AIR LINERS.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 December 1924, Page 1

AIR LINERS.

COMMEKC'IAL AIRSHIP DESIGN. I.IXKIXO HP Till’, EMPIRE, ‘'Gasbags,” as they used to he sneeriugly called, are very much in the air a present, literally as well as figuratively, states “Flight.” the olheial organ of the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom, in a recent issue. This i-> due to the successful Rights across the United Stales h.v the American •‘Shenamlnoh” : to the successful transAtlantic tlight --ddlKI miles in a little aver three days—at complished hy ”/.R g” the reparations airship built bv the Zeppelin Company for tlie United Stati-s; and ill the decision of the I!ritisli (loverinneiit to htiild two airships ol live million cubic feet capacity, or twice the size of the “Z.E.J.” It should he rcmemlierod that the "Z.R..5" (light is the third crossing of Atlantic hy an airship, two previous crossings having been gallantly achieved in 1 !)1 i) hy the British rigid airship "GAM" in comand of Major Scott. “In every respect an inferior ship to the “Z.R.’J" comments '‘Flight.” “the “R.Ill” had the honour of being the first ship to cross (and reernss) the Atlantic, and the glory of that famous lliglit is all the greater when it is real-i.-ed that the airship oil which it was made was not to lie compared, ns icgards ellieicitey. with the latest .-hip " It is anticipated that it w ill he a n alter of three years before the first oi the great new British airships can he ready for the trial flight. FOUR MAIN RKl.il IRRMKNTS Dealing with the question of commercial airships. Command -r F. K- M. Bonthby, designer, in a paper read liefore the Institution of Aeronautical engineers can provide them with airships that will attract passengers. Airships will not attract passcngeir, until they are safe, and iill the fares are low enough to bring them within the minus of the average individual". Our commercial airship must fulfil the billowing requirements: struetually strong; (-) it. must he sale against lire: (1!) it most he controllable in any weather; ( !) it must he cheap to run.” As to the first requirement. lie says that experience with earlier airships of the “I!type and others has shown that ample strength can Ihobtained when half the total displacement is devoted to the hull and engines. The new commercial Zeppelin.

"/..I’d!" has this proportion; and with increase in sices, it is possible to allot a smaller proportionate weight to the hull and engines while keeping the same strength. For commercial purposes. t'oiiiiinder Boothhy’s personal preference lies with the semi-rigid rather than the rigid type "I airship, at anv rate lor the small sixes, tin tv I’arseval type having been found very ellieient. But. he adds, that the advantages ol the two types are so nicely ha la need, that till a ship or each type of similar sice, and employed on the same service, has I,ecu tested over a long period, it will not he passible to reach a decision. --Il mat U- accepted, however, that both types are peifectlv capable ol i nulling an airship sort ie.; quite i llii tent ly." SAI-KTY AC A INST Fill Ik A- I • sa I fly against lire, he points .nit that "the lirsl and most pressing need i. the .iholition of petrol. There aiv always petrol lollies hanging ahoitl 111 large airsbins. auld in bol climates lb,, evaporation is serious. The most dj ret t and simple way. of course, is to tit engines ol the lie.ivy-oil Beardniore typo, a sei oud way is to use hydrogen drawn from the gasbags in coniuueto't! with a heavy fuel in the ordinary l egiue; and the third way is to easily .■mile" oil by a new process shortly to 1.-e introduced to the public, by an inventor. a well-known petroleum expert." (’oiomandi r Bonthby also shows how the Ily• 1 1 11 ni.it I, pi"lc. lid by I ut ill:; a layer id inert gas aioiind it . "By far the simple-l and most ellieienl means appears to lie to utilise the exhaust gases for protective purposes. There is an ample and constant supply of these, w hit'll has only to he cleaned and coiled below boiling point, and then turned into the ring spare between the gasbag and the niiiet cover. dinary doped outer i over shorn! he quite gas-tight enough to contain it.” This method has the advantage that the exhaust gases call first he used for cooking purposes and then for warming the living spaces ol the airship before being further cooled and expanded into the ring space. Cointnaiidor Bonthby also points out how. hy simplification ol design. it should he possible at once to improve greatly the control,ability of the airships.'and In reduce by about onehalf the number of men at present employed m airships, thus considerably cutting down the running costs. "What is now wanted." lie says in i oin lusion. "is s-nne process ot manufacturing hydrogen with tie- airships own nsoiii'i es. Sitting on the sea there is plenty of hydrogen in the water around, it some reasonably light clrrtiolytit- process call be found. I’erliaps some system of erni king oil may meet our requirements, hut it is a point thul requires arnest i onsidei a t but of every aeronautical engineer who wishes to see the Umpire linked up hy real commercial craft at the earliest possible dale."