THE LATEST ZEPFELINS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1555, 25 May 1916, Page 2

THE LATEST ZEPFELINS.

THE Zeppelins brought down by the French gunners at Revegny on February 21s( was one of (be latest type. Its number was LZ77. Two airships delivered from the Zeppelin works in July, I!)LI, just- prior In I Ik* outbreak of war, were numbered LZ2I and LZ2S ; it would thus appear that not less than 52 airships of the Zeppelin type have been constructed during (he last IS months. It has been deduced that the length was 525 feet, and the capacity 1,0(i»,0«() cubic feet. The metal used for the framework was alumieoppor and zinc. It is interesting to note that the shape differed from that of the earlier models in that the cylindrical, or nearly cylindrical, body, with rounded cuds, was replaced by a torpedo-shaped body similar to (hose employed on the French and British airships ; this would doubtless effect a considerable reduction in the air resistance. Its engines would each give ISO to ‘2OO horse-power, and would require about 14 gallons of petrol and twothirds of a gallon of lubricating oil per hour. Each engine drove, a separate propeller, two of which were placed on each side of the hod.V, while the fifth was mounted behind the rear ear, and would thus Ilo t tnily increase the speed in a horizontal direction, but also enable the airship to rise more rapidly when using its elevating planes. A laddgr led up through the body be-

(ween (wo of the twenty haloonetft to a pint form on l op. Two mach-ine-guns wore mounted on this platfoim, and two more were placed in each of (he two cars. No other •pins were carried, and no trace of a searchlight could he found among iho wreckage, though the airship was. of course, provided with wireless apparatus. The human remains found indicated that the crew numbered 23, and this figure, it should he noticed, corresponds witn the number seen hy the captain of the trawler King Stephen on the air-i-hip Lit), wrecked in the North Sea. The L/77 carried 20 bombs, weighing either 1101 b., 17(!lh., or 22011). each, and having a total weight of nearly one and a-lialf tons. Each bond) was suspended hy a special form of hook, from which it could he released electrically hy operating a push-button in the cabin.