R100 Ties Up

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1040, 2 August 1930, Page 9

RIOO Ties Up

EASTWARD FLIGHT A RECORD Bumpy in Last Stages WAIT FOR DAYBREAK AT MONTREAL BAD bumps aloft were experienced by the giant British airship RIOO in the concluding stages of her flight from England to Canada. Despite these conditions and delay caused by a broken fin. the speed was a record for an eastward dirigible crossing of the Atlantic. The ship tied up at Montreal at 4.20 a.m. local time yesterday. The value of the flight from the commercial viewpoint is not overlooked by experts.

United P.A.—By Telegraph — UopyrighReed. 11.5 a.m. MONTREAL, Friday. The British airship RIOO has com pletedxher flight from England to Canada. She arrived over St. Huberts airdrome, near Montreal, at midnight, but was not moored to the mast at that airport until 4.20 a.m. today Eastern standard time. In the meantime the dirigible liad cruised in the vicinity of St. Huberts She encountered storms in the last 200 miles of her flight. The airship set a record for a westward dirigible Atlantic crossing. The eastward flight has been made in much faster time. Sir Dennistoun Burney, Director of Aircraft Development and designer of RIOO, following the arrival of the air ship, said: “We never had a bump all the way across the Atlantic. Everything went perfectly until we reached Father Point, Quebec. There we ran into a bad bump. The jar tore the fabric on a stabilising fin. The damage was negligible and was temporarily repaired.” Five tons of fuel were left when the ship moored. The most valuable thing learned was that travel by airship was the most comfortable means of transporta-

tion. The course taken was the most feasible for commercial use if larger ships were used. It was a very good test of the ship's ibility. Sir Dennistoun added: —“The chief benefit we derived was the experience we need of long flights to gain experience in handling lighter-than-aii craft.” A British Official Wireless mess age says a log of the journey of the airship is published. The voyage in the early stages was relatively uneventful, and the log states that cards and sleep were the most popular methods of passing the time. Everybody was able to keep warm without recourse to flying kit, and the electric radiators in the passen gers' cabin were unheeded. The log proceeds: “Temporary repairs to the fin were completed, and at 9.30 p.m. local time we passed through a thunderstorm, and violently disturbed air currents. “The ship’s height varied rapidly between 1,500 and 4,000 feet. We dropped the main wire at 4 a.m., local time, and a good landing was made. "The time in the air was about 79 hours, of wh’ch eight hours had been duo the damaged fin. The crew made a really good job of the repair ”