AERONAUTICS: Modern Mailplane

The British postal authorities are preparing specifications for an entirely new type of mailplane, embodying every improvement based on the last four years of commercial flying. The plane will be built entirely of metal, and will fly without refuelling for 24 hours, covering approximately 2,000 miles. A great mail chamber is provided where expert sorters will do their work just as in a railway mail coach, and sleeping quarters for night flying are also included. An automatic balancing device will give the necessary stability when flying at night or in fog or cloud. While the specifications are difficult to meet, they are neither radical nor impossible and the construction of such a mailplane will be of inestimable value in commercial aviation.