IN THE AIR

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 426, 7 August 1928, Page 7

IN THE AIR

From Cars to Planes Latest big motor-man to enter the aircraft field is W. L. Velie, owner of Velie Motors. He will soon enter on the production of a new 5-cyliner 60 h.p. power unit for planes on a large scale. ❖ * * AIRPLANE FOR SCHOOL CLASS The North Attleboro (U.S.A.) High School is the second American school to receive a gift of two planes from the Federal (U.S.A.) Government. They are used in connection with the school’s aviation class. * * * Ford Says Henry Ford, back in U.S.A., after a three weeks’ vacation in England, declared that “we have only begun on aviation. Some day,” he said, “there is going to be a machine that will equal the imagination of man. Whenever man imagines a thing he can sooner or later produce it. That’s w r hat I think. It will be a plane which won’t have to go 90 miles an hour to rise or the same to land. It will settle down quietly and in a small space and it won’t be dangerous. It will come, but, of course, there will have to be a lot of changes. We may not be near the idea yet.” CHANNEL AIR-LINE RATES Reduced passenger rates are now offered by the French Air Union and the British Imperial Airways on their lines across the English Channel. Second-class service has been scheduled on both lines, while the French company has also lowered its first class fares. The French Air Union now charges £4 10s for one-way firstclass passage, and £3 10s for secondclass. This is five shillings less than the prices exacted by the British line. It is also said that the French company plans the construction of faster planes, which will lower the time for the flight from two and a-half hours to two. Incidentally, pilots on planes crossing the English Channel are now constantly advised of weather conditions by a new aircraft controlling radio system. * * * Sydney, London, Sydney A Sydney-London flight and return, is being organised by Mr. R. A. Quin, of Sydney. Allowing a few days for top overhaul in London, he will attempt the big task of making the trip in five weeks. A Moth with a Cirrus engine will probably be used. A start will be made as soon as the financial position permits—probably at the end of August. For some years actively associated with the Aerial League of Australia, Mr. Quin has experimented extensively with light planes models, gliders, manlifting kites, etc., and he has a good practical and technical knowledge of aircraft. He will not handle the joystick on the projected flight—that role has been assigned to a young local flyer. Every aspect of the flight is being considered from the ground up, and Mr. Quin is optimistic as to the success of the venture. * * * Germany Again The world’s first international aeronautical exposition, devoted exclusively to civilian aircraft, will be held in Berlin from October 7 to 28. The purpose is to show the best and most practical machines that the present has to offer, and to give some idea of what the future promises. Not only will finished machines be exhibited, but component parts, raw materials entering into their construction, precision instruments for aeronautics, radio and telegraph equipment, parachutes and aerial cameras. Landing fields and their management will be illustrated in models. Operations of weather bureaus will be explained, and ideas on the training of pilots for commercial planes will be exchanged. The new dirigible LZ-127, to be christened Count Zeppelin in honour of the inventor of this type of craft, will be anchored to a low mast , near the exposition grounds, and Dormer expects to exhibit a new flyingboat, capable of carrying at least 40 passengers. * * * MINIATURE ZEPPELIN A new baby dirigible, “The Puritan,” has been designed by Goodyear engineers, and is now under construction in the Akron (Ohio) factories of the company. The air yacht, which is somewhat larger than the Goodyear airship Pilgrim, will be sent on its first trial flight this month. The Puritan will have a wider cruising range, higher speeds and greater lifting capacity than its predecessor, the Pilgrim, the first airship of the type to be built in America. Powered with two radial air-cooled motors of recent design, mounted on outriggers to eliminate cabin noise and vibration, the new ship will have a cruising speed of 46 miles an hour, and a top speed of 55 miles an hour, while the range of operating with four passengers will be 350 miles. With two passengers and a pilot, the ship will be able to travel 550 miles without refilling, engineers say. The Puritan will be 128 feet in length, 37 feet in diameter, and will hold 86,000 cubic feet of helium. t- * * Display of American Aviation The United States Department of Commerce is preparing an exhibit for the exposition to be held in Spain next March, which includes models of all the latest scientific and engineering devices for minimising the hazards of travel by air, and increasing the comfort and efficiency factors of air carriers. The prosposed list of exhibits includes scientific developments in aeronautics beginning with an authentic model of Orville Wright’s first airplane and ending with working models of the wind tunnels used in scientific research by the government. The recently constructed variable density wind tunnel, the only one of its type in the world, is considered one of the outstanding developments in the field of aerodynamics. The governments of England and Italy have requested drawings of this tunnel. The Wright whirlwind radial motor will come in for its share of glory in the exhibits. This is the engine which carried Lindbergh, Byrd and Chamberlain on their epoch-making flights. The principle of the Flettner rotor-ship will be demonstrated, showing its application to aircraft development, and a working model of an airplane showing why it flies and the dstribution of the lifting force of the air over wing surfaces will be included in the exhibit. The progress of the airplane from the time Wright first left the ground on December 17, 1903, in what was considered a foolhardy effort to emulate a bird will be strikingly reflected in the Department of Commerce model of an AAA airport complete with flood lights, markers and other safety devices. Above this will be a huge chart on which will be blocked out the network of commercial air routes now in operation in the United States.

The Franklin derives its name from H. H. Franklin, founder and president of the H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company. Gardner is a family name. The car is built by the Gardner Motor Company, of which R. E. Gardner, junr., is president, and F. W. Gardner, vicepresident.