FUTURE OF AIRSHIPS

Evening Star, Issue 20059, 27 December 1928, Page 13

FUTURE OF AIRSHIPS

THE TASK FOR BRITAIN LESSONS OF THE ZEPPELIN FLIGHT HOPES OF RIOO and RlOl. Dr‘ Eckcuer, the commander of the Graf Zeppelin, and the principal figure in the revival of German airships, frankly acknowledges the delects in the design' and construction of the _ ship (writes the air correspondent of the ‘Observer’). After the war Germany was prevented from building airships, and Great Britain, which laboured under no restrictions _ save those due to poverty, laid airships aside lor some years, and bad no consistent policy until'the steps were taken which led to the laving down of the RIOO and the R.lOl, both of which arc nearly ready for launching. Those two ships have yet to take the air, and in so far as they have not yet been tried the issue may be said to be in doubt. But this can be claimed: the defects which led to the trouble experienced in her Atlantic voyage by the I Graf Zeppelin were grappled with by British designers four years ago, | whereas their possibility seems not fully have been realised by the Germans, committed as (bey were by tradition to the Zeppelin type. It was-claimed that the Graf Zcppc•>s superior to nil her predecessors since her greater capacity could he used for improvements. Among the improvements was the substitution of gas fuel for petrol, claimed lo secure economy in weight, and reduction of structural stresses. British experts are critical of this gas fuel, claiming that the advantages it secures are almost exactly offset by its disadvantages. In the result, and evident from the day of her first trial, it was clear the Graf Zeppelin was not capable ot the speed predicted; and in all probability this disappointment was due to inefficiency of the gas fuel. AN OUT-OF-DATE DESIGN. ' the vital point—if she bad been capable of the anticipated speed, it is very doubtful whether her structure is sufficiently sound to sustain it. On the way out to America fab ' stripped from one of her stabilising rins, a rare mishap, and no doubt duo to (he increased speed attempted. Dr Eckcuer admits the ship seemed likely to break in pieces. That is a' confession of failure in design, but British designers will bo the first to acknowledge the inevitability ol this failure in circumstances which practically compelled alhereuco to the Zeppelin type. It is highly satisfactory that in the airship policy which Great Britain has adopted the securing of adequate structure strength has been put foremost, to which at first all other _ considerations arc to be sacrificed. Critics of'airships, and especially critics of the Air Ministry, may hear this in mind. After all, Great Britain has in the past displayed a certain genius tqr transport engineering. The pioneer in rail and ocean travel seemed at first likely to be surpassed by other countries' in the development of the automobile, the aeroplane, and the airship; yet as regards the first two, early slackness was soon overcome, and British standards became and remain the highest in the world. STRENGTH AND SPEED. There is some reason to hope and believe that in airships, also, Britain will ta' 3 the lend. It is incontestable that no other country lias studied the problems and carried out research on so largo a scale and to such good purpose, and although no one in his senses imagines that all will now he plain sailing, and that the new airships will have a smooth and triumphant career from the day of their launching, they will be the first airships to have a real chanco ol vindicating the airship principle. On the question of structure strength generally, so far as can be loreseen, they will be, fit for their job. They will travel at a greater speed than any previous airships; 'yet it, is calculated that even in the matter of fabric they will be proof against such a mishap as befell the Graf Zeppelin. BRITAIN’S OPPORTUNITY. In the circumstances, surely there is great need for continuity of policy. Great Britain has put her hand to the plough, and there must be no turning back. Possible early difficulties in the next few months must not be permitted to discourage; in face oi criticism and of conflicting counsels the,Air Ministry and the Government must stand by their men, must defend them against ignorant clamour. Let us hope there will be no need for such defence. A curious similarity is to be observed in the times takthi by the Graf Zeppelin and the R 34, which made the double crossing of the Atlantic in 1919. -Both took much the same time to go westwards, and the British ship took seventy-five hours to get homo, against the Zeppelin’s sixty-nine hours. When the westward journey can be made in seventy hours airship travel across the Atlantic will be a regular thing. Always it is not a question of the speed of travel .over a devious route, but the time occupied in travelling irom port to port. If an airship must make deviations to avoid adverse winds it is no concern of the paying passenger, to whom the fact that he has actually travelled twice as far to got to port will be a matter of indifference. The British airship staff are taking all this into account. They have for long made a special study of the currents of the aerial ocean. They will adopt different routes in different seasons; but they aim at the framing of a year-in-year-out schedule, which will prove the superiority of the airship for long-distance travel.