The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1919-07-04
WORLDS GREATEST
AIRSAIP COMPLETED
speeding at 80 Miles Per
Hour Will Carry 81
Passengers
tBy Forbes W. Fsirbairn.)

air at ninety miles an hour! That's
the record designed to be achieved
by Brltain's newest master of the
air-the Tarrant triplane-which was
wrecked on its maiden trip, causing
the death of one. II is a monster
airship-the worlds largest-and
was designed by w. c. Tarrant and
constructed by the Tarrant Aircraft
Company, of Surrey.
IL really is flying giant It's d.
mansions are greater than any yet
attempted for heavier-than-air craft.
Originally designed to bomb Berlin,
and any other cities scheduled for
similar greeting, IL was converted in
q a peace carrier. Why the great
plhne wrecked itself is a matter still
puzzling the experts. But the expert
ment will not be abandoned.
Ninety-two passengers will be car
ried by this monster in flight. II
stSnds thirty-seven feet above the
ground. II reminds the spectator of
various things-a huge fowl, a sub
marine, an Atlantic liner and a fly
ing machine. Its fusilage is seventy
six feet long, and the interior has not
a single wire or span to obstruct the
view. Looking at IL from the front,
the three tiers of wide spans of wings
might stand for three decks of an
ocean liner.
Two OF these giants we're under
construction by the air ministry dur
ing the last months of the war. Each
would have dropped sixteen bombs of
40 pounds weight. Three and one
half tons of explosives in one single
release OF the bomb-rack lever That's
the fate the armistice saved Ger
many's capital.
The triplane has an advantage over
the biplape, insofar as 1t economies
on the spread of wings. The span of
the largest plane of the Tarrant ma
chine is 1871 feet, which in itself in
wolves a very considerable strain on
the joints To gain the L.. obtained
by three planes out of two only, the
span would have TO be increased to
III feet. To drive this great bird
there are six engines which develop
~ the aggregat, 5000 horsepower.
The fusilage when converted to peace
usage was sixteen feet wide, as
against the original width of ten feet
II has been possible to gain all nee
e3eary strength in the fusilage with
oW the use of any cross-supporters
or struts. Circular girder rings
spaced between with longerons run
ming the entire length of the body to
the work, and there is a clear walk
terror. Seats for two pilots are rails
ed well within the nose, advanced II
feet before the planes and the propel-
lers, thus giving an unrestricted
view. For fighting purposes each pi-
lot would have had a light machine
gun by his side. A gun pit advanced
still further into the nose has ac-
commodation for two more guns, and
gun stations are made on the top
wing to fire over the tail, and below
to fire under the tail. Altogether
eight guns would have been carried
on the raids during the war.
Immediately behind the pilots
seats is an engineers room. Here are
the various levers and mechanism for
working the engines. The engineer
can take vocal instructions from the
pAots in starting, the pilots by this
method being left free TO control the
flying, However, they exercise a
master control over the engines and
have levers by which the throttle can
- separately adjusted. The engi-
nsers room is very cramped, thanked
as 1t is by the main gasoline tanks
with others overhead, Their COM
bined capacity is 500 gallons. Sup
Elementary tanks were to have been
fitted for the Atlantic flight The
average speed with six engins going
was designed to keep a maximum of
ninety miles an hour.
The triplane is too huge an affair
TO be hauled out of its hanger by
ordinary means, and the weight rests
on trucks running on a special line
out to the flying ground from which
IL takes off.
Apart from the immense spread of
the planes, the most imposing feature
of the giant are the engines. Four
of the propellers are two-bladed 70
foot tractor screws, arranged two in
line between the middle and lower
and middle and upper planes respec-
lively. The other two are at the
back Of the planes and are four-blad-
ed propellers Of ten feet in diameter
The starting system Is operated from
the engineers compartment. The
depth of the plane Is 10 feet inches