EMPIRE AIRCRAFT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 August 1938, Page 7

EMPIRE AIRCRAFT

FINE NEW LAND PLANES FLEET BEING CONSTRUCTED. CONTRACTS TOTAL £3,500,000. The Ensign, first of a fleet of 21-ton land plane air liners ordered by Imperial Airways for European and Empire routes, has completed at Martleshafn Heath —landplane experimental station of the Royal Air Force—the severe and exhaustive official tests that govern the issue of a certificate of airworthiness for a new type of aeroplane. The Egeria, second aircraft of the same class, is in the hands of the engineers for final adjustments. The two new air liners are scheduled to go into service shortly. They will be. succeeded by 12 similar craft, to complete a contract worth approximately £750,000 for 14 of these highwing monoplanes, the largest landplane air liners yet to be commissioned. The Ensign contract is one of contracts for aeroplanes of an aggregate value of £3,500,000, which have been placed by Imperial Airways since the beginning of 1935. These orders concern, in addition to 14 Ensigns, 31 Short Empire (or “C” Class) flyingboats; eight Empire flying-boats modified to carry extra load and intended for long trans-ocean passages; three much larger flying-boats provisionally styled the “C” Class development type; the Short-Mayo “composite aircraft”; three de Havilland Albatross monoplanes; and seven Diana (D.H. 86) biplanes. LUXURIOUS ACCOMMODATION. The Ensign was designed and built by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth Aircraft, Limited. It is made entirely of metal except for the fabric covering of relatively unstressed portions of the wings. The cantilever wings, which measure 123 feet from tip to tip, are metal-covered as far back as the single main spar and the streamlined fuselage is a monocoque metal stressedskin shell.

Split trailing-edge flaps, extending between ailerons (lateral controls) and fuselage, reduce the landing-speed and aid take-off. Four Armstrong Siddeley Tiger air-cooled ardial engines aggregating more than 3600 h.p. provide power. They drive metal threebladed controllable-pitch airscrews. The spacious fuselage holds three roomy cabins and a promenade, from the windows of which passengers may watch the changing scene below. Seating is available for 40 passengers in the European craft. The Ensigns attached to the Empire services, which must allocate more spa,ce to mail load, will seat 27 and provide sleeping accommodation for 20. The crew numbers five —captain, first officer, radio operator, flight clerk and steward. IMMENSE LANDING WHEELS. The cruising speed is miles an hour and the maximum speed in the neighbourhood of 200 miles. 'The “ceiling” fully loaded to nearly 21 tons is approximately 20,000 ft. The takeoff in still air is achieved in only 20 seconds. The normal range in still air is about 800 miles. Immense landing wheels, each 6Jft in diameter, are used in the retractible undercarriage, which is the largest yet built. The interior ’decoration and furniture appointments of the air liner are planned on luxury lines. Special attention has gone to the elimination of noise from the passenger quarters. Furthermore, the high-wing monoplane design gives passengers an uninterrupted downward view, a detail much favoured by experienced air travellers. AIRWAYS IN INDIA. Eight Ensigns are destined for use on the Indian route. The annual load of mails to be transported from India is estimated at 211 tons, which represents approximately four-fifths of a ton by each scheduled air service. Greatly reduced air mail carriage costs to the Indian Exchequer are expected from the commissioning of the new craft and the reorganised services. An important rearrangement of the Indian internal routes is planned. Indian Transcontinental Airways will cease to operate between Karachi and Singapore. The company’s operations will be transferred to the England-Cal-cutta services, of which they will operate half in conjunction with Imperial Airways. For this purpose Indian Transcontinental Airways will buy four Ensigns. The company’s capital will be trebled. The new air liners will increase fourfold the working capacity of the Indian Transcontinental Airways fleet —from 750,000 ton-miles to 3,000,000 ton-miles a year.