MISHAP TO R100

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 956, 26 April 1930, Page 11

MISHAP TO RIOO

DAMAGED IN MOVING FROM SHED MOORED WITH ZEPPELIN Reed. 1.15 a.m. RUGBY, Thursday. The RIOO was transferred from her shed to the mooring tower at Cardington this afternoon. Conditions were good when the handling party started to move the airship, but before she was wholly clear of the shed a cross wind sprang up, which caused the outside edge of the starboard elevator to scrape against the side of the shed. An examination showed the damage to be slight, but the airship will be housed again, in order to carry opt repairs as quickly as possible. There is no reason to think that the plans for the flight to Canada next month will he interfered with. Two of the largest airships in the world, the British craft RIOO and the German Graf Zeppelin, probably will be seen side by side at Cardington, near Bedford, on Saturday. The Zeppelin is coming to Cardington to pick up Dr. Eckener, her commander, who arrived in England yesterday from America. She is expected to arrive on Saturday afternoon and to stay about an hour. About 600 or 700 men, drawn mainly from the Royal Air Force, will handle the Zeppelin and attach her to the mooring mast. The RIOO will be brought from her shed to the mooring mast tonight, if the weather conditions are suitable, and may make a 10 or 12 hours’ flight tomorrow. Once she has been brought out it is not likely that RIOO will be returned to her shed until after her trip across the Atlantic to Canada next month. NEW ENGINES IN RIOO New engines of a later type were recently fitted in RIOO and these, as well as the envelope and the wireless installation, will be under special observation during the flight. This will be the sixth flight of RIOO, and there will probably be others before she leaves for Canada. Dr. Eckener had a long talk with the Duke of York today at York House. This evening the commander of the Graf Zeppelin broadcast an appeal for international co-operation in airship travel. He said he was convinced that in the near future there would be airships flying regularly over every ocean. The nations ought to combine and provide landing, fuelling and pick-up places, said Dr. Eckener. His high regard for the English people made him most anxious for British cooperation in the establishment of an international airship service.