Formidable Planes

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 187, 25 August 1937, Page 4

Formidable Planes

Our Own Correspondont.)

N.Z. AIR FORCE Three Types of -Machine Being Purchased NEW 'HUSH-HUSH' PLANE

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WELLINGTON, This Day. It is now believed here that the full plan for strougcr defence, portion of which was announced by the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, last Saturday, is not Jikely to be revealcd before the meeting of Parliament on September 9 next, and that on account of tlio large expehditure involved diselasure of it may be delaycd until the presentation of the Budget, In the meantime, however, it is possible to roveal something of what is being done in the matter of air defence. Three types of planes are being purchased by the Government. Tho first of these is the Airspeed Oxford, a superior type of Airspeed Envoy. This comes first in the list for the reason that rt is a type of advanced training machine, The Oxford is a twin-engined monoplane and may be regarded as n devolopment of the Envoy which has proved successful for civil tran.sport. It differs from that machine, however, in several features, notably in the forward portion of tlie fuselage, whieh allows dual controls to be fitted. An Armstrong- Whitworth ■ gun-turret is fitted aft of the wlng, and a light bomb load may bo carricd for training pnrposes. The engines are two ArmstrongWiddeley Cheetahg whieh drive D. H. variable-pitch airscrews. A retractable underearriage and trailing-edge flags are features of thc plane. It has a top speed of about 200 m.p.h. and is of composite construction. » Fastest Modium Boniber. The second type of machine to be purchased, according to oxisting plans, is the Bristol Blenheim. This, unlike the Airspeed Oxford, is not in the "new and' experimental " class, but is of proVen performance. It is probably the fastest medium bombcr in the world, with a speed of about 279 m.p.h. It is a low-wing monoplane* with twin engines and was evolved from a pattern machine purchased by Lord Wakefield and presented to the British Government. According to oue report the machine which will come to New Zealand will be not the Bristol Blenheim, but a later edition of the machine cntitled tho Bristol Bolingbroke. This will prove to be the case .becauSe of the delay in getting the machines delivered. Tho Bristol Bolingbroke, even the naine of which is not yet pub- . liely announced, is a "hush-hush" machine, . and all that is known about it is that it is still more formidable version of what iemains at ihe moment Britain's fastest bomber. It is believed that it will, among other things, eliminate the blind spots of the present machine due to 'the fixed position of tho gun. The. third type to be purchased is the Vickera Wellington, a long-range twin-engined mid-wing monoplane with a long wing-span and capable of travelling at great heights. Its xango remains a secret, but it could easily hop the Tasman Be a. It falls into tho heavy- bomber class, has a speed of over 200 m.p.h. and possesses a sting in its tail. It is altogether a formidable machino and one which will mako air co-operation with AustTalia, or even defence of tho Singapore Basu, something within the ability of this country. , No Lack of Personnel. Of the personnel to fly these machines there will bo no lack — the overplus of would-bo recruits respohding to receut appeals made that clear. Trained personnel is another matter, but that is being remedied and the "rush." order is therefore likely to be for the Airspeed Oxford. Ground organisation is now heing planned under the direction of a special officer who recently arrived on loan from the British Air Ministry and who is an expert engineer. Oue aspect of the new ground organisationj C4 course is the developmeuti of the cen-trally-situated aerodrome at Ohakea, near Palmerston North, as a central base for the North Island, wifch a possible additional field at Auckland and extensions at Wigram to meet new needa thei'e. e