AEROPLANE V. AIRSHIP.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 858, 2 July 1910, Page 5

AEROPLANE V. AIRSHIP.

HUGE COST OP ZEPPELIN VOYAGES. In the last few years the aeroplane has made more rapid advance thnn the airship, ami \vo find that on April 20 last, at Jlouzon, in tho Ardennes, M. Itog-ar Soinmor made n flight, carrying threo passengers besides himself on his ,new biplane. This record flight (says a contemporary) extended over four miles, and the total useful load was 545 lb. In the case of the aeroplane originality has been called for In every advance made. But with tho dirigible airship there have been no radical changes, the airship of to-day being very similar in its construction to that of ten .roars ago, though on a much larger scale. Where, however, both the aeroplane and the dirigible airship present difficulties when their popularisation is aimed at is the fact that .they. become un-' manageable in stormy weather.. The remarkable list of accidents to previous Zeppelins is sufficient to frighten intending passengers, the disaster to the Zeppe-, lin II at Weilbnrg illustrating what' little hope of escape there would be if during a storm the airship struck an .eminence. '

There 'arc doubtless, however, many people who in a spirit of recklessness and bravado would be willing to journey in an airship. For this experience, however, they must necessarily pay a high figure if tho proprietors are to recoup themselves for the cost of the vessel. For instance, a Zeppelin costs .£50,000, and as the number of voyages accomplished by any of them dots not exceed ton or twelve, the cost of each trip up to the present works out at about .£5000! It is doubted by many whether the airship is capablo of much further development from a commercial point of view.