AIRWAYS OF EMPIRE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 66, 19 March 1925, Page 5

AIRWAYS OF EMPIRE.

NEW ROUTE FLOWN. GENERAL BRANCKEES TOUR. THIS DIMINISHING GLOBE. (By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright) (Received 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, March 18. General Sir William S. Brancker, Director of Civil Aviation, has arrived at Croydon, completing an aerial tour of 17,000 miles to and from Burma for the purpose of investigating the new air route. The machine and engine were unchanged throughout. Sir William Brancker expressed the opinion that the air route to India was commercially possible, and it was only a matter of time and money.—(A. and N.Z. Cable.) A revolution in air travelling, by means of which airships will in future fly more safely and at greater speed, and be capable of being moored to float- j ing bases, was foreshadowed in an authoritative statement made in February. This concerns the new 5,000,000 j cubic feet airship which is being constructed by the Airship Guarantee Co. for the Imperial airshin route. It will be possible to fly from England to Bagdad in two days, to Colombo in four ' da vs. to Fremantle in G* days and to t Auckland in nine days. | The airship, of 5.000,000 cubic feet capacity, is to be built by the State (a distinct ship from that , to be built by the Airship Guarantee Co.) and shows that ?tatnV>s= steel is to be used instead of duralumin for the girder work. The total lift is to bo 155 tons, as against the figure of 152 tons for the other vessel, and the disposal load 75 tons, and 'ii ton-; «h--»ii't bo available for passengers and gtoo-Is on a trip of 2500 miles to Esypt. Tho approximate overall lentrth is to be 720 ft, as compared with 693 ft for the Airship Guarantee Po.'s vo=sr!. ami the mnximi'm diameter inoft, I 2ft I* , !"?. Thr* maximum h<M<?ht is to bo I 1 toft. Crude oil will be burnt in the -ovpn engines of RfX) h.p. each, instead of petrel or kerosene, r> maximum =T>wd of 70 milf>= an hour is estimated for. nnd the hundred jmKiPngprs are to have their accommodation spread ox-cr two rfccks. A party of expert* is fixing the details j for the intermedin te moor'n? mast in Kgypt. and the contract has been let for a mooring mast at Car-Hina-ton. ISO ft high, with electric lift to convey passpngers and (roods to the in th<» nnse of the nirrhiry TTip immprliate aim is to demonstrate that airships can be run on commercial lines to Tndin. with n halt at Earvr>t. and the work of building a base in India, with t b\<7 shefl as a dry dock for airships, will be considered at a conference in Tnrtia this month. In an atmosphere of "'lope." with Its sickly. smeet peaHrop smell, the pirtv visiting Cardington saw the R33 tnwerin? overhead in the half stnsre of bein? reconditioned for exhaustive test= of stresses and surface pressures. R33, however, is only a stage, thonn-h a very ono, to the construction of the h : ? airship which has boon trivpn the offWnl frvpe THimbor of RIW. ' She is to he the experimental whin <->n wWh much of tho aeouTnulated of the last few years is to be t-rert out 'n nnd the <lata thus obtained, tocrethor with a vast amount of efyenil metnT!iir<?i<*al respirrh work now fcpi'nn- carried out in laboratories, the nnrticnlar resesrr-h ivork into the strength of airship e'rrlprs and air«hir> shape and des'jrn. will play a vital nart in settling the final form of the freest airshin vet projected. The airship will embody many striking advances f>n ex'stincr vessel*, end it is a dist'nct stert forward if the fuel can be further rpmovnn , from nptrol by the use of crude oil in a semi-DiPsel tvne of emrine. The r'esi'rn will exhibit marked diversences from previous practice, and devices to improve stability and trim on approachin? and when restin? at the mooring mast are to be incorporated. The engine nronclVrs are to be of Bteel. and fabric sftecisllv marlc for tropical climates will be used in the o-asbasrs. The R33 is pxTvpptod to be ready for her trial flisjhts early this rear, and is to co to Esrvpt in the summer. The assembly of the structure of RIOI is due to beein in July or August. She should be ready for her borne trials at the end of 1026. and the first flight to Tndia. is planned for the lieeinninjr of 1027. by which time the airshin base, eas plant, and dry dock there will be ready.