ALONG THE SKYWAYS

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19899, 30 May 1936, Page 26 (Supplement)

ALONG THE SKYWAYS

PROGRE§§ IN AVIATION

AMAZING PERFORMANCE —- SINGLE-ENGINED BOMBER. MOST FORMIDABLE AIRPLANE. A. closely kept secret till a few days ago, the most. formidable singleengined bomber m the world has now been demonstrated in flight before aeronautical experts, to whom has been revealed something of its amazing qualities. The machine, a low'wing monoplane designed and built Iby the Fairey company, has been or-

dared in large numbers by the Air Ministry for the equipment of “at‘ tack” squadrons of the Royal All.“ Force. Delivery 'to the Service is expected to begin in the summer. Its Service name is “Battle.” No details of the Battle's performance may yet be published, but I am able to state that in slightly over ten minutes the new bomber could fly from the Fairey aerodrome at Heathrow, near London, to the south coast —a. distance of between 45 and 50 miles. Flight Lieutenant C. S. Staniland, the company’s chief test pilot, showed that with speed the aeroplane combines great power and ease of manoeuvre. Even when full allowance is made for the light load on

board, the perfect loops, rolls, halfrolls, tight vertical turns, and figures of eight through which the Battle evolved must remain a performance worthy of the highest praise. Many of those who watched wondered how far flying of this order could be countered in aerial combat even by . the latest and most powerful fighters. The Battle has a retractile undercarriage and derives power from a Rolls-Royce Merlin liquid—cooled en—gine—a new unit of relatively small icylindrical capacity but giving an

»ulput much higher than any engine .'ni in service with the Royal Air "nrre. A li‘airey metal airscrew with kin-e fixed blades is fitted in the “pro— i .-ul_vpc" Battle. but the Merlin motor ':m be fitted with a controllable—pitch l firscrcw~aerial equivalént of thel gearbox of an automobile—if I‘B-1 ~Hired. From tip to top the wings of the 'lultle span 5.1 feet. It is an inch r two more than 42 feet in length ‘.llll stands some 13 feet in height on :‘uc ground. In flight the landing heels and struts are drawn up into l-cesses within the wings. Take-off hl landing are helped by flaps fitted ‘l the trailing edge of the cantilever 'inzs. An automatic pilot is in:allcd to help the human pilot on ~ng flights and when flying in conilions of “zero visibility"—-clouds, fist or darkness. The cockpit is ex.niionally roomy with comfortable -:1l.~' for pilot and observer; it is )::lll_V enclosed by a tunnel-shaped up made of tough, transparent ..lvrial. which can be opened partly ~ wholly as lhc circumstances of ial combat nr bombim,r attack may '.unmnil. ’l‘hc bomb~load is carried in pscial compartments within the stiurturi- of the aeroplane and does nut. tncrcl'urc. dctrnct from performance by adding to the head resistance of ihc inarhiuc. “Stressed Skin" Construction. Stools and light alloys are the only materials USL‘d in the construction of the Battle, except for the fabric covvrinm. ul‘ ruildrr, ailerons and ele~ Vaturs. The wings have a stressed metal skin which carries an important proportion of the loads and stresses imposed in flight. The fuselage is monocoque, a metal shell devoid of internal bracing struts that might hamper internal accommodation. Interesting are the precautions taken to ensure that the undercarriage is completely locked down for landing. As the pilot throttles back ihc engine, the word “Wheels” appears in lights on the dashboard and an cloctl'ic horn is sounded. Immed~ iati'ly the pilot releases the under~ inirriuui- llii- hurn cram-s in Mn“. and tho wm-il "\\‘liccls" disapopurs and is rcplaccil by n l'l‘ll light which changes to crown \\‘lu-n lhc umlcrcarriage is lnrlwd ready for landing: Al'lcr takeull' :1 roll llK'llL appears to warn the pilot if ihc umlcrcarriauo has not fully lnckvd homo in the _“up"'posilion. Thu m'crnll lim‘s of lhc Battle arc hmuiifully smooth and spnak in tho rxperl. oyv of high ammlynainii-nl ullicmncy and grout speed. i\‘o ex-

crescence breaks the airflow over the structure into serious “drag” produc» mg eddies; the cockpit roof is of fine streamline form and the ethylene—glycol cooling radiator under the belly of the machine is extremely small and well planned. The nose of the fuselage fits snugly around the compact power—plant and ends in a point—ed spinner over the boss of the airscrew. Heavy Bomber. Another of the new aeroplanes which will assure the high technical excellence of the expanded rßoyal Air Force is t}... Armstrong Whitworth \Vhitley heavy bomber, which is now going through its flying trials. This is a big cabn monoplane with the wings attached low on the fuselage and powered with two Siddeley Tiger air-cooled radial engines. The under» carriage is retractile. Like the Battle, the Whitley is built entirely in metal, except for the fabric coverings of relatively unstressed components. and the fuselage is of monocoque form. Five stations are provided for the members of the crew, two of Whom

aré pilots. The second pilot acts as naxigator.

Three enclosed gun-turrets are fitted to defend the Whitley against the attacks of fighter aeroplanes. One is located in the extreme nose of the fuselage, a second in the tail between the twin rudders, and the third amid~ ships in a position from which the zone of fire downwards is unrestrict~ ed. No performance figures may yet be announced, but it is known that the Whitley shows a great advance on any heavy bombers yet; in‘ service. The Bristol monoplane medium bomber, to which Sir Philip Sassoon, Under—Secretary of State for Air, referred in glowing terms last week. has been officially named ”Blenheim," unwilling: perhaps the irreatccst Victory of the man whom many students of war rank as England’s greatest captain—the Duke of Marlborough. Large numbers of Blcnhciuis arc in course of construction. This is the bomber which was developed from the civil transport monoplane built for Lord Rothermere: in trial flights the civil model proved itself to be at least fifty miles an hour faster than any comparable twin-engined transport then in existence. Answers to Correspondents. "Simer—Fixl‘}:"—l have been waitins for some time for the announcement as to which country secured the Belgian contract and no definite advice has yet come to hand. I believe that the final choice was be—tween United States and France. The Fairy “Fantomes” are not now in production and none have been supplied to the R.A.F. as no valid reason for the crash of this machine in the Belgian trials has been found. As soon as definite information in reference to your first question comes to hand I will publish it in these columns.