A Fire engine for
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Thinly Peopled Areas
A New Dennis Product Designed for Running at High Speeds.
12.4VBN our home country many rural areas are very inadequately. provided for so far as fire-fighting equipment is Concerned, and cases often -occur in which a conflagration has assumed really serious proportions before an efficient engine is available from the nearest large town. how much more difficult it is in many parts of our Empire overseas can readily, be understood.
At home there are few dwellings situated more than 10 miles from a tire brigade, but overseas many scores of miles may lie between the scene of a firo and the nearest means for succour, and what roads there are, at best are frequently indifferent. The result is that by the time the fire fighters arrive they often find that the conflagration has, fortunately, been vanquished or that the buildings concerned have been destroyed, so that, in either case, the long and difficult journey is likely to prove futile.
With a view .to mitigating this evil, Dennis Bros., Ltd., Guildford, has recently constructed an entirely new type of fire appliance, the first example of which is now on its way to Sydney. We have previously referred to this product as being shown two or three
weeks ago to the members of the Professional Fire Brigades' Association.
The new machine is familiarly known as the Flying Squad fire tender, and it possesses as its principal qualifications high speed, excellent braking and good springing, whilst the body is arranged to convey supplementary men and equipment as rapidly as possible to any distant provincial outbreaks. Speeds of from 511 m.p.h. to 60 m.p.h. are easily attainable by this machine, and it should not be difficult to cruise at over 50 m.p.h. for considerable distances, provided that the traffic conditions and road surfaces be sufficiently favourable.
A Sixcyiindered Power Unit.
One of the most interesting features . is that a six-cylindered power unit developing between 90-100 b.h.p. is utilized. This engine is set at an angle of 5 degrees in the frame, and drives through a single-plate clutch to the four-speed gearbox. The engine is three-point mounted, whilst the gearbox is carried in a sub-frame ; thus both are isolated from any bad effects through frame flection.
A solid propeller shaft with an allmetal universal joint, at each end carries the power to the underneath worm of the axle, the final-drive ratio of which is 4.16 to 1. Thrust, torque and brake reaction are all transmitted through the rear springs, for which purpose the springs are specially designed.
A vacuum-servo device operates the four-wheel brakes, which are of the • internal-expanding pattern ; by means of these the vehicle can be brought to rest from high speeds in the minimum of time.
The chassis itself is a low-load-line model, with the frame-members arranged parallel, but dropped 1 in. at the dash to a height of 2 ft. 21 ins, from the grouna. They Are then upswept to clear the rear axle. The depth of each frame-member is 7 ins, at the maximum. An overall length of 18 ft. 9 ins, provides easy manceuvring ; incidentally, the wheelbase is 12 ft. 9 ins. There is but little overhang at the rear of the frame and what there is allows for the rear platform, which has to be added when the body is fitted.
There is a long bonnet which, at its rear, merges into a nicely modelled scuttle dash. The steering column is raked to an angle of 31 degrees, and the steeringwheel employed is unusually large, having a diameter of 192 ins.