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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 0646.PDF
MARCH 7, 1940 "... the Ensign was flying way back in 1938." and Navy Register of January 20, 1940. What does it say? No, it cannot be true! Is there a misprint? It clearly states in a summary of the 25th annual N.A.G.A. report that the Americans are going to set up an engine research committee; it says that '' the committee wishes to call attention to the fact that the reason for foreign leadership in certain military types of aircraft is due in part to the superiority of foreign liquid-cooled engines." Fancy that! There's an interesting clue. Wonder why that wasn't in the newspapers? Of course, you can't expect the Americans to cable that sort of stuff across, but are there no British correspondents in America? Are they dumb? Don't they know their stuff? Not-so-New Here's an interesting bit: The Extraordinary Case of the Better-Late-Than-Never Aircraft. All about the new DG-4 airliner. An order for 39 of them! Big stuff, that. Now let us see, the DC-4 can hardly be truly new, even if it is so described. It is mentioned in Jane's, 1936, which covers 1935. The Americans say it was originally announced as a 52-passenger airliner grossing 66,500 lb. On this basis it received world-wide publicity. Yet here it is again, popping up in American Aviation, in November, 1939, and subsequently, as scaled down to 40 passengers by day and 20 by night. The new bunch ordered are to be delivered in the spring of 1941. Subtract 1935 from 1941; that gives six years. Now, can we recall the Armstrong-Whitworth Ensign Class airliners? Yes, the Ensign was the machine concerning which an almighty howl went up in certain smart Alec quarters because its production was delayed by what is now recognised as war priority work of vital importance. Still, it was flying way back in 1938 in regular service, carrying 40 passengers and a crew of five. As far as is known, no war priority delayed the DC-4. Wonder what is being said in those quarters that bayed about the Ensign ? There's a missing clue worth following up! 50—5,000— 5,000—300 Here's a world-beater. It's big. It's fruity. It's a riot. It says plainly in American Aviation, in January, 1940, that according to testimony given by Mr. Juan Trippe, president of Pan American Airways, at a Civil Aeronautics Authority hearing in Washington on January 3, that " a 'plane which will carry a minimum of 50 passengers and 5,000 lb. of mail and express, has a range of 5,000 miles and cruise at 300 m.p.h., may be put in service by P.A.A. in three years." The italics are mine. The modest word " may " is the president's. To prophesy may be rash, but it is suggested that every editor who has given publicity to this statement should receive from the "president a big box of good Havana cigars if a machine having these characteristics is flying in service on Pan American Airways by January 3, 1943. Include me in on this, Mr. President. On the other hand, it is suggested a bigger box of cigars goes to all those editors who haven't given it publicity and who find, on Janu- ary 3, 1943, that their pessimism was not unjustified. Furthermore, an even bigger box of cigars should go to those who have now given the statement publicity and who will later produce a per- fectly plausible excuse if the date line is passed with negative re- sult. It is not absolutely impos- "... the record-breaking featsof the Wellesley ..."
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