FUTURE OF THE AEROPLANE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1674, 13 February 1917, Page 4

FUTURE OF THE AEROPLANE.

There appears little doubt but that England’s supremacy of the air on the Western front is chiefly attributable to the efforts and motors of several well-known English motor manufacturers. Some of these firms ape now turning out magnificent engines, developing 350 h.p., which can remain in the air for at least 12 hours, and can carry heavy loads of explosives, besides its equipment of machine guns and men. Speeds of 150, 170, and even 190 miles per hour are now glibly talked about, and not only talked about, but actually done. Judging by the giant strides made during the past three years, the future of the aeroplane is only in its infancy. It seems but yesterday since Bleriot flew across that narrow strip of 20 miles or so from Calais to Dover, and yet we all remember how it set the world a-wagging. What developments have taken place in the interval only those who follow the war can really appreciate, Take, for example, the French aviators’ attack on Essen the other week, when two offcers flew over 500 miles there and back, and not without doing some deadly work. Britain unquestionably rules the waves, and seemingly she is going to rule the air as well.