Evening star., 1937-04-25

At Baltimore Glenn L. Martin no
Of flying boat which 1t Is believed may
approximate the size Of the Boeing.
Other manufacturers here and abroad
also are at work on large ships OF
various types.
The big bomber long has been
recognized by the Army as a neces-
sity. Efforts were made even during
the World War to produce giant
bombers, but they were not very sue
cessful, due to lack OF adequate power
and to lack OF such light, strong ma
terials as duralumin and light steel
tubing for construction.
The Army Air Corps now is en-
gagged in the service testing OF the
first Of 13 YB-l7 Boeing bombers.
Three of these 16-ton ships have
been delivered; they are regarded as
great advances in point Of size. Their
superiority was speedily eclipsed by
the XB-15, which, as its number indi-
Gates, actually was started earlier
than the smaller ship.
There now is expected to be an
other of those periods of stabilization
while the aviation world becomes
familiar with the new air giants OF
both land and sea types. But the
development of larger aircraft by no
means has ceased Col. Edgar s..
Gorrell, president Of the Air Trans
port Association, has forecast the day
of the 125-ton flying boat, and engi-
neers and designers already are at
work on preliminary studies OF ships
exceeding the 50ton maximum OF the
immediate future.
New Super Clippers.
The Boeing super-clippers are built
around an entirely new l,500-horse-
power engine just completed by the
Wright Aeronautical Corp.--larger
airplanes as q rule have followed en-
CINE trends. While the super-clippers
will follow as to type the general lines
of the Sikorsky and Martin clippers
which now fly the Pacific and the
Caribbean, they will be twice the size
OF the Sikorskys and half again as big
as the Martins.
They are, Pan-American officials
say, monoplane flying boats with
about the biggest wing and the fattest
hull you've ever visualized to date. y
They are blunt-nosed and the wing is
so big it has a companionway running
almost its full length in which q man
can walk Mechanics can get to the
entire mechanical plant and to each OF
the four engines from the inside of the
wing during fight.
Gasoline tanks for tons Of fuel are
arranged in that small section of the
wing behind the companionway and
-utside the center section-another
indication Of size. There are quarters
for the captain inside the center Sec
ton of the wing.
There are three decks, as has been
explained in news stories, but here Is
a little new detail Of the top deck ar
rangement: Forward on this deck is
the flight bridge, with posts for four
flying ohcers-senior pilot. junior
pilot, radio officer and junior flight
on6cer. AL four are qualified pilots
under the Pan-American crew plan
Immediately aft Of the flight bridge
is the navigator's compartment, which
has q turret opening topeide, from
which unobstructed star and SUI
sights may be obtained. Next is tn,
captains cabin; he has an Office all t.
! hin, Golf Thop tLoro 20 1iyipo o,,o ~ q ~
for the flight crew. who have a spe
cial galley of their own. Aft of al
this and in the wing itself is a cargt
compartment for 5000 pounds of mail
express and baggage. Actually, thi
space measures the same as the enttr
cabin space in one of the big Dougla
DC-2 air transport planes.
Private State Rooms.
And, by way of additional detail, OF
the passenger deck there are privat
state rooms in the nose and tail, witt
running water and other steamship
oonveniences. Att Of the forwar,
state rooms are the regular passen
ger cabins, then . dining and loung
cabin. There Is Of course galley TO
real cooking, since this ship Is de
signed to carry u passengers. Tn
lounge, 1t Is said, will be big enough
to accommodate q brass band and
crew doing the Virginia reel"
The lower deck, or hold, wner
heavy cargo will be slowed, is serie
OF water-tight compartments, and i
the big sea wings or sponsors ther
are tanks for an additional tons Q
fuel.
Pan-American has ordered six Q
these giant flying boats and 26 of tn
new engines to power them and pro
vide q small reserve. The first Q
these ships, after Is months of de
velopment work, is on the major as
sembly line and Is expected to be fly
ing by early Fall.
SERVICE testing of the YB-1
bombers has been intrusted to tn
famous I'd Bombardment Group
Langley Field, Va. During . perio'
Of two weeks following delivery of tn
first two Of these big four-engine,
bombers they were flown e total o
l4l hours so minutes, including
hours 80 minutes at night. Machine
gun firing was carried on with 80 ant
so caliber guns from all stations
Bombing was carried on from alti
tudes of 5000 to 5000 feet, an,
aerial photography was employed t.
record bomb hits. Performance
flights have been made on one, two
three and four engines.
The flying fortress" as tn
YB-17s have been popularity known
have made landings at March, Barks
dale, Maxwell, Pope. Langley, New
Boiling, Old Boiling, Phillips ant
Mitchell Fields, in the District Of Co
lumbia and seven States.
In addition to Majs Barney M. Gile
and Caleb v. Haynes, who few tn
first two It's from Seattle to Langle,
Field. the following officers OF the 2nt
Bombardment Group already hav
been qualified as pilots: Col. Rober
| OldS, CaptS. E. r. McRevnolds and e