WHO WILL FLY TO LONDON IN 1930?

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 9, 16 September 1927, Unnumbered Page

WHO WILL FLY TO LONDON IN 1930?

> These representatives of the Imperial Airways say that in 1930 it will be possible for those who desire it to fly from New Zealand to London in from 12 to 14 days. Airships now building will make it possible. Accommodation is being provided for 100 passengers and 30 tons of payable freight, such as mails, valuables, etc. Fares will probably run 25 per cent. higher than present mail steamer rates. It sounds like a dream but so many dream-like things are happening these days. These men are substantial enough to be here, coolly looking for a suitable site for the necessary mooring mast and studying the air-currents and meteorological conditions. They say that airship travel is perfectly safe, that scientific data and carefully tabulated experience have conquered earlier disabilities, and that in airship travel over Empire Airways, the British rice will add a final binding tie to the British Commonwealth c% Nations, and world unity. Group-Captain Fellowes spoke from both4 YA and 2YA on his mission --and listeners say it was the best talk put on the air here.

To endeavour to view airships and their present position in their true perspective, it is mecessary to look to the past. I daresay a great many people in New Zealand think that airships owe their extstence to war requirements. As a matter of history this is not so. Before the war Count Zeppelin constructed his early airships for passenger traffic, and he, together with other German companies, had carried approximately 40,000 passengers before the war without damage to a single passenger, a performance immeasurably beyond the capacity of pre-war aeroplanes, and it is doubtful if aeroplanes have reached this pitch of efficiency yet. Comparing this performance with the figures of aeroplane transport of the present day, or even with the P. and P. first-class passenger traffic of 50,000 passengers a year, it is startling in its promise, It must be remembered that in the war airships were not only deliberately written down to discount the Zeppelin menace, but they were also used for a purpose that threw them open to easy destruction once the proper means had been discovered. THE WAR AND AIRSHIPS, . Together these two factors created an unfavourable public opinion towards airships. Another factor that has affected airships, end which has, from otie aspect, definitely damaged their progress, was their too rapid rate of development and cotistruction during the war. This pressure for production definitely prohibited the necessary scientific investigation of the problems involved, The Germans produced at great 4 TITRA Fe HNTTTITTITITTTTT ENN FOOT TTTTITTTITINIIT ea eal ITITTITIIITT S77

speed by empirical methods, rigid ships of great and greater efficiency, and we did tlhe same in regard to nonrigid skips. The methods adopted for this period of development can be adequately described as ordinary engineering bridge-building practice diluted by experience and rule-of-thumb methods, a process not nearly refined enough for airship construction where maximum strength at minimum weight is essential to efficiency, | REVIVAL OF INTEREST. After the war the development of airships was closed down _ for all practical purposes. The Americans and Italians kept airships going in a tentative fashion, but it really remained for the British Government to take the responsibility of opening: anew the whole question. This they did, first by investigating very thoroughly on a thoroughly scientific basis through the medium of the National Physical Laboratory, and a number of highly qnalified scientists, the problems involved in airship construction. To do tliis they had to make certain assumptions of the conditions to be met in the air, and at mooring towers, and I feel confident that we have not under-estimated them. Finally, there have been carried out certain full-scale experiments in R33 and in the structure of R101, to prove out the reliability of the model and theoretical investigations, I am glad to be able to tell you that these fullscale experiments proved that the assumptions and calcnlations of the scientists were for all practicable purposes correct, and have enabled the necessaty modifications to the formulas used to be made, At the same time the MITTIN PATTI PAW PSTN oon ITT

mooring tower, which I will describe later, was developed and tested out, and unless this had been successfully achieved the regularity of service essettial to commercial success would not be possible. So the position we have now reached is that two 5,000,000 feet, or 150 tons displacement airships, based on these investigations, are now being built, and the necessary sheds and towers for their test in tem: perate and sub-tropical conditions are in course of erection. It then remained for the South African and Canadian Governments to come forward with offers to build mooring towers, which will enable airships to be tested out on routes which involve tropical and sub-arctic conditions. Incidentally, the fact that the South African Government came forward in this way will enable the modifications which may be found necessary in the type of airship for crossing tropical routes to be put into production perhaps several years earlier than could have been possible, had they not done so. Also, the erection of a mooring mast in South Africa will enable the route to Australia and New Zealand to. be opened earlier Our programme which you probably have already heard about is to catry out very full tests of these new vessels at Home, and when these tests are complete to fly them out to India and do mooring tests in that country. When these tests are complete, which they should be by the middle of 1929, the period for, demonstration flights will arrive, en , it is the present intention to fly a ship to South Africa in July or Na TTR STS ATTEN STITT

August of 1929, and to Australia and New Zealand in 1930 if bases in these two countries are available. COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. Assuming that all these projects are catried out successfully, it is hoped that the shipping companies or other large organisations will come forward and embark on airship construction and operation Naturally it is our desire to hasten the commercial development of airships to the utmost possible extent, but I think it is perhans fortunate that circumstances in the shape of lack of building sheds put a break on the speed ot this development Because, if this were not so, air ships might cause serious injury to the important shipping interests involved in this area, due to the superior facilities in regard to speed and in some respects, comfort, which they offer for the carriage of passengers, mails and valuable light freicht, such as diamonds and gold Our aim is verv foreign to such a purpose and is rather constructive than destructive We hope that airshins will eradually come into healthy co-operative relations with other established methods, or, for that matter, srowine methods of transport, such as the steamer, train, the motor and the aeroplane Airshios will not for a lone time, and possibly may never take a larze part in overland transport, and T should like to mention here that it is my oninion that airshins will increase traffic rather than take away from existing modes of transport, patticularly the aeroplane passenrer and mails coming from Fineland on a fast passage, say in 12 days, for thev_ will not thes he caticfied ta take perhaps (Continued on Page 2.). TUES STOTT SUTTON ATT TES

Who Will Fly fo London in 1930 ?

@ days to reach their final destination gn New Zealand and it is here that meroplane feeder and distribution lines som airship bases will tind their uses. If a base is established in Perth and in Melbourne or Sydney, and if;.a base is also established in New Zealand, it will bring you within one day of the East of Australia and 2} days of the West, and 12 to 14 days from Lngland, WHAT EEFECT ON HUMANITY? I do not propose to go further into ihe quest of times and distances as 1 am sure you all appreciate the effect" on the:.world in general (as far as the human imagination is capable of such a feat) the halving of the time of passage or, as it may eventually become, | the quartering of the time of passage between great centres of population will have. It is probably sufficient to say that some time during the next ten years the time taken for this development being ‘dependent on the success these two airships acliieve and the support consequently engendered amongst the commercial public, there could be estahlished between New Zealand and England a mail @rvice which would enable the recipient to read. his letter in under a fortnight from the time of posting and to get an. answer within a month of writing. We expect to base our timetable on a regular time of passage between -England and New Zealand af 12 to 14 days. aPFACTS ABOUT THE SHIPS. You will probably be interested to obtain the outlook on these ships of those actually engaged in their construction. First, we believe that we have built them quite strong enough, in fact, probably unnecessarily strong for all normal operational purposes. We have been building on the policy of safety first, and any other policy than this I think you will agree would have been unwise, considering the possibilities involved in the development of airships, and the great advance in size we are making, the biggest ship built previously the Los Angeles is only half the size. Secondly, we know that we shall gét a much better performance out of ships built as a result of the trials we are to undertake with these two ships. We expect to be able to lighten the structure. We expect to get better, cheaper, and more durable material for the cover of the ships and the gas-bags, The engines we are using are the first aerial engines of the Diesel type, and these, we are promised by our engine experts, will be much improved in regard to weight per horse-power and also in regard to fuel consumption. We, therefore, feel justified in forecasting a greatly improved performance for future ships, both in regard to speed and paying load, and, of course, gas and airships’ facilities generally will all get cheaper when large numbers of airships come into service. 30 TONS OF PAYING FREIGHT. The performance of our present design will give us a full speed of approximately 75-80 miles per hour, and a cruising specd of 63 miles per hour in still air. With these engines we shall be able to carry about 30 tons of paying load for a distance of 4000 miles in still air. For demonstration flight purposes this paying: load will be largely if not completely absorbed in fuel-carrying capacity, because the necessary intermediate masts for commercial purposes will not then be availabie. But to provide for the commercial service, airship mooring tower sites for intermediate masts have and are being surveyed. At the present moment the British Government does not intend to erect further masts

or sheds, berond one. additional shed. now being constructed ir Englad, but no doubt the money for these services will be obtained early in the trials of the two ships. ‘he British Government are confident of the ultimate value of the experiment we are undertaking, but as is the case with all*Governments they cannot torce the pace far in advance of enlightened public opinion, and therefore we have to await the results of these experiments before any great advance in respect of shed construction-a costly matter-and the bottle neck of airship construction can take place

each shed costs about £150,000 to £160,000 in Iingland. We have two sheds, one in England and one in India, which can be used for operation or construction, and a further shed under constinction, and two sheds in Eng-. land which can be used for construction only, and these two latter are rather too small for modern — ships. There is no reason in the future why Anstralia or New Zealand should not build airships within their own borders, the components being supplied by England. ‘he fact that your Government has asked for the survey we are now carfrying out will assist in the speed of development of airship services to New Zealand when the proper moment arrives. WHAT COMFORT FOR PASSENGERS? To leave policy and come to matters of more immediate material intcrest you will probably like to know the sort of accommodation — airships will afford. The passenger accommodation in the two experimental ships we are now building will comprise 50 two-berth cabins. A South African member of Parliament remarked to ime that supposing you did not like your fellow passenger, his disposal should be easy, but 1 think he was optimistic as the floors will be very. strong. ‘here will be a large lounge 60 ft. by 40ft., a diningroom to seat 50 and a small smoking room, two enclosed promenades and the other usual conveniences. Water for washing purposes will naturally be limited, but we are probably putting in shower baths in the first ship. ‘The food will be couked on electric stoves and perhaps some use will be made of the heat from tlie radiators for this purpose. ‘here is no reason that the meals- should not be as satisfying as those served on the ordinary ship. At heights where the air is cold it will be heated before entrance into.the passengers’ accommodation-the normal height for an airship to fly at will be between 2000 and 3000 fect. "I'he period of a voyage between siopping places will not extend to more than three days at the ontside and will generally not exceed two days, the distance covered during the voyage depending on the favourable or otherwise direction of the wind. Comfortable hotels at the stopping places will be

available for baths and meals. DPassenger ships will stop at mooring towers 1or periods of abont six hours when the services are fully organised. Exercise will be obtainable on board, the lounge will provide a remarkably fine dancing floor slung as it is on the joints of the main frames and supported as the ship is in such an elastic medium as the air. A matter which will interest bad sailors is that an airship does not roll to any appreciable extent, floating as she does completely enclosed in: a medium not subject to opposite to the case of a surface vessel floating in the sea which is itself subject to the influence of the air. An airship does, however, _ pitchMightly and rise and, fall "in the influence of another medium, the disturbed air conditions, and this brings us to the all-important subject of: metectology. IMPORTANCE OF METEOROLOGY. Meteorology bears the same relation to airships which pilotage does to surface vessels. With the present development of the knowledge of * the ‘science of meteorology provided the service is available to supply this knowledge,.and provided the system of communication is also available to pass the information to the virship, there is every reason to believe.that airships, once routes are established, will be able, due to their long range, to avoid’ unfavourable weather conditions, and to.make use of winds to increase the speed of their passage. It is literally true to say that unless a sufficient and efficient meteorological service is established throughout the world over the airship routes, their commercial development will be unduly retarded. Tor economic as well as perhaps safe flving, it is not only necessary for the airship to he fully informed of the meteorological conditions of the area it is approaching, but also of the conditions prevailing in the area for at least a thousand miles in rear and on either side of it. ‘To enable this to be done, close co-operation between surface ships and the land must he organised. ‘The airship meteorological division under Mr Giblett is conducting some very important experiments in the interests of airships, and the value the British Government place on these experiments is well instanced by the fact that they are spending more per annum on this division than South Africa is on their whole meteorological service. STRESSES AND STRAINS, Among other things he is doing with an elaborate network of out-door instruments, is the measurements of the factors involved in the structure of wind gusts; this he is doing to enable us to appreciate the stresses an airship is likely to be snbjected to at a2 mooring mast. He is also measuring the variation of temperature of the air stratas within two hundred and fifty feét of the ground for two reasons, One is to discover the flotation conditions the airship will meet when landing, the other the conditions she will have to meet when lving at the mooring tower. Tis diviston is also analysing from the airship point of view the meteorological conditions of the world in these areas which will probably develop into airship routes. In regard to the capacity of — airships to weather the conditions thev are likely to meet in the air, vou need have no doubt about this. They are not only being built much stronger than former ships, but before British airships are allowed to proceed over a route the authorities of both the Old Conntry and the Dominions will no doubt ensure that the airship crews are fully trained to meet all the conditions, and that the meteorological and signals organisations are fully adequate to supply the information that we require. I expect the thought of thunderstorms and tornadoes arises in your

minds, The former: we shall avvil where possible, or pass through or under when necessary, and the latter we will and can avoid, Perhaps you do not realise it, but actually there is available 25 years of experience of airship navigas tion, and during that period the rigid type of airship has been struck by lightning dozens of times without suffering damage. The reason for this immunity is be-canse-the great metal structure of the airship provides an aniple path for

| USE OF TRADE WINDS. _ The importance of the direction of the prevailing winds to airships, such -as the N. and S.Ii. Trades and the westerly winds which prevail in the north and south areas of the northern and southern temperate zones respectively is such that it will decide the direction and location of the routes which airships will follow Tor instance, the route from South Africa to here will go down to about Iatitude 40S. in order to make use of the westerly winds in that area ‘to assist our passage to Australia and the return route would go further North towards the equator to obtain the assistance of the S.If. ‘Trades MODERN MOORING METHODS. I expect you would like to know how an airhip lands and how the passengers get in and out. In the old days, an airship captain, after stopping his ship and adjusting the lift of the ship by valving gas or dropping ballast until the ship had only a very slight tendency to rise, would fly his ship in head to wind and drop a rope ont, from the fore end of the ship; this rope would be seized by men on the ground, -led through a block and the ship hauled down. A number of handling guys would then be dropped from the ship and a party of men from 150 to 350 strong would walk the ship into the shed, and this could only be done on days when there was little wind. Nowadays the captain adjusts the lift of the ship as before and then flics in head to wind towards the mooring tower, a structure of about 200 feet high. When close to the mooring tower and about 800 feet up, he drops a wire out from his nose. This wire is picked up by a couple of men on the ground and connected with a wire lying on the ground the centre of the tower, and out throngh an arm at the top of the tower, and at its other end this wire is led round that has been previously led up through ships, it will have to be a very bad gale indeed, to incommode us in our operetions, and» the whole operation only requires a staff of ten men. A passenger enters the ship in the following manner, Ie enters a lift at

the bottom of the tower; he is taken up to the top in this lift; he steps on to a platform surrounded with a high rail enclosed in canvas. From here he steps up through a’ covered-in gangway into the centre passage of the ship, and from thence into his cabin-a great.deal more comfortable and inxurious methed than they have yet invented for getting on board a ship. , HOW MUCH THE FARE? It will interest you to know the prices airships will charge. of course, it is only possible to make an approximation at present, as we do not know how much of the overhead charges of the bases and necessary organisation, ete., will be borne by the operating companies, and how much by the local authorities. However, we think, at first, commercial companies will haye to charge about 25 per cent. over the existing first-class fare by steamship, but we expect these rates to fall below the steamship fare later on. As far as letters are concerned, 6. an ounce should be an ample charge, and I understand bnsiness men would be willing to pay five times as much as this to get their mail home in twelve instead of thirty days. You all know how iuterested your Government is in getting the time of communication. between New Zealand and Iingland shortened. They realise that the nnit of space between places is time, not distance. The reason that, during the last thirtv years, they have not been able to reduce the time of passage at all, and it is a remarkable fact that this has not been possible, in that it is not possible to increase the economic speed of the steamships on the route-Kngland to New Zealand-withonut incurring an altogether disproportionate expense. Hence the opportunity afforded to airships, who by virtue of their possession of an economic speed nearly four times that of the existing steamship.,. and due to the fact that they also have sufficient lift to transport exactly the type of traffic which can, and is, willing to pay for speed of transit, that is, passengers, mail, gold, etc., they can fill the gap left by the steamship transport. , NO RUSH PROGRAMME. I would like you all to realise that, in order to succeed with our airship programme, we must make laste slow- ly. It would be most unwise, from many points of view, to attempt to rush the commercial development of airships. If Australia and New Zealand are, in 1980, or soon after, ready for the first demonstration flight, you will not have lost any time, as we could not come to you before then. Ships take time to build, at present about eighteen months each, reduced rates, and each ship requires a shed to be built in. We think we shall require a total of twenty sliips in all to maintain a bi-weekly service to India, tri-weekly to Egypt, and weekly to Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Four on the Indian route, eight on the Australia and New Zealand route, five on the Sonth African route, and three on the Canadian route. To carry this service there would require to be in England four sheds and seven towers; in Australia, ove shed and three towers; in New Zealand, one tower; and in Canada, one .tower; in South Africa, one shed and two towers; Fievpt, wo towers} India, one shed and three towers. The number of intermediate towers required we do not know yet. Finally, if this estimate of the _ possibility of airships is mot exe aggerated, the future will prove that the two great egg-shuped structures now building in Enge land contain the germs of a truly epoch-making development in world amenities,