Smyrna times., 1935-10-17
ENROPEN
FLYING BOATS
United States FOrges Ahead
With Larger and Better
Craft for Defense
BOATS FOR ENGLAND

NdshinSlOn.-Bdck Dy large gov
ernment subsidies aircraft fac
tories in Great Britain, France,
Germany and Italy are busily at
work on huge flying boats aimed at
catching up in the race for over
ocean trade routes of the air which
the American system, Pan Amer
lean Airways, now dominates.
There is rivalry between the Eu-
ropean countries themselves, but all
are bent upon a race with Ameri-
can aviation in the field of over
seas flying in which the big Clip
per ships constructed in this coun-
try are now far in the van.
Few details of specifications on
foreign boats have been allowed
to leak through the Gordon of mill
tary secrecy. Those craft that have
reached the flying stage, however,
have fallen far below the perform
ance of the American ships. Great
Britain, for example, started the
testing Of the first of her four
engined flying boats of new con
struction on a flight by easy stages
from Plymouth to Singapore. Pre-
liminary test flights of the Short
Brothers craft showed that in eff
cheney it did not compare with the
Sikorsky and Martin Clippers built
here.
New Boats for England.
Construction has therefore been
begun by the air ministry for I'm
perial Airways Of two six-engined.
35-ton flying boats for the domina-
tion of the transatlantic route to
America. One of these ships Is
being built by Short Brothers and
the other by Blackburn Ltd.
The French have had preliminary
hard luck with the first of their
ocean-going giants to be flown, the
37-ton Lieutenant de Vaisseau Paris.
Powered with six 9S0-horsepower
engines, this boat was constructed
inland and then hauled to the sea
in order to better preserve the Sc
crets Of its construction details and
spring a surprise when it went into
service for Air France.
The Pan American Clipper has
twice crossed the Pacific, 2,41O
miles between California and Ha-
wall at an average speed of 1856
miles an hour and had sufficient
gasoline in the tanks at either end
for an additional 800 miles.
While the first of the three big
Martin boats being built at Balti-
more for the American airline
weighs 26 tons as against the 81
of the vaisseau Paris, it can carry
as great a passenger. mail and ex-
press load over ranges of 1000
miles and transport them nearly so
miles an hour faster and at one
third of the estimated cost per
mile. The Martin. which will have
speed trials in the next week or
so, has already made $50 miles an
hour in tests over Chesapeake bay.
Italy Holds Speed Records.
Details of Germany's Dornier Wal
boats for the South Atlantic serv-
ice, except those comparatively
small types which have been using
the steamer Westfalen as a mid
ocean base, are unavailable here.
Little more about Italy's big boats
is available. 1t is known, however.
that within the past year Premier
Mussolini welded into one operat-
ing unit, government owned, all
operating airlines under the Ital-
ian flag for the acknowledged pur-
pose of a unified drive for a dom
ainant place in the 100000 miles of
organized airways which now link
the outposts of the world.
Under the impetus of this move
Italy has already achieved worlds
records for aircraft speed and dis
tance. The lessons learned from
the smaller aircraft making these
records are said to be incorporated
in long-range flying boats now un-
der construction. Two of them are
four-engined of 1900 horsepower
zach