.What’s New in AVIATION
P-51 GETS A BOOST. When the Army recently experimented on a Mustang fighter (above), it installed two ram-let engines on its wing tips. The jets don’t start working until the P-51 hits 350 m.p.h.
Transportation
.Lifeboat Has Invisible Crew
FAR OUT AT SEA an Air Force plane crashes. Search planes head over the area, and the survivors are spotted in the water. Then an amazing series of electronic miracles begins.
From the rescue plane drops a lifeboat shaped like a fat cigar. A stabilizing fin on the stern keeps it level until a parachute opens.
.LARGEST SAILING SHIP IN THE WORLD
By VICTOR GUILLON
THE German ship R. C. Rickmers which recently discharged a cargo of 40,000 barrels of cement at San Pedro, California, is the largest sailing vessel in the world. Some of her principal dimensions are: Length of deck, 441 feet; beam, 53 feet; draft, loaded, 27 feet; displacement, to load water line, 11,360 tons; sail area, 50,000 square feet.
.How the Navy Trains Dirigible Pilots
by John L. Coontz
Uncle Sam is the only nation to systematically train pilots for giant military dirigibles like Los Angeles and Akron.
“WHAT on earth are those men doing?” exclaimed a visitor to the Lakehurst, N. J. naval air station, as he watched several groups of men manipulating as many balloons in an open field.
.Accounting Offices Drive Right Up to Your Door
Bookkeeping on wheels is the odd and profitable business that makes a good living for C. M. Harris, of Los Angeles, Calif. Harris owns a fleet of light trucks, each manned by an expert accountant and outfitted as a rolling office with a typewriter, calculator, bookkeeping machine, and other necessary office equipment.
.‘Dust Bowl’ Truck Has Air-Conditioned Cab
Not only the drivers but the Diesel engine itself breathes conditioned air in a truck built for travel through the “dust bowl” of Kansas and Colorado. Since comfort for the drivers during stifling dust storms was essential, a mechanical air conditioner was installed in the cab.
.SOS Detective…
Translating distress signals into beams of light, this Navy-developed rescue aid speedily plots the position of ships or planes in trouble at sea. Tiny camera projectors interpret bearings received from direction-finding stations; the intersection of their beams on the map indicates the position of the craft in distress. The dial above the chart automatically gives the course to the position.
.“Sea Water” Metal Used to Make Plane
Sea and air combine in a five-seater British personal plane made of magnesium alloy, an element extracted from sea water. Though the metal weighs less than the lightest aluminum, the wings in bending tests have withstood deflection five times greater than is required. Expected to fly over 200 m.p.h., the unorthodox craft was designed by an “amateur” who had never before worked around airplanes.
They sure liked the suffix -matic at the time. Liquamatic, Hydra-Matic, Turbo-matic, Electromatic, Simplimatic, and Vacamatic all appear in just this article.
.The Lowdown On 1942 Cars
Exactly What Have War Conditions And Shortages Done To Your 1942 Car? Here’s Detroit’s Answer To The Challenge.
by Frederick C. Russell
CALL them the 1942 cars if you like, but the glittering dreams that are rolling off the Detroit assembly lines along with tanks, bomber engines and the exciting implements of this bewildering era are, in reality, the latest models of American ingenuity.
.Canned Airplane
THE Navy has begun “canning” more than 2,000 surplus carrier and trainer aircraft, to preserve them in near fly-away condition for periods up to five years.
The “canning” process seals the complete planes, with wings folded, in metal containers constructed from 10-foot panels of corrugated steel.
In each “can” relative humidity is kept at 30 percent. Vapor-tight access doors afford entry for inspection, and glass windows allow easy reading of five instruments that indicate temperature and relative humidity.
