its first appearance is the English Electric Canberra. This has only recentlv come off the seeret list and the precise figure for its operating h eight eannot yet he given. However, an official statement that the Canberra is a high altitude medium bomber with two Rolls Rovee Avon turho-jet engines, is a fair indieation that it will fiy well above 40.000 feet. The distinction of being the world's fastest commercial airliner, goes to the de Ilavilland jetpropelled Comet. This flew for the first time on July 27 and in fhe following 26 days eompleted more than 35 hours of test fiying in the course of which no shorfeoming of any kind came to light. The preliminarv trials encouraged the belief that the Comet will not require any modifieation or change of any significance. To the (floster Meteor 7 goes the eredit of being faster than any other standard trainer. It has a speed of some 35 miles hourly above that oi' its elosest rival and although a two-seater, it returned a higher performance than that of the single-seat fighier from which it was deevloped. Tt was in the fiying programme cf last year's S.B.A.C. display but this year will be on exhibition only. The helicopter which appears to be a potential record holder, is the massive Cierva Air Horse. Performance estimates ind'icate that it is 12 miles an honr faster than the present helicopter speed record of 133 miles an hour, which is held by the United States. The Air Ilorse was on exhibition last year but has sinee eompleted many hours of test fiying and will this year have a place in the fiying progi-amme.