ARMY AIRSHIPS TRAILS.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue XXXVIII, 18 April 1910, Page 3

ARMY AIRSHIPS TRAILS.

The success which is now atteuding Colonel Capper's efforts in producing a British airship will result during the present Parliamentary sesssion in a grant of more money. Mr Haldane has always been greatly interested in the work, and is very pleased with the results of the trials of the new vessel at Aldershofc. Money is required for personnel even more than for material, states a writer in the Daily Mail. It is greatly to the credit of the present staff that they proJuced the present airship without much extraneous help. There are, in fact, only seven officers and 100 N.C.0.'3 assigned to the balloon factory, and that number includes all who have charge of the captive balloons and the drivers of the wagons. Men mu3t be trained for airship work and the staff will have to be very largely increased if the British Army is to have a properly equipped department corresponding to those of foreign armies. The surprise is that so much has been done with such a small staff. A new shed will also be necessary, for owing to tbe small size of the existiDgone it will be impoesiple to take out , the airship except in calpa weather. ! Otherwise it might be destroyed agaiast tne walls of the shed. The new system of propellers capable I of being inclined on their axis is aj striking improvement which will be further developed. The experts eogaged on the uaval airship at Barrow are much interested in this matter, and the experiments made will be closely watch edwith the object of introducing into the Barrow vessel the benefit 3 of the discoveries made *- The officials view is that ib is better to try what can be done with airships of the type which was tested by Colon • el Capper this week than venture on larger structures baforamen are trained in the difficult work of navigation