Wonder Airship

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 248, 21 October 1935, Page 2

Wonder Airship

GERMANY’S LATEST LONDON, Sept 28. Though the name of Germany’s new airship, the L.Z.123, is still an official secret,' I am told; sho is likely to bo called the 'Adolf Hitler,” writes a Berlin correspondent of the News Chronicle. A fow days ago I was given the opportunity of inspecting the airship in tho great lial'l at Friedrichshaven, where sho is now moro than half-completed. The engineers hope to put the finishing touches on the ship by the end of November; but it is doubtful whether her maiden voyage will take place beforo tho New Year. I spent nearly an hour in her vast interior listening to enthusiastic explanations of hor technical wonders and the now comforts awaiting her passengers. Though she is not many feet longer than her immediate predecessor, tho Graf Zeppelin, sho has nearly twice the diameter. The skeleton is of duraluminium, and with tho exception of the stern and rubber plates she is now mounted. Her 16 gas bags (each with an outer and inner gas cell) will be filled with hydrogen on the first voyage; but it is hoped that on hci visit to tho United States hydrogen will be replaced with the non-inflam-mable holium.

The most striking change in tho interior design is that, whereas in the Graf Zeppelin the pilot’s and passenger’s rooms are in an after-gondola, the entire passenger accommodation in the new ship will be in the interior of the hull. The engineers have tried to make the comfort of tho air traveller almost as great as that of the passenger in a small liner.

On “B” deck there is- accommodation for 50 passengers —25 small cabins each containing two bunks, supplied with hot and cold water and centrally heated. On the port side is a spacious and lofty diuing room Avitli slanting windows of safety glass, through which the diners can watch the landscape below. On the sido of the ship is a comfortable lounge and a small library and writing room. In the centre there is a cocktail bar at the entrance to the first smoking room ever built into an airship. The passengers arc not allowed to smoke in any other part of the ship, and in this small smoking room, the walls of which are of special fire-proof material, tobacco and matches are retained in compartments with the owner’s namo or number.

Outside the smoking room an attendant will be on guard to see that no one passes out with a lighted cigarette, pipe or cigar. The electric kitchen is of the most modern type. Tho passenger section is arranged in two decks and there is a gangway and a broad staircase for the passage from one dock to another.

The ship is to be run by four Diesel engines (giving a total of 4500 horsepower), each of which is to be contained in a gondola. The gondolas arc attached to the hull by means of steel girder framework and steel cables of enormous strength. For short cruises, in addition to the crew of 35 which is to bo accommodated on the lower deck amidships, the number of passengers can be increased to 100.