On Tuesday the newspapers published remarkable -accounts of the performances
of the new Brennan helicopter. It was said that this new type of aeroplane could rise to a height of 2,000 feet -in a vertical line, hover in the air for half an hour and come back to earth in a vertical line. It was stated, moreover, that it could fly horizontally like an ordinary aeroplane at 60 miles an hour. The Air Ministry announced the same day that these statements were " unauthorized " -and " exaggerated," and that its prize of £50,000 for a helicopter satisfying the conditions laid down by the Ministry was still open to com- petition. There is no doubt, however, that a great advance has been made in the design of helicopters, and there is reason now to believe that machines will be built which will rise in a vertical line from the ground and will be capable of remaining in a fixed position in the air.
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