ZEPPELIN FOR AMERICA.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 30 September 1924, Page 7

ZEPPELIN FOR AMERICA.

COMPLETION IN GERMANY ■ LNDON, Sept. 8. 4, . luxuriantly appointed Zeppelin built m Germany for the United States lias concluded a trial trip of 600 miles, which was covered in ten hours. The Zeppelin will leave for America on October 5.

The new which has been completed^a.t the works of,the Zeppelin Co. at Friedrichshafen, Germany is known for the present as the “Z.R.3.” It is to become the property of the United States as part-of the reparation payments. The “Z.R.3” represents the last word in Zeppelin design, embodying as it does many detail improvements, based on. the-experience gained with the many ships (some hundred odd) built during the past twenty-five years—especially with the commercial ships Bodensee and Nordstern. The United States Navy Department being charged with the developement of rigid airships and complying with the conditions referred to above, entered into negotiations with the German Government and the Zeppelin Company for the construction of a commercial type ,of ship of 70,000. cu. m. (2,472,400 cu. ft.) capac. ity, which, upon its completion, was to be delivered 'by air with a German crew to the U,S. Naval Air Station of Lake, hurst, N.J. All the details in connection with these contracts were completed in June, 1922, and the representatives of the United States Navy Department forthwith took up their residence in Friedrichshafen for the purpose of following the progress of the ship day by day. While in general design the Z.R. 3 (or . L.Z. 126) follows usual Zeppelin practice, there are, as previously stated, many detailed improvements incorporated in its destruction, especially as regards the requirements of a commercial ship parrying passengers, particular attention being directed in matters of strength, safety, and - conveniences of passenger's. . To obtain an idea of the luxurious appointments of the passenger quarters and officers’ stateroom on the Z.R.3, which will have space for thirty passengers, one has' only to recall the equipment on the larger ocean liners. For the officers and passengers on the Z.R.3 there are the same sort of quarters, arranged in a series in the main cabin, which is fixed close to the keel under the forward end of the ship. Recall wartime transportation accommodation for enlisted men and you can picture the crew of the Z.R.3, in all about twenty-four men, their belongings: and themselves stowed away neatly in hammocks and bnnks inside on the keel running all the way along the belly of the rigid. Quarters are geographically located so that the mechanics and others will at all times be near the scene of their duties. It is known that mariy . new instruments and other innovations will he tried out for the first time in actual flight on the Z.R.3’s voyage to America. That accounts for the all-German crew.