THE SUPER-AIRSHIP

Evening Star, Issue 19802, 28 February 1928, Page 14

THE SUPER-AIRSHIP

LONDON TO INDIA IN 48 HOURS THE ATLANTIC PROBLEM SPEEDS OF THE FUTURE. The development _of machines to transport human beings and freight through the air, instead of upon the surface of tho ground or the water, lias, as everyone knows, proceeded along two distinct and separate lines (Commander Burney writes in the ‘ Ob- 1 server’)■ Tho balloon, initiated about 150 years ago, has gradually been ] evolved into the modern airship, of which the R.IOO, now building at tho Airship Guarantee Company’s works at, Howden, in Yorkshire, is tho most modern example, and aeroplanes, developed from the Wrights’ epoch-mak-ing invention of only some twenty-five years ago, now ply regularly between London, Paris, Berlin, and other towns. Tho airship is what is termed a lightcr-than-air craft, and tho aeroplane is a heavier-than-air craft. Tho first practical airship was designed by Count Zeppelin ana completed about 1905, so one may say ihat both classes have only just attained their majority. During the last year or so several i writers have published books condemning aircraft as being of relatively little value, hut 1 think it is early as yet to condemn either airships or aeroplanes out of hand, and I wonder whether those who watched and criticised the performances of Stephenson’s “Rocket” were able to foresee the railroad development of the next IUO years. I cannot think, however, that the world will accept cither as the ultimate solution of aerial transport. _ It may be that in time to come the idea that gravitation is a bi-polar force akin to magnetism and controllable electrically will be established. If that is so, we may ultimately be in possession of a lifting power that will enable machines to be constructed that are able to navigate the upper atmosphere and attain speed hitherto deemed fantastic, and in the region of 1,000 miles per hour. That time is not yet. We who live in this generation arc perhaps more interested in the immediate future- What, then, are tho prospects for tho next few years? THE NORTH ATLANTIC ROUTE. If we confine our investigations to tho immediate future, it is with the airship and the aeroplane as known today that wo must deal. _ What are their relative prospects ? Will the aeroplane supplant the airship? Can we expect transoceanic passenger service? I venture to think that tho airship will steadily appreciate in the public estimation, and that before many_ years are passed a veritable revolution in world transport will be in progress. This, no doubt, will be though a bold statement, and to carry conviction it must be substantiated. Let us take, therefore, the most important transoceanic route in the world and examine the possibilities of aerial service. Tho North Atlantic route between .the United States and Europe is, I suppose, as important in regard to the number of passengers travelling as all the other routes in the world put together, and is therefore the best one to analyse. The distance between Now York and London by the shortest route is some 3,200 nautical miles or 3,700 land miles, but the actual geometric distance is not the only factor _to be considered. Tho North Atlantic is subjected to a prevailing westerly wind that blows from New York towards London practically tho wholo year round. The strength of this wind varies from day to day, but upon the average is over thirty miles per hour. An aircraft, therefore, going from west to east will be assisted, and one going in the reverse direction will bo retarded. Suppose, for instance, tho aircraft attempting tho journey had a speed of 100 miles per hour in still air, it is clear that tho actual distance through the air flown by the craft will be only 3,8-30 miles from Now York to London, whilst the distance from London to New York will be approximately 5,300 miles. It is for this reason that I have consistently advocated the return journey from London to New York being via the Azores ami Bermuda. This route is some 3,800 nautical miles or 4,400 land miles, but the average wind will, on the whole, bo favorable. At best, therefore, wo have to consider whether it is possible to construct an aircraft capable of carrying a paying load a- distance of 4,400 miles without refuelling. Again, however, to be practical, an adequate margin of fuel nest be carried, say, 40 per cent. Tiffe increases the endurance required to just over 6,000 miles.

E DTD RE Ob' THS AEROPLANE. The aeroplane to-day cannot carry a commercial load a greater distance than 400 miles. The extreme range of a stunt machine carrying only the pilots is only just over 4,000 miles. Clearly the aeroplane to-day cannot fulfil the- necessary conditions, Mr Handley Page, the well-known aeroplane constructor, has recently given his views as to the possibilities m aeroplane development over the next twenty years or so. He has assumed that every part of the aeroplane will be improved and developed to such an extent that an engine of 2-50 horsepower will carry the useful load of the present-day 1,000 h.p. engined machines; an increase in efficiency of actual paying load carried per horsepower of 400 per cent. A 1,000 h.p. machine of such a typo flying at a speed of 100 miles per hour could carry but ono ton of paying load a. distance of 4,000 miles, without refuelling. The non-stop flight from London to Now York with n paying load is therefore quite impossible not only with the aeroplane as we know it to-day, but also as far as we can see into the future. The service from London to New York should be possible by seaplane in years to come if a stop is made at the Azores, as the distance from the Azores to Now York, including the southerly detom necessary, is only some 2,400 nautical miles or 2,800 land miles, and the 40 per cent, margin brings this up to just under the 4,000 miles. The most wo can expect, therefore, from the seaplane is to transport ono ton of paying load for each 1,000 h.p. from London to New York, and this will, so far as can be seen to-day, not he possible for at least ton years.

THE NEW A IBS! lIP. Let ns now examine the airship. The R.IOO is deigned to transport Irenty-five tons of paying load at seventy-five miles per hour over a distance of 4,000 miles upon a horsepower of about ‘2,500. and, therefore, far exceeds in capacity what wo can expect from the seaplane of ten years ahead. The Atlantic typo airship, upon the designs of which I ain now I working, should bn much superior to | the R.IOO. 1 am confident that _ the ( Atlantic type will transport thirty- 1 three tons of paying load at a speed of 100 miles per hour, oyer a distance of | 0,000 miles without refuelling. It will, therefore, fulfil the requirements of the Atlantic service. If used upon the Empire routes it will travel from London to Bombay non-stop in just over forty-eight hours. This ship is not a dream of the future. It can, and probably will, be under construction within eighteen months. To-day we are awaiting the trials of the R.IOO to see how closely that vessel confirms our calculations and laboratory trials. If, as I hope, botli arc proved to be correct to within 5 per cent., only the necessary finance will then ho required to I produce a vessel capable of fulfilling the conditions 1 have outlined.

Those arc the reasons upon winch b ba.so my opinion that the airship not only has a future, but a far greater future than is generally supposed. Perhaps another fifty years may see both it and flic aeroplane superseded and relegated to the scrap heap, along with the hansom cab, the wooden battleship, and the bow and arrow; hut neither the. world nor the British Empire is going to wait fifty years for its speedier communications. Nature has made the British Islands the centre of the land world. Our geographical posjtion and our harbors have done as much for us as our coal. But wo shall not become the centre of the air world and the meeting place of the great commercial air routes of the future unless wo make (he effort now.

The British Empire has two great enemies—-Time and Space. To conquer either is to knit the British Empire as nothing else can. The airship —and the airship alone—holds out the promise of a regular service of Inter, imperial communications in jlic immediate future, and for that reason ! believe history will give a place of honor to the airship, even if it exists but for tbe brief space of fifty years from to-day.