GERMAN LIGHT 'PLANE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 196, 12 April 1932, Page 7

GERMAN LIGHT 'PLANE

UNUSUAl. DESIGI^. WOMAN FLYER BRINGS FIRST OF ITS TYPE TO AUSTRALIA. * A'RGUS INVERTED -ENGlNEt ■ : ■ '.zi The arrival- at TJarwin on Tuesday, ' March 22, of the celebrated Gei'man | woman pilot, Fraulein Elli Beinhorn, brings an entirely new type dY' aircraft engine to. Australia in the shape of an inverted "Ai'gus" , fitted in a small Klemm low-wing monopRme. Although ' the engine . is, rated- at only 80 h.p.) the . machine'. had-..no difficulty in keepmg up. with. the large R.A.F. Southampton Supermarines (each fitted with two -Napier. Lion 500 h.p. engines), as it has ,a -cruising speed of 95 m.p.h., a clear 10 m.p.h. greater speed than that of the- fiying boats. ■ . • 1 Many New Features. , , The 80 h.p. "Argus" is the -product of the oldest firm ' of ' aero engine huilders in Germany, Argus MotorenGesellschaft. Two and a 'half years ago, this firm pioneered the idea of the inverted * engine for light aeroplanes and were successful in' parrying off with this type first place in 'the famous "Circuit of Europe" in 1-930. The inverted engine immediately -became the centre of much discussion, and since that -time rapid ■ develd^pment of the type has taken place, hdth in Europe and the United States of 'A'hierica, the salient features ' leadjn'g to its popularity being the unobsti*ucted view it allows the pilot and ' the diminished air resistance of the eylihder hlock. Compared with the British light aero engine, the four-cylinder "Argus" is characterised by its low piston speed, its low working. pressure, lo\y air sc^ew T.p.m.^ahd. low bearing load, all of which giygs. .the engine a' considerable advantage, as regards the length of its lif 4.

Unusual Ljghtivess. , - „ The total weight of . tjie engitfe is pnly 2541b — a weight which has hitherto not heen obtqined in .an engine of this capacity. The lightness is ffue to the use of eleetron metal, both in cast and pressed forni and ihe. employment of high-grad© §teel, and in the general constructioR of distributors, magnetos, etc., evqry attention ha,s been given to cqmpactnesS with a view to weight-saving . The oil tank of the "Argus" engine Ijes flush with the top of the crankcase and has a capacity for seven quarts. t " In eonformity with the genei^l' gimplicity of the "Argus" design the magnetos have no timing controls, so that a troublesome lever mechanism is done away with in the cockpit. Starting the engine up from. eo}d is. .made easy by a special contrivaqce aetuated by a light crank, which turns the crankshaft through the mediijm of an intermediate gear, with a ratio of 12 to 1 and a free-wheel clutch. The whole -engine is unique hqth for its compactness and its -light weight. Popular in Europp. The small Klemm mpnoplane is well known in every European country and already there are 35 private owners of this type of machine" in Great Britain. An English aircfaft firm' has recently taken out a manufacturing license. Tests carried out on the machine fitted with a British "Pobjoy" 65 h.p. engine at Stag Lane showed it to be particularly adaptahle,' witji a" cruising speed of 97 m.p.h., and the extraordinarily low landing speed of 24 m.p.h. Similar in design to the small Junkers machines, it has the added advantage of lightness, being constructed entirely of wood, and its large wing span gives it. a remarkable facility for getting off the ground with a short run. The Klemm is without douht the most popular light aircraft in Germany at the mpment, and enjoys a large private pwriership.