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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 1003.PDF
AIRCRAFT ENGINEER FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE W>RLD •• FOUNDED WO9 Editor C. M. POULSEN Managing Editor G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. Chief Photographer JOHN YOXALL > Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices.- DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I Telegrams : Truditur, Sedist, London, COVENTRY : 8-10, CORPORATION ST. Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry Telephone: Coventry 5210, BIRMINGHAM, 2 : GUILDHALL BUILDINGS, NAVIGATION ST. Telegrams; Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone: Midland 2971 (5 lines). Telephone: Waterloo 333J (35 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 : GLASGOW, C.2 : 260, DEANSGATE Telegrams: Iliffe, Manchester. Telephone: Blackfriars 4412. 26B. RENFIELD ST. Telegrams: lliffe, Glasgow. Telephone: Central 4857. Registered at the CP.Q. as a Newspaper. No. 1847. Vol. XLV. May 18th, 1944. Thursdays, One Chilling 'We Outlook Our New Transports O F the statements made by Lord Beaverbrook in the air debate in the House of Lords last week, the one which gives Flight the greatest satisfac tion is the announcement of the Short Shetland. As m^ur readers will be well aware, we have been preaching the gospel of the flying boat in season and out for a great many years, and the stony silence maintained, so far as Government spokesmen were concerned, on the important subject of flying boats has recently caused considerable anxiety. That Lord Beaverbrook should have announced that there is a flying boat on the way was welcome. Even more welcome was the statement that it is likely to fly within a few weeks. That, in our view, is far more important than the fact that the machine is not yet in production. The building of a prototype, and especially one as large as the Shetland must obviously be, is a lengthy business. Many of the parts ha\re to be "hand-made,", and evidently during the war the number of people who can be put on to the work must be limited, both in the drawing office and in the works. But the very fact that Shorts have been able to get the machine within a few weeks of flying augurs well for the future —not too distant one hopes—when a proper production line can be started. No data relating to the Shetland have been officially released in this country, but some time ago an Australian journal, the Air Log, conjectured that the Shetland will be in the ioo-ton class, with a range of 3,000 miles and a cruising speed of 275 m.p.h. Our contemporary believes that "like the Bristol Brabazon it will have Centaurus engines—but only four of them." Without taking our contemporary's guesses too seriously, this brief specification does not sound too un reasonable. We should have thought 275 m.p.h. cruis ing speed a bit optimistic with four engines and 100 tons gross weight, but even something a good deal less than that would be very useful on many long-distance air routes. As to what the Handley Page civil version of the Halifax may be one can only guess. When the wing span was increased, in the Mark III, and Hercules engines fitted, there was a considerable increase in top speed and ceiling, so it is logical to assume that these features will be retained. The "commercial" fuselage, although it will probably be of greater cross-sectional area than that of the Halifax, may be expected to be of better aerodynamic shape, so that the performance should be good. The old H.P.42 (Hannibal class) in its day set a new standard in passenger comfort. It is a foregone conclu sion that the new Handley Page civil machine will uphold that tradition. That would scarcely be possible without a pressure cabin, and so one may safely assume that this very necessary aid to flying comfort will be incorporated in the design. Lord Beaverbrook's confirmation of the fact that De Havillands are to build one of the new civil types will cause general satisfaction. The De Havilland firm have always been specialists in commercial aircraft, so it was logical that there should be at least one D.H. type in the post-war programme. One may, perhaps, venture the guess that, since engines in the high-power class are already available from other firms, De Havillands will use their own engines. Some months ago it was an nounced that the firm has modernised the Gipsy Six and fitted it with a supercharger, so the logical deduction is that this type of engine, or a development of it, will be fitted. In view of the relatively low power, it would
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