Flights, Fliers

To defend London, Britain last week tested, successfully, a tiny single-seated war plane capable of shooting up like a rocket, five miles up in ten minutes. The "Intercepter" plane, as it was known, is very light and requires a small pilot with the delicate touch of an expert horseman.

If Flier Clarence Duncan Chamberlin is not the cinema type, as reported, Miss Ruth Elder apparently is. The New York-to-Atlantic Ocean flier was besought by Florenz Ziegfeld last week to play the part of the American girl in his motion picture to glorify that young lady.

Imperial Airways, the only organization in Britain operating regular air routes, is to be subsidized by the Government until 1939, when it is expected to pay for itself. Delhi, it was learned last week, is to be pushed as a new Indian terminus. Thus is success rewarded, for last year Imperial Airways carried 52,000 passengers 2,500,000 miles without accident to a single passenger.

A bold experiment in giant aircraft, the Inflexible had a successful test flight at the Royal Air Force airdrome at Martlesham Heath, some 75 miles northeast of London. Capable of carrying 20 persons, the ship was taken up by Squadron Leader J. Noakes and one mechanic, each wearing a parachute strapped to his back. The Inflexible has a wing spread of 150 feet and weighs fifteen tons--the world's largest all-metal monoplane. Built on the Air Ministry's orders, her purpose is a secret.