MARVELS OF BATTLE AIRSHIPS.

Northland Age, Volume IV, Issue 47, 13 July 1908, Page 7

MARVELS OF BATTLE AIRSHIPS.

WILL THE NEXT WAR BE FOUGHT IN THE SKY? How long will it be before the British Army is provided with a fleet of reliable battle airships it is of course, impossible tq say. Judging, however, from the recent 1 performances of that “Dreadnought” of tho sky, the “Nulli Secundus,'' the Army’s first dirigible balloon, there seems every likelihqod that the prophecy of those who assert that the next war will be conducted in the air, quite as much as on land and sea, will become true.

We are by no means the first in the field, although it is claimed for the “Nulli Secundus” that she is a distinct improvement upon the French and German battle airships which, months ago, proved capable of sailing from twelve to thirty miles against the wind, and answered the helm in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. England’s first airship can travel from twenty-five to thirty miles an hour, with her motor not working to anything like its full capacity. Furthermore, we have better engines available, and when certain alterations are made, which will lighten the vessel and cause the balloon to offer less resistance to tho wind, the pace of the “Nulli Secundus,” in its full flight through the air, will be equal to that of an express train.

It is now six years since Colonel Templer, Superintendent of the Balloon Factory at Aldershot, commenced to build this airship. The greatest secrecy has bean observed in its construction, and there are practically only two other men—Colonel Capper, commander of the balloon companies, and Mr. Cody, of kite fame —who know its full capabilities. The motor which is provided with eight cylinders, is of 50 h.p., and capable of driving the two propellers, each 10ft. in diameter and fixed one on each side of the vessel amidships, with such a force that, to quote Mr. Cody, “If you get too near them wheij they are going they raise a hurricane strong enough to blow your trousers over your head.” The French and German military airships possess motors of greater horse-power. “La Patrie,” for instance, which in July last stayed in the air for three hours and attained a speed varying from eighteen to thirty-one miles an hour against and with the wind, is driven by a 75 h.p. Panhard motor, while one of Germany's war airships, the “Parseval,” has a motor of 90 h.p. Another German war airship, the “Gross,” is said to be capable of carrying a battery of automatic rapid-firing guns, a crew of six men, powerful searchlights, and 'of developing a speed of thirty miles an hour.

persons are the full lifting capacity of the “Nulli Secundus,” the whole weight depending on the car, which hangs 30ft. below the balloon. The latter, by the way, is a marvellous piece of work. It is made of .goldbeater's skin, thousands and thousands of pieces a few inches square having been joined together by a secret process known only to very few workers in the factory. The resisting pqwer of this balloon is nearly 21b. to the square inch, although it was only carrying just over 3oz. of pressure when it made its first ascent. Even then, a man could w r alk along the top of the balloon as if he were on an ordinary path. As to the cost of making the

“Nulli Secundus,” no figures are yet available. When it is mentioned, however, that “La Patrie” cost £l2000 to builld, it will readily be understood that it will mean no small outlay to the country to provide the Army v ith a fleet of war airships.— “Tit-Bits.”