AIRSHIP TRAVEL

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 48, 25 August 1930, Page 10

AIRSHIP TRAVEL

SMOOTH AND PLEASANT

BRITAIN'S NEW CRAFT

MANY BIPEOVEMENTS

The great progress being made in airship design was noted by Mr. R. Campbell Begg, of "Wellington, during his visit to England and Germany. Mr, Begg returned to Wellington by the Makura to-day.

"In England," he stated, iv an interview, "I had the opportunity on two occasions of visiting Cardington, the home of the two large British airships RIOO and 8101, on the second occasion as the guest of Colonel Bichmond, the designer of ElOl, which represents the first departure from the Zeppelin model of airship. Many new features of construction have been employed in this ship. Tor the first time in airship construction, the individual components lof the framework are bolted together instead of being riveted, thus giving far greater facility for repairs in case I any part of the structure is bent from \ excessive strain. In all the older ships the damaged part had to be hacked away and tho new portion riveted, whereas in RlOl it can be simply unbolted and replaced by a spare part. Richmond has taken all the pasßenger accommodation up into tne 'cigar/ and installed it amidships where it is approached by a 'catwalk' from the mooring mast through the nose, instead of using a projecting cabin as te\ the Graf Zeppelin, which increases the air resistance to the extent of involving the addition of several tons of fuel consumption on a long journey. The only projection from the streamline cntour in RlOl is a small control cabin amidships. To such an extent is the question of air resistance of importance on airships that even the ladders leading from the main structure to the gondolas are made to fold to avoid the air pressure on the rungs. THE MOORING MAST. "It is to the great credit of the British designers that they evolved the mooring mast instead of being compelled to land on the ground. The latter operation requires the services of 200 men and requires very calm weather, whereas with the mast a crew of 16 is sufficient and the ship can be made fast in all weathers. Another feature of general interest is that for the first time our ships have been fitted with septic tanks and a water flushing system —a great improvement from a sanitary point of view. "My trip from Bedford in England to Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance in the Graf Zeppelin greatly impressed me with the future prospects of airships as a medium for long-distance travel. The smooth, gliding motion on a horizontal plane, the absence of rolling, and the almost imperceptible pitch, together with the freedom from noise, and ability to move about freely are features which will commend airship travel as ths most comfortable form of transport. I am told that air sickness is unknown in an airship. The trip itself was of great interest. Not only did we circle three* times over London, getting a perfect view, but we also flew very low over Zeebrugge, where the Mole and all the features made so historic in the English naval attack could be followed as on a chart. A FLYING ENTENTE. "Dr. Eckener, iof the Graf Zeppelin, kindly invited me to a dinner he gave in Friedrichshafen, at which all the officers of the airship, all wellknown war veterans, were present, as well as the leading men in the English aeronautical world. The dinner was in tho nature of a flying entente between the two eountriss, and the toasts, 'The President of the Gorman Republic,' proposed by the Master of Sempill, the president of the British Aeronautic Club, and 'The King of England,' proposed by Dr. Eckener, were very striking features.

"The terrible losses in.material and personnel which the German airship men suffered during the war is .little known. There were 95 Zeppelins built, of which 85 were destroyed through weather conditions and enemy action, with all their officers and crew. Five ships were burned at Priedrichshafen in their sheds by an Allied agent." >