MAMMOTH AIRSHIP

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 103, 1 April 1929, Page 4

MAMMOTH AIRSHIP

' NEARING COMPLETION. LUXURY ACCOMMODATION. It was announced in London last month that only the finishing touches to the structure of RIOO remain to be made before she is ready to undergo her first tests. She lias been under construction at Howderu Yorkshire, for the past two years. Hopes are entertained that 'her “demonstration” voyage to America and back will be possible in the summer. Writing about this sister ship of RlOl, the air correspondent of the London Sunday Times says:— Commander C. D. Burney, M.P., who will command tho vessel, and under whose supervision she has been built by the Airship Guarantee Co., told me that the progress of building the airship had been quite satisfactory, and that, unless some unforeseen hitch occurred, she would be ready to “take the air” very shortly. “It is extremely difficult to give any definite date for her first tests,” he said, “as we cannot foresee the results of her preliminary ‘shed’ tests. If these are as satisfactory as we hope, RIOO will bo launched in the near future. —a matter of weeks—and her Atlantic flight will be made as soon as possible.” ; The RIOO represents a new epoch in airship building, the work having been undertaken with a view to commercial success.

“This experiment with RIOO is on the smallest scale with which commercial success can be reasonably hoped for,” Commander Burney said, “and on this experiment the immediate future of airships must stand or fall.” If the experiment proves successful, and financial support is forthcoming, an oven larger airship is proposed, and it is understood that the Airship Guarantee Company already has plans for a colossal craft with a capacity of nine or ten million cubic feet—over twice the size of RIOO.

One of the greatest aims of the designers of RIOO has been speed, as unless a speed of 110 miles an hour can bo obtained and maintained, the airship cannot prove a commercial success. The new machines, which will be known as the “Atlantic”- type, will be designed for a cruising speed of 100 m.p.h., which will not only allow of a regular Atlantic air service being opened, but will also make the ships considerably safer and diminish the “rolling” effect in the air.

At the same time, the increased speed will make the vessel better able to withstand the vertical gusts of wind, such as that which partially crippled the Graf Zeppelin on her flight to America. 4200 li.p. ENGINES. The RIOO will be driven by six 700-horse-power Rolls Royce engines, carried in three separate engine cars, suspended from the hull of the machine. Sufficient fuel will be carried for the ship to travel 3500 miles with 100 pas-' sengers, a crew of about forty, and a generous allowance of luggage for each passenger. Accommodation for passengers will be in the nature of a cross between a Pulman and a luxury liner; their quarters will be two and four-berth cabins, lounge, dining room, and probably a dance floor. Every room is to be electricaly lit, and cooking will be done on electrical stoves. Below the two floors allocated to passengers will be a third for the crew. These three floors are in a coach slung directly below the hull of the ship, and they will be enclosed by double walls which will prevent the drone of the engines from reaching the passengers. Many requests have already been made by persons who wish to travel to America on RIOO when she makes her first flight, and offers of £IOO for the passage have been made. So far, however, matters of this nature have not been settled. The passage from Germany to America in the Graf Zeppelin was £6OO. NEW ZEPPELIN. , I

It is expected that within the next few weeks work will start on the new giant Germain Zeppelin, LZI2B, which will be approximately the same size as RIOO, having a capacity of 150,000 cubic metres (about 5,000,000 cubic feet). This Zeppelin, for which a subsidy of 2,000,000 marks has been included in the German Budget, will in all probability be used on a projected German trans-Atlantic service, and is being built under the direction of Dr. Eckner, who commanded the Graf Zeppelin.