FIGHTING PLANES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 449, 3 September 1928, Page 12

FIGHTING PLANES

BRITAIN’S NEW MACHINES ON SHOW PURSUERS AND BOMBERS “The entire preoccupation of our air staffs,” said G. C. Colebrook, aeronautical expert of “The London Times” and one of the leading British authorities on aircraft, “is how to meet effectively the menace of a horde of fast day bombers which may come over from Europe flying at any height from 500 to 20,000 feet and remain in a sheltering cloud till they are over their objective. Then they might dive to release their bombs, getting away without ever being brought to battle. Tbe problem is a difficult one, since a modern fast bomber, fifteen minutes after crossing the Channel or the southern coast line, could he over London dropping bombs up to a weight of 5001 b. a machine. For safety our designers must be able to heat the best day bombers with the best pursuit planes by an appreciable margin. They have not done that today.” The four new fighters which made a public appearance were a Bristol Bulldog, a Hawker Hawfinch, a Boulton and Partridge and a Westland Wizard, the Wizard being the only monoplane. All are made completely of metal and the first three are fitted with the latest supercharged Bristol Jupiter radial air-cooled engine, Britain’s closest approximation to the American Wright Whirlwind engine. The monoplane, however, has a watercooled engine. Their latest bombing opponent is the Rairey Fox nine, which is an improvement on the original Fox, which had an American Curtis D-12 engine. The new plane has a Rolls-Royce narrow Y-type engine, with 400 horsepower. Air experts here are convinced that It is the fastest bomber in the world, and though its speed when fully loaded has not been revealed It is certainly over 150 miles an hour. The other new bomber, which is twin engined, is not quite so fast, but has great potentialities for achieving height. Since the engines are on each side of the pilot rather than at the nose, the man directing the bombs has a better view. Four new single-seater fighting planes ranging in speed from ISO to more than 200 miles an hour, and two new fast day bombers, were put through their paces for the first time in public at Hendon, on the occasion of the fourth annual air display of the Royal Air Force. An audience of 100,000 Britons, headed by the King and Queen, shared in the thrills with the military ataehe of most of the nations of the world as these and 200 other airplanes cut their “aerobatic” capers. The machines drilled in the sky with the precision of ground troops, or indulged in the sham warfare of bombing an imitation oil refinery. To the huge crowd it was just another circus, bigger and better than last year, but to the military and aeronautic observers it was evidence that the British Air Staff is still fighting to a drawn battle in the rival development of pursuit planes and bombing planes. Both types attained greater speeds and showed greater manoeuvring ability than they did twelve months ago. Simplicity and Speed The new monoplane Is said to be the fastest fighter, but It is not so likely to become a regular part of the British air force as the three biplanes. The air policy here forces simplicity of maintenance, quick take-off on warnings of air raids and a maximum view for the pilot. The air-cooled engine is said to score best here, since it does not need as much warming up and also it is lighter and gives a more rapid rate of climbing. The three new planes shown to-day are said to be able to reach a 10.000-foot altitude in less than five minutes. To-day within two minutes’ warning they engaged in sham warfare with the invading bombers. The British imperial needs for desert campaigning were reflected in the Handley-Page troop carrier. With a capacity for carrying 21 infantry men with full kit, it is really a modification of the Imperial Airways regular passenger planes on the London-Paris route. The public also got a view of the huge Beardmore Inflexible night bomber monoplane, with a 150-foot wing spread and eight-foot wheels. This plane, when fully loaded, weighs over 15 tons. It showed surprising manooeuvring ability without a load, hut with the load contemplated it would be too big for any airdrome in the British Isles to allow it an adequate take-off. Nobody here knows exactly what the Air Force is going to do with it. To unschooled laymen the most amazing stunts of the day were the outside loops executed In Moth light airplanes by two pilots, one of whom flew upside down all the way across the airdrome, while his companion flew apparently right above him, right side up, for the distance of almost three miles.