FASTER THAN SOUND

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 167, 5 October 1927, Page 13

FASTER THAN SOUND

SCHNEIDER CUP MACHINES “VICTORY OVER NATURE” By Cable.—Press AssocTaffoH. —Copyright LONDON, Tuesday. At a luncheon given by the Air Council, Sir Samuel Hoare, Secretary for Air, expressed thanks to the Italians for their splendid hospitality and sportsmanship, particularly to Signor Mussolini and General Balbo, who, he said, were representatives of the vigour and enterprise of new Italy. After remarking that the machines which raced for the Schneider Cup travelled faster than their sound, the Minister summed up the advantages that a success of this kind conferred upon a victorious country. He said that the race showed in a conclusive manner the great progress that had been made in the air during; a very short space of time. A few years ago a speed of 45 miles an hour was sufficient to win the clip, this year the two winning British machines reached more than six times that speed, and the third British machine looked at one time as if, with a little luck, it would have made even a greater pace. Such an achievement as this was a crushing answer to critics who, putting their heads in the sand, refused to believe there was any progress in the air. Designers had;, gained another victory over nature by increasing' the strength and yet reducing the weight of their engines and machines.—A. and N.Z.