STEEL THOUGHT BEST

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 372, 5 June 1928, Page 8

STEEL THOUGHT BEST

PLANES FOLLOW CARS That aircraft engineers have followed the lead of car manufacturers, and are rapidly adopting steel construction, was stated at the annual aeronautic meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers in New York. According to the engineers, metal construction will supplant wood in airplanes, because of its greater flexibility, more standai'dised strength, and its psychological appeals to passengers. It was pointed out by Professor C. H. Chatfield, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that the monoplane is better adapted to metal construction than the biplane, and for that reason would probably become the more popular type of aircraft. Steel is now widely used in the manufacture of car bodies. It has proved stronger, safer, and is less inclined to rattle. The first quantity-builder of quality automobiles to use steel was Studebaker. In steel construction, the body frame is welded into a single unit by an electric arc. This fusion into one piece of steel eliminates joints, and pivovides a degree of strength that cannot otherwise be obtained. Squeaks and rattles are eradicated. The roofs of Studebaker cars are supported by slender, yet strong, steel pillars, to ensure full vision and eliminate the dangerous “blind spot.” Another fact that commends steel construction is that, being lighter than the ordinary body material, it also saves tyres and fuel.