R101 FOR AUSTRALIA

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 821, 15 November 1929, Page 9

RlOl FOR AUSTRALIA

TROPICAL TESTS TO BE MADE FIRST AiRSHIP WEATHERS GALE (L’r.itcd r.A. -j Telegraph—Copyright / i Und. 9.5 a.m. LONDON. Thursday.! Two Australians. Squadron-Leadert \Yriglo> and Flight Lieutenant liar- } mon. after a three hours’ flight in the i airship Kiel, described it as highly sueeessful and wholly enjoyable. ! The Australian and New Zealand Press Association understands that j there is no possibility of a flight to J Australia till there has been consul- I erable experimental work toward India, for the purpose of learning nu-1 known details about tropical in- j Alienees, after which Australia will be urged to expedite the erection of a j mooring-mast. The airship RlOl withstood with ! complete success winds of hurricane j force while she was moored at the j masthead at (.'aldington on Monday.! She had a more severe test early on Wednesday morning. The wind suddenly veered 135 I degrees in about one minute. The great airship, which is more than 700 ft j long and offers a side surface of nearly an acre, had to meet a force which , swung her round over one-third of a 1 circle within a very short period of. time. This is regarded by experts as the most critical manoeuvre likely to be j experienced, except possibly violent! up and down currents, when the question of gas pressures and lift become j involved. The fact that RlOl met the | abnormal conditions without in any way exceeding the designer’s calculations as to load factors is considered I to be highly satisfactory. The wind had been blowing up to 67 miles an hour in gusts, but when it changed suddenly from the southwest lo the north the average force was about 35 miles an hour. The next'fliglit of RlOl is to be made on Saturday. Members of both Houses of Parliament will make a five-hour flight.