ZEPPELIN TRIALS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 308, 24 December 1908, Page 6

ZEPPELIN TRIALS.

TUlUimiAYi: FljltillT 01'' NEW VESSEL. Kit IKDUIC'UtiH A li'KX, Oct. 30. Tin 1 reconstructed ail ship, Zeppelin No. 1, made a triumphant first lliglit, Imanoeuvring from 2 o'eiodi till 5 in the afternoon with the greatest success. The ship was first completed about five years ago, and was subsequently dismantled during the experiments with Zeppelins 11., Hi., and IV. As now reconstructed, the. vessel is an improved, though smaller, edition of the great ship destroyed at Echterdingon recently. The aluminium cylinder which contains the gas has been lengthened and mad'! lian-owei' in diameter, and the forward and eh vatiag flam's have been replaced by a kind ot' jalousie, which is folded up Of extended as il is desired to descend or mount. Wood bus been substituted for aluminium in various parts of th'c ship, which is driven by two 84-h.p. motors, as compared with the two 110h.p. machines in the Zeppelin IV. The present vessel carries a crew of twelve | men, who take up their positions in the two long gondolas, or cars, suspended beneath the gas cylinder. So graceful were the ship's movements this afternoon, so quick and accurate . her obedience to tiie hardly visible steering apparatus, that critical aeronauts as

well as the enthusiastic public unanimously pronounced her the finest airship that has ever ascended from the " docks " at Manzell. It was about 20 minutes to 2 when she was pulled from the stationary dock on a train of pontoons, which towed her about 200 yards from the shore. Then with a few revolutions of the rear propellers, she cast oil' aad rose horizontally about 100 ft, when the front propellers, too, began to work, and she ascended rapidly to about 500 ft. Immediately she started over the land to Friedriehsafeii, accompanied by the, cheers of the spectators. Though the airship encountered a- fresh north-easter-ly wind, it became at once apparent' that her increased length and the rearrangement of the steering apparatus had done much to improve her. She swept over the Royal palace, where the King of AVurlcmberg greeted her lrom his garden terrace, while the Queen, in her yacht, followed the aerial craft to the shores of Friedriclishafcn. Just over the Deutschcs Ilaus, where Count Zeppelin's ailing wife anxiously awaited news of the ascent, the airship described a graceful circle and then /nme back towards Manzcll, all the way followed by the royal yacht. She seemed instantly to increase her speccV, and to all appearances, and according to the estimates of the aeronauts, she far surpassed at times the records of the airship which perished at Eehterdingen. At an angle of 35 degrees and 1000 ft up, she performed the most wonderful manoeuvres, now turning to the right and left and spinning all round. The ship, in the absence of Count Zeppelin, was in charge of the engineer, Rerr Duerr, and the younger Count Zeppelin. There were four other men with them in the front gondola, and three more in the rear one. For more than three hours the airship manoeuvred within a radius of fifteen miles from 'Manzcll, now going towards Switzerland, Ibcnce towards the Rhine Valley. When night came she descended to lire lake, and entered (he floating shed without the slightest difficulty. '