BIG FLYING BOAT

Hokitika Guardian, 22 November 1930, Page 6

BIG FLYING BOAT

AIR MINISTRY’S ORDER. FIVE LUXURIOUS CABINS. LONDON, October 9. It is reported that the Air Ministry has placed an order with a British craft firm for a machine which VwilL weigh when fully loaded 33 tons. It is to be equipped with six motors, developing ,a. total horse-power of' 4950, and will be able to fly 160 apiles an hour.

The immense flying boat hull,, Measuring 20ft in height and carrying within it five luxurious .saloon cabins each 14ft wide, providing accommodation for 40 passengers, will be airborne by a single pair of wings located above it. From wing-tip to wing-tip the boat will, stretch '.l4oft, and near tine centre the ivings will be more than six feet in depth.

nove to tail the craft * s shown on the drawing board to/be . slightly more than 100 feet. Pilots and engineers, operating in a .kind.of bridge in tlve deck above the passmigct quar-f ters are depicted twelve feet above the water-line. The entire upper deck is left for the working routine of the crew; access is designed from it 10? the wings and the six engines, which; are mounted tandem in three pairs'above it. The roomy space inside the wings is intended for stowing luggage , ana stores. In the lower deck, which should be unusually quiet because Lof the distance separating it from .the engines, will be the passenger saloons, baggage and mail compartments, - a kitchen, and lavatories. . . ~,A.

LONG-RANGE LUXURY CRUISING

The Air Ministry requires her to be suitable for long-distance cruising, and her probable range will be rather move than 1000 miles. , : . ;

Nothing but metal, a large proportion of the stainless steel, will lie used in the structure. The. wings may be built according to a new system of tubular construction similar to methods employed .in modern British airships ; if so, much weight will be saved by comparison with the weight of material needed in the nprmal girder construction.

British technicians have delayed the •building of marine aircraft of this size till the state of aerodynamical and engine knowledge justified the experiment. In performance, trustworthiness, and sea-gomg qualities British jiving-boats are second to none—a fact acknowledged by experts in all countries—and the new boat may confidently be expected to sustain, this reputation. Once, built and tried, the aircraft, with at least one other boat, of similar size already planned - in Great Britain, should* bring tlfertvorld a long step nearer the day of highspeed air transport over the main sea routes so long- traverggcT by surface vessels. Flying-boats of this, ordey. of size and'power 'apart from their TaYrge ; and the comfort afforded ~to senger, will undoubtedly show superior sea-riding qualities to their predecessors and> will be able to - operate with ease and safety in seas widen would swamp smaller craft. • - Like all modern British faircraft, the new flying-boat is designed with clean, beautiful streamlines to hull and superstructure, reducing “parasitic” resistance to movement, through tiie air to a tow figpre. Progress ■of this kind wax espeeialy to, lie ex-, pected in the new boat; which is the largest yet planned by Mr R. J, Mitchell, well known as the designer of the racing seaplanes flown to victory m the last two Schneider ; trophy international contests and holdersof three world’s speed records.

The boat will be built by the Supermarine ’Works of Vickers (Aviation), Limited. The engines are Rolls-Royce 825 h.p. “H” 12-cylinder units.