AVIATION

Evening Star, Issue 17086, 3 July 1919, Page 6

AVIATION

BRITISH AIRSHIP R 34 STARTS TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT. KMI MET OPF IRISH COAST. Proas Association—Bj Telegraph—Copyright Australian and ST.Z. Cable Associ-atioti. LONDON, July 2. It ;■ a»«<:t«l that .airship R i 4 will start the 'Transatlantic flight at dawn today. Latex*. Airship 11 34 left the aerodrome- on her Transatlantic flight at 3 o'clock this morning. (Received July 3, at 9 a.m.) The British military airship R 34, on a. Transatlantic flight, <sent a wireless message at 3.25 a.m., when off the. Irish coast, stating that fog had been encountered. At 3 i».ni. tho airship's position was 55deg 20min north lOdeg 40min west. Tho Average speed was 45 knots as hour. [Tho two mammoth .airships, K 33 and r"34, were constructed for the Admiralty by Armstiimg, YVhitworth and Co. in Yorkshire, and by Beardiuo.ro and Co. on the Clyde, respectively. They did their first trial flight* early in March. Ix> was originally intended that R 33 should first e**av tho Atlantic flight, and for that -purpose *he >.vr,s fined with 26 additional petrol tanks, making a total of 87, so as to travel for 83 hoars' continuous flight and attain at threo-ijuartar speed 50 miles an hour. Colonel Hicks conducted the uut].i of loth airships, whose cre-wk, besides four officers, numbered 23. Tho airships arc upwards of 700 ft long. As tit© size of airships increases so does t-hair ehieienev. Any she presents no difficulty from the handling point of view, for while at present -tk\v are- housed in hugeand co.,Hy shods, which are one- of tho principal "items in tho overhead charges, in. tho future ihey will b-e moored out to num.-, in the opci. Concerning R- 33 the " Times' aenuiauticul correspondent v.-j-oto :--•" She- is by far the largest airshit) thai- has been"built in Britain, her one rival being a sister ship (R 34) that is n-ear.hi-g completion on tho Clyde. This great .structure of duralumin, 670 ft long and 80ft moan diameter, carrying four gondolas and fitted with five engine?, each of 250 li.p., weighs less than 30 tons, with it« 3 19 hallounott-es filled with hydrogen. It displaces 60 t>>ns of air, and therefore, besides its o-vn weight, it can lift another 30 tons. If her cruising speed should prove to be 60 miles an hour, she will tie ablo to keep the air for 80 hours and have a cruising of 4.800 miles. The south&i'P. route lo America, which is the more favorable for the outward journey, is something like 4.000 miles, and the R 33 would" therefore have a margin of power for contingencies. The speed of tho airship is derived from five engines, Sunbeam-Maori typo. One is placed at the back of the forward, or navigating, gondola. Kach of the- touring gondolas halfway along the body of the ship has a, similar engine, while the rear gondola, has two that are coupled together to drive a large propeller. The wcw of 23 men will have, some comfort,-; that no earlier airship has afforded. They will, for one thing, have warm meals, because the hot wafer from the engine radiators will be used to heat cooking pots, and it is declared that it will be posible to fry eggs and boil potatoes. The 833 is the first airship to carry parachutes, which are. to an airship what lifeboats are to a steamer.] SEAPLANES V. AIRSHIPS. {Delayed in Transmission.) NEW Y'ORK, June 29. (Received July 3, at 10.50 a.m.) Commander Read, of NY" 4. interviewed, said the best machine with which to fly the Atlantic is a seaplane, equipped with not- less than four engines. Commercial Transatlantic flying, however, will best bo done by dirigibles. MAPPING EASTERN ROUTE TO AUSTRALIA VIA INDIA. TOXDOX. July 1. The ' I>aily Telegraph's ' Calcutta correspondent reports that General Barton, the Air "Ministry's representative, after a. three months' surveying tour, is' enthusiastic regarding the prospects of an aerial post to India and Australia. Stages 400 miles apart will be established. The survey has reached a point 300 miles northward of Australia, where it linked tip with tho Commonwealth survey.