GIANT AEROPLANES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLV, Issue 4004, 10 August 1915, Page 2

GIANT AEROPLANES.

HUGE BRITISH AIRSHIP BEING BUILT. Mr Tennant, replying to (Mr Joyn-son-flicks in the House of Commons, said it was universally admitted that the men of the air service were per--feet. That service stood in a very good proportion to the rest of the Army in point of numbers, and since the outbreak of war there, had been no loss expansion of the air service than there had boon in the rest of the Army. The extension of pilots had been in the proportion of ten to one. We hat} ten pilots now where wo had one before. The lion member spoke of the larger aeroplanes in use by Russia. Again he could reassure the House that the Government had in contemplation and in process of manufacture a similar article. lie. would not go into details. . In view of Mr Tennant’s statement that the British are building an aeroplane on the lines of the big Russian machine, details of this machine, known as the Sikorsky biplane, are ot interest.

It-is (lie largest heavier-thaii-air macli ino yet invented. it is the pioneer of the giant aeroplanes to which., in. the opinion of experts, the fntu.ro belongs. It has a wing -surface at least five times greater (ban that even of the- commodious Fannan biplane. Its steel frame is 22 yards long, its deadweight is over 3.1 .tons, and it can carry a “useful load’’ of over a ton. At least a quarter of a ton would consist of explosives, and nearly half a ton of fuel amt oil is carried. The space between the planes is Oft doep. The forepart of the machine consists of steel-walled cabins, extending over a length of about 30 feet. These cabins have large windows on each side like those of an omnibus, and are electrically lit at night. In cold weather they are heated through the exhaust. ‘Th » first Sikorsky macliino flow for an hour and a half, over St. Petersburg with sixteen passengers. Its normal crew is eight men. It was stated in 1914 that the Hessian Government had ordered five of these big biplanes. The Sikorsky machines have already figured in the war on the Eastern theatre, and there is reason to believe that the later biplanes are much more powerful and efficient than that which wo have described. As compared with a Zeppelin, the Sikorsky carries about a quarter or tlio amount -of explosives, and has-a much shorter range. It has the very great advantage, on the other hand, of being much cheaper, easier to build, less at the mercy of the elements, and a smaller target-.