AIRSHIP POSSIBILITIES.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 744, 4 July 1922, Page 3

AIRSHIP POSSIBILITIES.

ENGLAND TO AUSTRALIA. SIR KEITH SMITH’S VIEWS. “MAINSTAY OF AVIATION” “A service of large'ifirst-class airships,” said Sir Keith Smith, brother of the lalte Sir Ross Smith, in an interview in Sydney List week, “could easily put Melbourne wifthin 12 days’ easy travelling of London and at a cost' of considerably Jess than firstclass; mailboat rates.

“An airship to carry 30 passengers, and abouit seven tons of mails he continued, “could be run profitably on this basis. The passengers could be carried in comfoUt wijch proper cabins, lounge, and smokeing room accommodation.

“In large vessels there is practically no sense of motion whatver, and a cruising speed of 70 miles an ! hour makes progress possible in any | weather. There were many business ' men on the slf p with men coming j out, and -they all told me they would i most certainly utilise a time-saving I and comfortable service of this desI crip'ition.” I Sir Keith Smith said emphatically ' that if it. were subsidised for the first two or three years, a propedly i organised commercial:, airship service ; between England and Austiada ! could, after quite a short time, be run at a profile. | «‘Thcj future of commercial! aviation in Great Britain seems as doubtful as it is herd in Australia,” he ! continued; “apaqt from the regular London-Paris services there is really nothing doing. In fact, I think the pubtic is still rather too afraid of aeroplanes to. make much commercial use of them forsome tipme, but their time \yill come. it 'is inevitable. * -''The only firm in England that is building large machines for com me, -

cial purposes/’ continued Sir Keith, “is the Vickers Company, at Brooklands, who built the machine in which m.y brother and Lieutenant Bennetlt met their deaths. The fact that the huge Sopwith Aviation Company went out of business some time ago, and that al'i firing building ithej larger types of machines have practically ceased operations, point to the fact that the expected boom in commercial aviation has not materialised. “There certainly have been a large number of disastrous accidents .lately, but it must 'always be taken into consideration that far more publicity !s given in the press and elsewhere to aeroplane accidents thah to motoring acciderits or to similar mishaps on railways. Thus has the effect of discouraging many people from having anything to do with aeroplianes. “To my mind, the airship will be the mainstay of aviation in the immediate future,” Sir Keith Smith said. “I have always been favourably inclined towards )the idea of airship services but after a few trips recently in this type of machine I feel absolutely convinced that their possibilities in Ithe commercial arena are practically unlimited. “The terrible disst(ter last year to the R3§, the largest airship ever very naturally prejudiced public opinion enormously against this class of vessel. The truth of the matter, however, fa that R 38 was called upon to do whajt it never should have been asked to do. “ft was designed obgimtlly solely for the purpose of having a maximum operating height greater than that of any German dirigible. With object in view its parts were lightened, and its factor of safety was diminished.

‘‘Accordingly, when after the armistice the airship vbas fitted up to carry large numbers of passeng-ers, and called upon to do sudden manoeuvres that threw an excessive strain on the whale framework, ,it crumpled up under the strain. ‘{.This possibly l would never happen to any such airship that was designed solely for commercial purposes,” continued Sir Peith. “Such vessels are as safe to manoeuvre as any ordinary liner. Mooring masts, which have been introduced smce the war, have completely solved the problem of their unwieldiness. “jl know of several occasions when the R 34 rode out howling gales of 60 miles an hour when moored to her magt, and she was tsafely released! often in wind's of 40 miles an hour.” Keith Smith, who will be travelling between Melbourne, Sdyney and Adelaide for some! weeks, intends to return to England later to settle finally business arrangements that have been made in connection with the woidd flight, which he abandoned on the death of his brother.