NEW FIGHTER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 March 1939, Page 3

NEW FIGHTER

FAST BRITISH MACHINE. ACCURATE FIRE ENSURED. A new Iwo-senter fighter monoplane, the Boullon Paul Defiant, believed to be the fastest military aeroplane of its kind, is to be produced in large numbers for the British Air Ministry. The Defiant is exceptional for its powerful armament mounted in a gimturret to engage enemy raiders. Suitability for .rapid production was a prime factor in designing the Defiant. All-metal construction, embodying the latest ideas of "stressedskin" load-bearing external covering and streamlining for high speed, is employed. Amidships lies the secret of the Defiant’s striking power. Here is located-the power-operated gun-turret which enables the observer-gunner to direct an accurate stream of fire against enemy craft when flying at speeds so high that no man could move the gun unaided against the air pressure. Eye-witnesses of the new aeroplane’s flying trials have been impressed by its high speed in level flight, though details of its performance remain closely guarded secrets. The Defiant is the first modern warplane to issue from the new Boulton Paul factory at Wolverhampton. Specifically laid out for rapid achievement of a high rate of output, the factory was begun in 1935 and completed early in 1937. Later that year large, extensions were put in hand to provide capacity for the rapidly swelling demands of the Royal Air Force. , For some time the factory was engaged in the manufacture of Hawker Demon two-seat fighter biplanes and of major components of other types of military aircraft. It is now being transferred smoothly to the large-scale production of the Defiant and of succeeding “first-line” aeroplanes.