TO FLY TO AMERICA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 99, 4 August 1910, Page 7

TO FLY TO AMERICA.

ROMANCE OF A NEW AIRSHIP. HAS KIPLING COME TRUE? I am able to make the interesting an- a nouncement of the completion of designs , for an entirely new type of airship. It j has been named "Blue Bird," writes Her- 1 bert Trench in the Daily Chronicle. The airship has been designed by a fam.ous engineer who is a university professor of engineering. He is one of 1 Count Zeppelin's right-hand men, and a one of his trusted friends. One of his in- "V genious inventions is for conveying coded messages in war time, and is supplied to 1 the British Admiralty. This engineer has crossed the Alps in the air on a trip 1 lasting three days. I am not at liberty yet to mention his name. a This airship emibodie&all the best features comprised' in the Zeppelin dirigibles, in the Paitrie and in the Geneva, but its leading features- are wholly new. * In the entire tribe of balloons of the dirigible type the motor has been sus- B pended from a cigar-shaped body finclosing a balloonette, and has been suspended at,a considerable distance below P this cigar-shaped body. This was the I case of the Pa trie, the 'Liberie, the Re- F public, Ville de Nancy and Russie bal- * loons. The result of the suspension of * the engine, far below the body of the * balloon is that the centre of resistance * to air-pressure was at too' great a dis- * tance above the'eentre of propulsion. u In the Blue Bird airship, which has been designed for trans-Atlantic work, the body of the balloon is rendered S rigid by the singular formation which b; turns .the keel, as it were„into the back- h bone of the airship itself. The airship 6, can carry inside the keel a crew of 10 persons, two engines forward, two engines sift, and on the underside of the keel, which is JOOft %h?ng% is a series - of immense petrol. reaejaoivs." This huge ship offtfrriaf' less resistance to progress through :'".e atmosphere than any ship hitnerSc constructed; T while owing to its extremely simple design, it can carry'more *p'To' than any other. Moreover,' it is manoeuvred with surprising ease. The whole command of the ship is concentrated in the hands of the pilot in the centre of the keel, and at his hand are very simple appliances which can, at the touch of a'finger, put L in or throw out of action, as desired, the motors, propellers, ruddt.-v, ventilators, T and valves. It was a wonderful sight to watch Mr. Kipling's face, wheii the plans of the Jj Blue Bird airship were laid before him the other day, and to watch the gradual kindling of his enthusiasm. He could P hardly believe his eyes; the own -storv had ben realised bv the engineer. It" was a case of Adam's dream. "He awoke and found it true." WONDERFUL POWERS. • Now what are the powers of the Blue Bird airship for its trans-Atlantic voyage- It can carry five tons of petrol. It can stay eighty hours in the air. It can j? rise to a height of 10,000 ft above the level of the sea. It has a maximum speed of fifty miles an hour; and consequently a radius of action .over no less 1 than'" 4000 miles, without descending.', •and it can-comfortably carry a'crew of ten persons. -...<, \. " The next remarkable feature of tnis. airship is that by the construction of its engine it can use either'gas or petrol at the same time or separately; by this (J means automatically lessening its weight by using petrol (which it carries as ballast), and then using gas to prevent the rise which otherwise the decrease in weiriit would cause. This reinforcement .' of petrol bv the use of hydrogen gas is an absolutely new feature, and the result of the combination is to increase _ the radius of action" and distance of flight bv no less than one-third. Another feature of the Blue Bird airship is that it is not affected hy change of temperature, or hot sun, a* have been ' all previous airships. The action of the » sun affects the volume of the gas; the « action of .rain overloads the. balloon. But in the Blue Bird airship these two effects are compensated by the regulation, in a single apparatus, of the amount of petrol or gas to be' burned in the motor. The 1 pilot has under his hand two entirelyindependent means, not only of propulsion, - but also of rise and fall. > rj IDEAL AIR CRUISER. What will 'be the'result of the completion of this airship? In the first place it will put us (if the English Government take immediate action with a view to acquiring it) on-the right road for the construction of a national aerial L It is not generally known that the huce aerial fleet of Germany numbers no°fewer than 18 dirigibles. There are ? seven Zeppelin, five Parseval, and six - others. In France immense sums have t been voted towards the Jaime, Patrie, Republique, Liberie, Ville,.de Paris, etc., and they are now about, to'vote ten niil- ■ I lions of francs for the construction of a < I new aerial fleet. In. Italy the Govern- | ment have voted teir million, lire tor an ( . I aeriai fleet to be constructed on plans . ■ made bv Forliaini. Russia is making • two airships. This gives some faint idea 1 f 1 of the vast sums that will be expended • .' before-any one Power obtain* supremacy < . I of the air. ~,.,, r The Blue Bird, wJuchMsjto be com--3 pieted (in order to obtain facilities for Msea transport) on high ground lying by r Falmouth harbor, is an absolutely ideal I aerial cruiser. In every case in which it " has been examined by engineering ex- " perts it has obtained unanimity of apr prova). It is designed primarily for the ■\ transport of travellers. - f Moreover, cruisers of the Line Bird tvpe will be no less important for purs I poses of national defence. In a few mo- \ e ments this ship can be-transformed into) • a warship of absolutely infernal power, i provision having been made for carriage, ti in case of need, of a Maxim gun, and a b ton weight of very high explosive There H will also be a torpedo-tube m the keel, e as in an ordinary torpedo-boat, tor the y emission of torpedoes. These weapons )- will be of a weight equivalent to the if number of extra passengers carried in time of peace. , You may ask why the name of Blue. Bird is «ven to this redoubtable engine of war. "The-reply is simple. It was the E name riven by the maker of dynamite, Mr Nobel. The possibilities of destruction V this aerial cruiser will be so *reat that they may practically elimrait ate the possibility of war between 11a--11, tions. . ' mi 1 ■■ Blue Bird airships will be mcomparie able commercial instruments, and, withle al, machines of war so- terrible as to ft make war well-nigh impossible. __