A TRIP IN AN AIRSHIP.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17316, 30 November 1921, Page 5

A TRIP IN AN AIRSHIP.

NEW ZEAIANDER'S EXPERIENCE IN THE E33. I (?EOM OUR OWN CORRESPOOTEfM LONDON, October 19. Mr W. S. Vernon (lately assistantProfessor of Physics, Auckland University) has been employed for some time in research work in wireless for- avialion purposes. In the course of his duties he was sent up to Pulham to bonduci efccperiments on tho airship R33. but when he and his colleague at rived' there they fouryi the ship floating gracefully at the mooring mast. TUey were tiIUS unnbie to carry out their experiments, but they obtained some compensation from the fact that they were invited to take part in A short tour the vessel was about w> make. Mr Vernon has givffn ir.e some impressions of that trip, whicn nifi} d® of interest, seeing that though man} people have ihe opportunity to tra\ei by aeroplane, it is the lot of comparatively few to experience a flight b} liglitcr-than-air vessels. "The R3'3," said Mr Vernon, is about two years old now, and was built for war service. Naturally it has not the comforts that the passenger ships have. For example, the R3G is beautifully fitted with accommodation for some twenty-five passengers. It has comfortable basket ch.iirs, tables, and bunks —in fact, it is not unkke a Pul--man car. All the cookinjj and heating is done electrically. Tho engines are ill separate gondolas from the passenger cabin, and so one <lces not hear the noise of the engines, and there is 110 vibration. Tho 1(33 has the controlcar in front, with an engine in it, also a port end - starboard engine gondola, and an after engine-room with two engines. The ship is run much as an ocean liner. There are engine-room telegraphs, the captain has a steering wheel, ancl an additional wheel to make the ship fly upward or go downward. One cannot grasp the size of the ship without actually seeing it. It is about 200 yards long, ancl requires two million cubic feet of gas to fill the gasbags. One will see, therefore, that it is as long a 9 a very large ocean liner. "The sheds in which the ships are kept are like large theatres without any dress circles. The roof and sides are all padded, and the sheds are big enough to contain two ships side by side. On the occasion of our trip in the R33 th© weather wa.3 not very good, for it was very windy and dull anu warm. As we left the mooring mast one was reminded of a steamer leaving a wharf. The engine-room and telefraphs rang, til© anchors were unhitched (but were not taken on board), the mooring rope slackened,- and away we went. Our movement was slow at first,, and we rose gradually. We flew at a height of about : 3000ft. The ship can go at sixty miles per hour (air. speed), or with a fair wind up to about ninety miles per hour (ground speed). I was surprised at the steadiness of tho ship. There was really no motion whatsoever, and to me it seemed the ideal way of travelling. There is no sensation of speed, as there is in an aeroplane, and after the first few minutes a passenger feels as if he has been used to air travelling all his' life, / "We gab a .fine view of the country, of cours . We flew over' an old castle with a moat round it, and then over Ipswich, over Felixstowe. , and out to sea. We then turned' round and came in over Harwich and back ;to Pulham. We were in constant communication with Pulham by wireless (telephone and telegraph), and so could • get information from the meteorological station there as. to the direction .and velocity of tho wind n,t different heights, and also the temperature. It is of the greatest importanoe for aja airship, to have reliable meteorological information, and airships liE»ve already.' given a great impetus to that science. "When we got . back to the mast,' continued Mr "the wind: was very gusty, and was blowing .right on to the sheds, consequently we had to fly round about until the landing conditions were more favourable. I got rather tired •of waiting, so had a cup •of tea and had a sleep m one of the bunks.. It seemed rather funny having a sleep so far up in the air. There is plenty of room in an airship to go for a long walkj for under the is a protnpnade the whole length ol the ship, which is known as the 'cat-walk.' If you step off the planking yoti go through the fabric down to the ground, so it is as well to stick firmly to ■ the cat-walk. There is a fine little fleat right at the tail of the ship—it really is a machine-gun cockpit —and b was able to take ft photograph of one of the elevating planes from there. They are huge things on which there seen\s plenty of room to hold a. dance. I may add that the R33 carries about teft tons of petrol. "When at last we were signalled to 'land,' ■we approached the mast and. lowered a rope. This was attached to a wire worked through the mast by a winch on the ground, and thus wg were pulled down to our moorings. The mast' is 120 ft in height, and there is just room to climb up inside. More up-to-date constructions are supplied with a stairoase and a space in the centre large enough for an electric lift.*'