AIR FORCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 December 1939, Page 4

AIR FORCE

FORMATION OF DOMINION UNITS IN EUROPEAN WAR THEATRE AUSTRALIA LEADS THE WAY. FLYING-BOAT SQUADRON. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day. 9.55 a.m.) RUGBY, December 4. The formation of an Australian squadron, for active service with the Coastal Command ol' the Royal Air Force early in the Xew Year, will mean that Australia will be the first Dominion to have a complete unit of its own Ail’ Force in service in the European theatre of war. Members of the squadron are already in this country and are re- ■ cciving intensive training in air reconnaissance and the application to war purposes of the armament of the big Short Sunderland flyingboats, with which their unit has been equipped by the Commonwealth Government. The aircraft of the Coastal Command have flown approximately 2,500,000 miles on reconnaissance since the outbreak of war. Patrolling must be carried out in all weathers and the crews are often obliged to remain aloft a whole day. Always vigilant, they search the sea for U-boats and enemy warships and the air for hostile aircraft. They keep a watchful eye on British and neutral shipping and accompany British convoys for hundreds of miles on their way along the trade routes of the world. The Royal Australian Air Force is well acquainted with the problems of overseas navigation and reconnaissance. though the Australians now here will be flying in conditions new to them. The Sunderland flying-boats, with which they are equipped, are formidable aircraft, specially suited to long range reconnaissance work over the sea. The standard armament of the Sunderland is powerful and comprehensive for both defence and attack. This high-wing monoplane weighs over twenty tons yet, with a wing area of more than 1,500 square fee, the aircraft has exceptional lift and can take oft’ in 33 seconds. Four Bristol Pegasus XX radial engines develop 3,360 horse-power. There is a crew of six, but the aircraft can carry more than 20 people in addition.