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Hokitika Guardian, 6 March 1924, Page 2

Cm;,vi strides are being made in tlie Iti'lecting of l.omlon's air dofeiu.es. S; eeail maehiiH's of great power and speed are being rapidly built, and a call lias been issued for 100 more men to man them. Suitable candidates are to be eomnisisioiied immediately under tlm An Ministry’s short service scheme. Nearly 350 of those new officers will he p need on home defence, and will fly the finest machines possessed bv any power. I bis w ill bring tlie total of shortservice, officers engaged on flying duty to 1 b'O. For the new nit defence scheme, apart Iron) this provision for Lesh pits, aircraft linns are busy constructing 'planes for guarding such a vital “nerve-centre” as London. These machines, in climb, speed, and manoeuvring power, will far exceed ailything I induced before. For all-round capabilities some of them "ill excel anytl'ing else in the world. .Sheer speed in a modern air-lighter is not everything, though it i.s a great deal. What is almost equally important is that Mich a ’plane should have the power o( manoeuvring, during a combat, with extreme rapidity and ease. Also, with machine needs to bo a.s invulnerable as possible to machine-gun bullets, it ic. in their mingling of the lighting .qualities that tlie new ’plane*, which " il! soon he guarding London from ir chain of specially-chosen aerodromes, 'ill mark such a stride forward in aeronautical design. Some of them "ill be able to attain an altitude of 20,000 feet vltliiu eight- minutes of leaving the giouiid. Some will also l«» driven by 3-:<! horse-power engines of 1-t cylinders. Kiiginos will l*e air-cooled instead of water-eoled, thus dispensing with the impediments necossary in water-cool-ing; arid, in addition, these engines will lie so compact, and the whole machines so handy, that tlieir pilots will lie able to perform all sorts of new lighting manoeuvres.

(ink new type of single-seater fighter lor the home defence programme, will bo fitted with an engine placed *j side down so a« to give die pilot the clearest possible view forward. It will develop as much ns 500 li.ps This purely attacking ’plane—one of the most deadly in existence—will rush in upon an opponent at more than 200 miles an Lour. Perhaps the most remarkable development of all will he tlio new defence. ’planes, built throughout of the finest steel. Machine gunners , and pilot will be specially protected in steel cockpits. In tbo building of these fighters of steel, Britain leads the entire world at the present time. One of these aeroplanes, constructed through cut of steel, with all the advantages which this implies, ran be made appreciably lighter than a similar machine of wood. An integral part of tbc, new defensive-offensive in the air "ill be the power to strike sudden blows al tlie distant air-harbours from which enemy squadrons may set outp.to attack London. In this regard new pilots will be given bombing-’planes which in their speed, range, and instrumental equipment, will bo remarkably in advance of anything available in the latest stages of the war. These bombing pilots will have such wonderful aids to navigation that wheu approaching enemy territory on a daylight raid they will be able to seek deliberately any cloud banks there may be in the sky. Hidden within these, and yet navigating accurately, they will creep nearer and nearer to their objective, emerging suddenly, when the time conies, to drop their loads of bomba in a surprise attack. After that they will dart upwards again into the shelter of the clouds: