Evening star., 1941-07-04

without increasing the tuel load.
2 A new landing gear which
would free bombers and interceptors
from dependence on prepared flying
fields.
The first is said to be fuel in
jector valve which has the property
of subdividing gasoline spray into
molecules instead of the present
clusters or drops" OF myriads Of
molecules in vaporiZed gas. The re-
sulting mixture is declared to have
twice the power of any now in use.
Details of the gadget are military
secrets as the Norden and
Sperry bomb sights we're. until it
was discovered that Nazi agents had
been employed for years in the
plants where they are manufac-
tured.
Little Known of Inventor.
All that can be learned about the
inventor is that he is a youthful
prodigy named John Tolman. and
that he lives in a Western State.
His device is reported TO have been
indorsed by the National Inventors
Council. together with a second one
designed to revolutionize the Ar,nys
water supply. The latter would sub
stitute filters of spun glass fiber for
the present cumbersome tanks of
sand and chloride.
The inventor of the new landing
gear, enabling airplanes to take off
and alight on average terrain, Is
John Walter Christie. veteran crea-
tor of the automotive fire engine,
modern battleship turret. motor ar
tillery platform and not only the
amphibian but the high-speed tank.
He is sometimes known as the
father of the blitzkrieg." In sup
port of that title it has been OBJ
served that the hosts of armored
vehicles, German and Soviet. now
graphing in Russia are all derived
from basic Christie patents. They
were stolen by German agents and
purchased by the Muscovites for
S35. 900.
This device is an extension OF
one of Mr.. ChristieS inventions.
1t has tank for attachment to the
under surface of an airplane, with
structure and landing gear power
full enough to let it be deposited
unchanged and ready to fight in
rough or stony fields at 80 miles an
hour. 1t occurred to Mr.. Christie
at least six months ago that the
same sort of landing gear trans
ferred to the airplane itself would
enable it to dispense with prepared
fields.
Advantages Declared Obvious.
The advantage of such an appli-
ance is obvious. For lack of time
to build flying fields the Germans
failed in their great air attack on
England in September. 1910. Their
pursuit planes were based so far
from the Channel they were un-
able to protect the bombardment
craft. More recently the Royal
Air Force was driven from Crete
because of inadequate fields.
So far as the writer can learn,
the Air Corps is still musing la
boriously over Mr.. Christie's. air.
plane landing gear and was goaded
into action regarding its parent in
vention, the flying tank, only few
days ago after months of ponder
Gus reflection through direct inter-
vention from the White House. But
private industry. as usual more en-
terprising than Government bu-
| reaucracies, is said to have taken
up the fieldless airplane. Word
comes that one big Eastern manu-
facturer is now building it.
Should Mr.. Tolman's injector valve
fulfill expectations, the new Doug
las 82-ton Biz, doubling its present
range of 1850 miles. could easily
fly from San Francisco to Toxic,
drop 18 tons of bombs and return
without refueling. The Boeing BIZ
Flying Fortress and the Consoli-
dated B-24. with a present range
of about 1000 miles. could make .
nonstop round trip, carrying 4 tons
of bombs each, from New York to