BUILDING AEROPLANES

Evening Star, Issue 23681, 14 September 1940, Page 6

BUILDING AEROPLANES

NEW ZEALAND MAKES A START BUSY FACTORY IN WELLINGTON TIGER MOTHS FOR THE AIR FORCE [Special to the ‘ Star.’] WELLINGTON, September 14. •New Zealand, which is so rapidly expanding its training facilities for the Royal New Zealand Air Force, is also doing something towards the actual building of aeroplanes. A branch factory of the well-known English concern, the de Havilland Aircraft Company, was started nearly a year ngo at llongotai, Wellington’s airport, and is now in full production, employing over a hundred New Zealanders, who are directed by experts from the English company The factory is spacious and well .planned, land the venture was well based initially by an order from the Government for a hundred Tiger Moth planes for training purposes in the Dominion. The first batches of these machines came from England complete, and had only to be assembled, but with each succeeding consignment, more work has been left to be done here, and the organisation at Rongotai has now reached the satisfactory stage of building the complete Moth except for the engine and metal fuselage. The wings are fabricated in the factory, the tail unit constructed by the same staff, and some of the metal work, including the cowlings, is being manufactured by New Zealand firms. Hundreds of small metal parts are being sent fronrEngland in the rough, leaving a good deal of ' finishing to be dope by fitters and other, skilled tradesmen at the Kongota; factory. V KEY ” EXPERTS FROM ENGLAND. The .aeroplane manufacturing industry, in New Zealand makes a sound start with expert directive skill _ from England. The general manager is Mr H. Buckingham, of the de Havilland Aircraft Company, and his assistant is Mr P. J. de Havilland, who undertakes the responsible duties of test pilot, putting the completed machines, through their paces, subjecting them to gruelling tests in his aerobatics, which should provide ’a good guarantee _ that they will stand up to hard service' in New Zealand’s air training schools. Four other specialists have also co,me from the, parent factory, each taking practical'charge of a section of factory operations.

Concentrating at present on the Tiger Moth, the factory is able on a modest scale to get the advantages of mass .production. This single-engined biplane* generally used in connection with the Empire air training scheme in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, is the standard “ trainer ” of the system, for if is strong and rugged,, well able to stand the rough usage associated with the earliest efforts of our future pilots. It is a develop- * ment from the Moth, so familiar in connection with New Zealand club training. Production ;of the Tiger Moth has been going on at Hatfield, not far fromlUondon, for- nine years. It is alsbi being built 1 at Melbourne, and. it is expected that the Gipsy Major fourcylinder air-cooled engine for this type will shortly be made in Australia. SHIPPING SPACE SAVED. The work now being done in New Zealand means a great saving in shipping space, as the engine and metal fuselage which have to be exported from the main factory take up comparatively little room in' a ship’s hold. The two wings have a total span of nearly 30ft, and these are made at Rongotai, as well as the tail units. ■

The beginnings of the wings are seen in the woodworking shop, where baulks of Canadian spruce, beautifully even in grain and free from flaws, pass'through tne milling machines which hollow out each side of the main frame—there are two to each wing. After this process the frame members resemble a welldesigned steel girder, light _ but immensely strong for their weight. In the assembling section two of the spruce girders are spaced the width of the wing, and connected up by many light ribs of wood, having metal ties. Much skill and experience have gone into the design of this light, but strong design, which will be covered with fabric, and takes the whole “ lift ” of the aeroplane. Building the ribs of the wing goes on in a quiet section of the factor}-, where some of the delicate fitting together of small pieces of shaped wood with metal fastenings is done by the deft fingers of women. The ribs are made up on jigs, to ensure exact standardisation of design. After a thorough inspection—expert examination takes place at every stage of manufacture—the completed wing frame receives a coat of preservative paint and is transferred to another section of the factory to receive its covering of linen. This is made up like an elongated sack, which is slipped over the wing assembly and taken in hand by/half a dozen girls who face the task of stitching many yards of seams. It is a neat job with needle and thread, and the wing now takes its familiar appearance, the fabric so carefully stretched and sewn that not a crease can be seen. Two ground coats of red aeroplane lacquer are well brushed in, and the win<i becomes “ drum tight.” Two more coats of “ dope ” are sprayed on, and the finished wing is complete, resplendent in bright “ training yoliow.” All these operations are done in a section of the factory maintained day and night at an even temperature. Wings and tail units emerge from the paint factory into the mam assembly hangar, where the metal fuselage carrying the engine awaits the final process. This bare centre of the Tiger Moth is soon provided' with its sets of wings, tail unit, and many other fittings, and after much testing and trial, is wheeled out into the open for tho flying tests. Between six and eight Tiger Moths are completed at Rnngotni every month, as every section of the establishment is now running smoothly. Tho heaviest “ crash ” repairs can also he ■inffertaken. and engine overhaul is another important phase of the work. Thus New Zealand is becoming more self-contained in collection with the aviation industry.