The Babe and the Freighter From Our Aviation Correspondent Sufficient time has not yet elapsed to give designers a {full opportunity to bring to perfection passenger carrying machines, but manufacturers are forging ahead in the making of types. useful for commercial purposes.
The passenger carrying planes, with an, average speed of "112 mph. are the most luxurious of all so far. The very latest ones have seating capacity for 14-20 passengers who obtain an excellent view of the country over which they are passing through triplex windows in the side of the machine. There is a luggage department and the usual cofflees The cabins are luxuriously upholstered and eleetically heated for the winter. They are driven by multiple engines, carried well forward in the bone of the machine and out of the way of the passengers. In the event of one engine failing completely the machine can fly on the other at_a reduced speed.
In lieu of passengers the freight machines carry the useful load of 3,000 Ib. with petrol for a cruise of eight hours Naturally such big planes are more useful when engaged on long distance For tHe Bustxess Man.
The business man's bus is prob: ably the 2-seater type of the smaller and swifter machine—a machine that can be landed on an ordinary football field—with all the comforts of a limousine, together with a useful carrying load of 300 Ib Such a machine is capable of a speed of 120 m.p-h., and is in every way most suitable for representatives who wish to cover wide markets in a minimum of time. For interport. mail service these types are available with a loading capacity of 900 Ib. and require only one pilot to operate them. Their dimensions are length 12ft; height Sft.; and a wing span of 25 ft.
For a good, "sporty." single seater bus there are many varieties, one of the best being the Bristol Babe. She is a serious attempt to provide the small compact, handy and inexpensive machine, having maximum speed of 80 mp-h., and a landing speed of 40 m.p-h. So easy are her controls that one can fly this machine after an hour's instruction. The overall length is 16ft., with a height of only aft, and a wing span of 18ft., and a fuel consumption of only one gallon to 27 miles.
With such a field to choose from it will be seen that merchants and passengers alike have a good selection.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.