GIANT US. AIRSHIP

Hokitika Guardian, 11 August 1931, Page 3

GIANT US. AIRSHIP

•ft f. ' i \, ' TO BE' CHRISTENED SHORTLY.

MAMMOTH HANGAR BUILT. t ' ’ It was announced at Akron, Ohio, recently that the christening ceremonies for the U.S.A; Akron; the world’slargest dirigible, which is being built for the United States Navy ’by the Goodyear-Zeppeliri 1 Corporation, will be held the latter part of July. The framework of the airship, which is larger' that the famous Graf Zeppelin and three thirds the size of the American dirigible Los Angeles, has been completed and approximately onehalf of the outer cover is now in place. Many interior refinements and adjustments, however, will have to be effected after the christening of the ship, as is the custom on a marine vessel after it’has been launched.

Under the command of LieutenantCommander Charles E. Rosenclahl, former commander of the U.S.S. Los Angeles, the Akron-Will be taken aloft for conclusive tests on speed, rate of climb, fuel consumption, control ability and various other factors.

This flight and other tost flights will vary from three or four hours to 24 hours. Ultimately it is 'expected that the Akron will form a' unit of the Pacific Fleet and out of Sunnyvale, near San Francisco, where a hangar is now bejjngHiuilt. : , Preparations for the first flight have already been made in the construction of. a ,huge mobile mooring mast which will pull the ship in and out of the dock. The mast, which is 76 feet high and weighs 130 tons, is of the open pyramid, or tripod typo; and has a caterpillar tractor- at; each corner of its triangular base. . Power to drive the two real - .tractors is furnished hy a, 21' horse-power gasoline motor, while the forward tractor is used fbr steering.

PRESIDENT MAY ATTEND. Among those expected to attenr the christening are President Hco>er and various Cabinet officials. They will probably Ik* accompanied from Washington by high Army and Navy officials, including Rear-Admiral William A. Moffett, Chief of Bureau of Aeronautics of the United. States Navy and “father” of lighter than . air craft development in the United States. For some time the huge GoodyoarZeppeiin hangar on the outskirts of the city has been the Mecca for more than 50,000 people each week. The hangar i’n itself has attracted Us much attention as the .giant dirigible within. The clock is built in tbe form df a hollow eggshell and measures 1175 feet long, 325 feet wide, and 211 feet high. It is the largest building in the world without interior suppo ts. -The hangar was built on rollers to -allow the entire mammoth structure to “stretch” and contract.- Being entirely •of steel, Both frame, and roofing, £the 'building gradually changes its dimensions as temperatures var.yd i expands as the air becomes wanner and contracts as it gets colder. The rollers 'allow it to breathe.

The-same hangar wl'l be used for tbe construction off a second airslrp-fer the United- States Nnvv, a sister ship of the Akron, which will be the same slza arid capacity. - *■■■ .-

'■ i VAST (QUANTITY OF HELIUM' The Akron, which is inflated with- II I iiiin, a non inflamable, non explosive gas has a capacity of 6,500,000 cubic feet, is 785 feet long and has a diameter of 133.. feet, Eight 560 horsepower eiigineis wilt -propel the ship through the air at a speed of more than 80 miles au hour, and it is estimated that'it will be aide to fly If or 10,'SOO miles without refuelling.

One of the novel features in the Akron’s construction will bo the in oiisien in a. special compartment of five areopbines. These planes, through a trapeze arrangement, can lie lowered though the hull and released while in. mid-air; The trapeze attachment will tlieri/pick up the planes, upon their return afi tl haul them, back into the ship.

' Tim'oiilv 'structure - protruding- from the 'streamlined'' hull of the Akron is tlie control cabin. All -quarters for officers arid crew arid tlie motor-rooms, are within the ship, itself. In Zeppelin's motors were 'contained in gondolas suspended away from the hull. In the Akron, because of the use of non-exp!osivo helium gas, the motors are inside the hull and power is transmitted, to the propollors through an outriirgesr containing a rig id shaft and a bevel-gear device.