Evening star., 1942-07-21
u. 5. 10 Build 1000
Bombers Monthly for:
Raj, Jane Says
Aircraft Yearbook Stutes
Standardization Of
Design Is in Sight
By the Associated Press.

OeSI9n IS IN Sl9nf
By the Associated Press.
LONDON, July 21.-The United
States is planning to build 1000
four -motored bombers' each month
for the Raj, said Sir Charles Bruce
Gardner in the 1912 edition of
James All the Worlds Aircraft"
authoritative year book on fighting
and civilian planes, published yes
terday.
Many of the big bombers will be
Liberators Consolidated B-24s) and
Flying Fortresses (Boeing B-17s)
said Sir Charles, who is chairman
OF the Society Of British Aircraft
Constructors.
He added that the ideal Of stand
ardized Anglo-American military
airplanes EN- b dying the best
thought of the two nations" was in
sight and that the battle between
the Allies and the Axis for superior
combat ceiling for their warplanes
was progressing favorably.
New Allied fighters have greater
f1repower. better armor, higher
speed and higher service ceiling"
the expert asserted.
Military secrecy kept details Of
many of the newest Allied fighters
and bornbers out of the year book,
which is completely edited for the
first time by Leonard Bridgeman,
former co-editor.
Battle for Altitude Continues.
c. G. Grey, the other co-editor,
resigned after the 1910 edition be-
cause of remarks he made criticizing
Americas measures to support
Britain, remarks which he later ex-
planned were aimed at American
isolationists.
Reviewing the war in the air, the
new volume reveals that until jan
uary l, 1912, the RAF had shot
down 8,574 Axis planes with a loss
of 3,692 Of its own, and that the
British fighter command, auxiliary
anti-aircraft and balloon defenses
had accounted for 1894 Axis air.
craft over Britain in 1941. British
planes lost over Britain in 1941
numbered $50.
The next step in the battle for
altitude was seen In descriptions OF
leading fighter types.
Germany's potent Focke-Wulf 100
was credited with speed OF 370
miles per hour at 1000 feet with a
ceiling Of 10000 feet, the highest Of
any fighter listed by the manual.
Britains Spitfire v, which is
faster than the original Spitfire's
3s7 miles per hour, is now armed
with two o-millimeter cannon and
four machine guns. Its ceiling was
not disclosed.
The Whirlwind, Britain's new two
motored day and night fighter, has
an armament Of four 20-millimeter
Oerlikon cannon and IS credited "by
enemy sources" with speed Of 353
miles per hour at 16, 400 feet.
Details of new American aircraft
in the fight for height are even
more scarce.
Thunderbolt Heavily Armored.
Tie Thunderbolt (Republic P-47B)
fighter, pride uf the United States
Army Air forces, is heavily armored,
has bulletproof fuel tanks and car
ries powerful armament Of large and
small caliber machine guns" the
year book said.
The United States Curtiss P-40F,
which is powered by British-pat-
ented Rolls Royce Merlin engines,
made by Packard in the United
States, was said to have increased
speed and climb" and an increase
In nrepower Of over $50 per cent
over the original P-40."
The Hawker Hurricane. Britains
jack of all trades in the air, is now
the heaviest gunned fighter In action
on the air fronts Of the world, the
volume asserts. The Hurricane IL
carries either IL Browning 1903
machine guns firing 13,200 rounds
per minute or four Oerlikon 20
millimeter cannon firing 2,400 rounds
per minute. When used as fighter
bomber it carries 500 pounds Of ex-
plosives.
The Hurricane, like the Spitfire
and ThunderbQlt, promise increased
performance" In the next six months,
James said.
Details Of Russian Planes Skinny.
Details on the air force OF Soviet
Russia were extremely skinny, oc-
cupying only page and a half,
compared to 103 pages devoted to
United States war and civil aircraft.
Specifications OF Russia's famed
Stormovik, used for ground attack
and anti-tank attack, are absent,
but James says the plane is armed
with two cannon and two machine
guns. The Soviet's 1-18 fighter,
credited with a speed of 800 miles
per hour, makes its first appearance
in the yearbook.
Japanese military and naval air
craft described in the book are all
old well-known types. OF the
Mitsubishi Zero fighter James says
! mo punlishable details are avail
able"
Two oddities of the aerial war are
noted. One Is the Northrop flying
wing" Of which James said i'm
mediate development is likely to be
within the military field." The other
IS Italys Caproni-Campini mono
plane which Italian dispatches re-
ported January /. 194l. was flown