Evening star., 1943-06-07
S-Engine Flying Boat
OF Kaiser and Hughes
IoCarry Colon Cargo
owl Reports Air Giont
Will Be 2l8 Feet Long,
With 320-Ft. Winespreod
By the Associated Press.

boat which Henry J. Kaiser and
Howard Hughes are building on the
West Coast will be an all-plywood
craft powered by eight engines and
capable Of carrying 60 tons OF cargo.
These and other details about the
plane, reputed to be the largest air.
craft under construction anywhere,
were disclosed yesterday by the
ONCE of War Information in an air
transport report covering planes al
ready in operation and in various
stages Of development.
Ofhciaily designated as the HK-l,
the flying boat will have a gross
weight of 100000 pounds. Other
details as reported by OWL:
Fuel capacity, 5000 gallons; aver
age cruising speed. l74 miles an
hour: Widespread, 800 feet; length,
2l8 feet
BY way of contrast, the two
engine DC-3, widely used bv air
lines and the military services. has
a Widespread of 1913 feet, length
64i-a feet,
Some Testing Begun.
The horsepower of the flying
boats engines was not specified
Static testing of some sections of
the air leviathan has begun, but
Owl gave no indication how soon
the craft will be ready for flight
tests. 1t is being built under con-
tract to the Defense Plant Corp, a
subsidiary of the RFC. The con-
tract calls for three planes. Whether
more will be built presumably de-
pends on the outcome of flight tests
The report also gave considerable
detail about the Lockheed Constel-
1ation ,C-69p. originally designed as
long-ranee passenger transport
and now being tested as troop
carrier
Equipped with four 2,20O- horse
power engines, the Constellation
has a pressureized cabin for flying
above 10000 feet. Average cruising
speed is 255 miles at sea level, in
creasing to 300 at 10000 feet
With a gross weight of 1880
pounds and fuel capacity of 1900
gallons, the Constellation is de-
signed to carry 55 passengers, at
attitudes Of 10000 to $4,000 feet, at
higher speed than is reached by
Japanese Zero pursuit plane
The Constellation. largest Ameri-
can land plane vet built, will oper-
ate at $4,000 feet with three en-
eines, and at $500 feet with only
two.
Mars Converted for Cargo.
The Martin Mars Flying Boat
Navy JRM-1, described as prob
ably the largest aircraft in exist
ence, has been converted for cargo
use, with loading track and large
matches. Owl disclosed. The Mars
originally was built as Navy pa
troll bomber. 1t has four 18-cylin-
der Wright engines of "over 2000-
horsepower" each. 3-bladed pro-
pellers, and gross weight of 100000
pounds. Fuel capacity is about
tank-car load" Widespread, 200
feet; length. 1T feet inches.
Two relative newcomers, designed
for commercial passenger operation
but diverted to military use before
being used commercially, are the
Curtiss- Wright Commando.
The Skymaster army C-54 As
passenger transport: C-54A as cargo
carrier: Navy, R5DD, is more than
twice as large as the DC-3 and was
designed to carry 40 passengers in
commercial operations up to 1000
miles. 1t now carries 26 on over
seas flights. 1t will carry 81 hos
pital litters. or light tank. or a
heavy truck.
Carries Seven Ton Cargo.
The four-engine Skymaster with
an average cruising speed of 200
miles, has cargo capacity of seven
tons. gross weight Of $1,000 pounds,
and fuel capacity of 3700 gallons
The DC-4 is considered to be the
most efficient plane for over 1900
mile and transoceenic operations"
Owl said. 1T is supplanting the
C-87 Liberator Express, as a long
range cargo and passenger carrier"
The Commando tC-46l nov is
considered the most efficient two
engine cargo carrier for hops under
1900 miles" OWL said. It carries
40 paratroops, or several jeeps. or
two light tanks of 1000 pounds each.
Equipped with Pratt g. Whitney
2,o00-horsepower engines the Com
mando has pay load capacity of
10000 pounds on 1,000-mile fight.
Among the planes being fight
tested by the CurlisS- Wright Cara
van (C-76o. constructed entirely of
plywood and designed primarily for
short-route cargo operations Sub
contractors helping to build this two
engine plane include a Virginia
plastics firm, piano company in
Ohio, and Kentucky plant which
has manufactured tobacco hogs
heads, Army hunks and truck bodies.
Planes listed as mot yet in the
f1ight-test stage" included the
Waco C-62. an atwood, two-engine
plane of $500 pounds gross weight,
and the Fairchild C-82, part metal.
50,000-pound cargo plane with
rear door that car be lowered as a
ramp and with an interior hoist.
Charles Fish Howell Dies;