The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-05-26

Royal Air Force made this impossible
as an oficial exploit, and now the giant
bomber 10 entered on the private initia-
tive Of her builders. II u hence possible
now to give details Of the big plane.
which have hitherto been withheld.
She 10 the largest flying machine Of
her class In the world. with q wing
spread Of 127 feet, wing breadth ofN2
feet, her length Of body 10 feet and her
plane surface 5000 square feet. giving
her q lifting power Of s.s per square
foot. Her unloaded weight is $4,000
pounds and when ready to start she will
weigh sixteen tons.
AZ originally designed for q bomber
she could carry 1.iso gallons OF petrol. q
200 pound. wireless set, t.e4o pounds Of
bombs, twelve machine guns weighing
| 1877 pounds, and q crew Of seven men
Weighing 1900 pounds With this load
she made ninety miies an hour during =
test in England. On another test abe
carried hfty-one passengers by elimi-
mating her war material and reducing
the crew to four.
Machine Has -Four Propelisrs. >
As she 10 at present being rugged she
| will have n petrol capacity OF about
2.36s gallons. giving her a possible
flight duration OF twenty-five hours
without stopping. Flying at 10000 feet
she consumes 100 gallons Of petrol per
hour. giving her an ample margin for
the flight from this coast to Ireland.
She Is OF the biplane type. with one
plane above and one below her body.
The greatest gap between wings Is fif-
| teen feet six inches. The fuselage at its
greatest depth Is eight feet deep by six
feet wide, covered with airplane, fabric
In composition with the best irish linen
| used. The body Is painted a war brown
and Is fitted with four Rolls -ftoyce
! twelve cylinder engines Of 400 horse
power each. designated as o. the Eagle
s" type. She has two four blade pro-
peliers as pushers and two two bIaded
as tractors. Beneath her will be two
undercarrIages with four wheels each,
set twenty-five feet apart. The tires
are OF the best rubber and their buoy
ancy is said to be sufficient to sustain
the weight Of the engines in the water.
With the wireless equipment on board
1t Is expected TO maintain communica-
ton with Glace Bay and Sayville until
half way across. where Poldhu and Cliff
den on the Irish coast will be picked up.
The work of erecting the plane Is un.
| der the direction Of Col. Stedman, de.
! tailed from the active list for this pur-
pose. During the war he served In the
same squadron with Major Brackley
the pilot, and Major Gran. the engineer
| He does not expect the plane to be
| erected before June IL. A trial Night
will be made as soon after the plane Is
ready as a wind suitable for the take
of may be blowing. Col Stedman said
that the plane can take of in any vino
with arlight load. After this first trial
| Night another will be made with the full
capacity load, and II difficulty In risins
calls for pairing this load II will be cul
doyn. with gasolene the last item to b,
! reduced.
other Craft Much Smaller.
Gasoline Ia considered tho most TN
portant item in the load. as head windi
may delay the flight once II 10 started
and all the fuel possible will be carried
! Emergency food rations. including water
and other drinks will be carried to las
seventy"two hours.
TheNickers Vimy assembling here car
carry only SCI gallons OF petrol; tn,
Sopwith had q capacity OF only $50 gal.
Ions. and the Martinsyde can carry only
307 gallons. with which she found q
difficult TO take or last Sunday TIL.
comparison shows the great differenc.
between the Handley Page and the othel
entrants for the contest here, and Il,
comparison Is apparently In favor OF tn,
Handley Page
When the Handley Page starts from
Harbor Grace she will be the bes
|