Abstract
THE first six of the twenty-nine big flying boats for Imperial Airways Ltd. are now nearing completion at Messrs. Short Bros.’ works at Rochester. The first should be ready during April, and it is hoped to deliver them at regular intervals, completing the order by the end of 1937. Their estimated cruising speed of more than 150 miles per hour will make practicable the promised seven day schedule from England to Australia, allowing the necessary halts for refuelling, with a reasonable time in hand for contingent delays. These new boats will also run on the Bermuda-New York service, in co-operation with the U.S.A. Pan-American Airways, and it is understood that one will be specially fitted for the long-range direct Atlantic flights. They are to be fitted with four Bristol ‘Pegasus' engines each of 900 horsepower, using Hamilton controllable-pitch airscrews. The standard form carries 650 gallons of fuel, which gives a range of 540 miles against a head wind of 40 miles per hour. This is considered to be sufficient for most of the Australian journey; but for longer stretches, such as the 1,200 mile crossing of the Tasman Sea to New Zealand, special fuel loads will be necessary, and a consequent adjustment in pay load made. In construction the boats are high-wing monoplanes of exceptionally clean lines. The engines are buried in the wings, and there are practically no excrescences creating drag or interference except the wing tip floats. The hull contains two decks with accommodation for the crew, twenty-four passengers with sixteen sleeping berths, and the usual freight space.
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Flying Boats for Empire Air-Routes. Nature 137, 390 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137390a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137390a0