"NULLI SECUNDUS."

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13602, 22 November 1907, Page 8

"NULLI SECUNDUS."

THE BRITISH '• AIRSHIP.

SUCCESS AND DESTRUCTION.

[FIIOSI OUt OWN COIUU'.SrON-DEN'T.]

< London-, October 11. On ' Saturday last the military airship, " Nulli Secundus" travelled from Aldershot to London at tho rate of about 24 miles an hour, the journey being made as a stability and endurance trial, with the object of ascertaining how long that airship could remain at work in the air, and it- gave a notable exhibition of its capabilities. When released it, rose steadily on au even keel, nd, after making a few curves to test the steering apparatus, settled into a northeasterly course. It was anticipated that the airship would reach London at about one o'clock. The distance, however, was covered in less time, and before 12.30 it was seen circling round the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, having previously passed over the War Office The (streets were crowded with people watching * ho progress of the airship, which at many points came so low that it was possible to see something of the working of the mechanism and the movements of the occupants, Colonel Capper, Mr. Cody, and Lieutenant Waterlow. It passed over Buckingham Palace and its grounds, and manoeuvred above the lawn on which the King occasionally holds reviews, this being a rehearsal of the visit to bo paid on October 14, when His Majesty was to inspect the airship. Travelling eastward. " Nulls Secundus" made a wide circuit of St, Paul's Cathedral, and afterwards, heading against the wind on the return journey, it was under complete control, but the' wind was rather strong, and when over Clapham Common the course was altered for Sydenham. Oyer the ground of the Crystal Palace the airship was put through a series of; manoeuvres, these -extending over a period-of about- ftquartcr of an hour. Then it was lowered to the ground, its final position being in the centre of the cycle track. The descent was to- the entire satisfaction of those in charge. When the airship touched the ground it was at once secured in position bv means of ropes, and guarded by* a party of Royal Engineers, who arrived shortly after. * . , In the evening Colonel Capper received a number of press representatives at the Crystal Palace, and made a statement relating to the voyage of the airship. It had, he said, fully" come up to all their expectations. It had made the journey at the rate of about 24 miles an hour. They would have descended at Clapham Common but for the fact that there were too many people on the Common, and consequently they decided to alight at the Crystal Palace, where it was quieter. The journey from Clapham to Sydenham occupied only a few minutes. "Colonel Capper added that they would have been able to return to Farnborough and Aldershot that night but for the strong wind prevailing, as the. airship, under the conditions existing during its voy»go to London, could have gone on for 24 hours. Colonel Capper expressed the liveliest satisfaction with the voyage of "Nulli Secundus*' on what, as he emphasised, was a purelv experimental trip. As they crossed Whitehall tho altitude of the airship was 850 ft. 'That, however, was not by any means the highest point ; which was reached;" the baDcon at one point rising to an altitude of 1300 ft." ■■■'■■*■-

THE SHIP IX A GALE. When they. M-ere going over London, Colonel Capper found that the airship was travelling at a faster pace than that at which they had been travelling. "We turned round St. Paul's," said Colonel Capper, "and - headed away for Kennington Oval. When we got there wo found that the balloon began to slow down very, much, and as we continued toward Clapham Common wo found the wind increasing steadily. Over the Common the wind was ' m o great that wo came almost to a stop. Wo stopped over the Common abou;, half-an-hour, tailing about, and sometimes actually stopping. Coming with the wind to the palace -the- angle at which the airship travelled relatively, to the direction of the breeze was diagonal.-- It was not broadside on." Replying to : questions, . Colonel ,;■ Capper »id that nominally the horse-power of the engines was 40 to 60 miles an hour, but ihey ran. on about a3O horse-power. The distance covered was 50 miles, and the speed at one point was somewhere about 40 miles an hour. . That was when tho airship was travelling .from Claphara to tlv palace. » Speaking ): of-'.' his sensations,. Colonel Capper remarked that it was better .to be travelling in an airship than motoring on the roads, there ' being no speed limit and no dust. He volunteered the information that the engine was of French construction. He regretted this fact as a Briton, but he hoped that the nation would be able to compete with the French in constructing that part of the airship's mechanism. Mr. Cody mentioned that ordinary petrol was used, and that the engine ran at the rate of 1100 to 1200 revolutions a minute. Ballast was carried, but as far as this trip and the previous flight were concerned there had been no occasion to use it.; ;:i ; :. Colonel Capper added:— We do not pretend that this is . a first-class man-of-war of the air, but we have at least learned how an airship is to be managed, and we know, more or less, what is wanted. For •a first attempt, and with a gas bag, made five years ago by Colonel Templer, I think it is quite satisfactory in comparison with what foreign nations have done in this direction. We have done more at least than the French did at their first attempt, and I think if you consult the records you will see that we have remained longer in the air than any other airship has done. We should have had no difficulty in keeping in the air for another six hours. With this wind freshening we might have gone a very long way. All we wanted, however, was to prove that we are capable of running many miles in tho air." It was also stated by Colonel Capper that there had been no* leakage of gas. Regarding tho future of airships, the same authority i'aid: 'I think that very much higher speeds and very mnch better., results are merely a question of money. As time goes on we shall be able to face heavy weather. At present we are in our infancy, end we can only encounter light winds."

WHEN THE TROUBLE BEGAN. It was after the completion of her first outward journey that the real trouble of the new airship began. In the first place it was proved impossible to start her on her return journey from the Crystal Palace to Farnborough, because she had got wet! Rain had fallen and soaked her. Liability to be reduced to. total incapacity by a passing shower seems at the first blush a slight drawback to the new michine. However, such was the case. The "'soaked airship remained peacefully at rest ~UUtil yesterday morning, when a strong y' southerly.gale sprang up. "Hooray! This '11 soon dry her!" was the cry. It did! But it destroyed her in the process. The ihip was thoroughly dried, but also was blown to bits. She had, been pegged down for the night, and remained peacefully at her moorings until 8.30 a.m. yesterday, when the sudden gale gave the sappers on guard cause for alarm. Tha airship strained in an ominous manner, pulling at her ropes as if in a frenzy Then a squall caught her, and breaking away some of her stays she appeared to be doomed. She humped and pulled and churned about but the sergeant in charge of the sappers under him kept'their head.-,, and held like grim death to the loosened ropes, and word having already been sent to the palace authorities, were in a lew minutes joined by some 30 or 40 workmen from different parts of the ground. As soon as >" possible the valves of the envelopes wore V/ opened, but »th such a gale to contend ;^ ; W with it. was evident that there must be a more : rapid outlet of gas. This was ef- ;; • fected by icing a sharp knife to a pole, ■uM then shoving it into the envelope at one end, the men still holding on to the ,* other end. Thus deflation was accomfMPVshcd~£s7s worth,..: of - hydrogen-' gas 4sfe&Vi T Woldabl y > as led-but ■ conflfeS ll*T*P. WIUS doiieto the frameiff &i lhnmi » W and the rest of L' $* M,m y o! the iwi- were L ■ Mopped, others were twisted, and some bek ,-:

came uncoupled. Piled up later ou they looked neither more nor less than a heap of scrap. One of the propellers was bent, the boat Buffered somewhat, but the engines were little,-if any, the- worse. The wreckage was very soon cleared, Captain King, of the Royal Engineers, ■ having. arrived in the meantime, and when Mr. Cody hurried on to the ground he found everything ready for removal to Faraborough. The groat goldbeaters' skin envelope was neatly parcelled up; the engines, which the engineer naturally inspected after he had noted tho injured propeller, were lying on the track; and the serapheap already alluded to was but a few yards away. "It was not a pleasant sight after the great expectations that had been held out, but some lessons will have been learned.

Though the Bight had its pathetic phase (hero was also something irresistibly comic in the sight of the mighty and gorgeous vanquisher of the air lying; rolled up like ait exaggerated "gamp." However, "better luck next time" may reasonably bo looked for. Meanwhile the collected remains have been sent buck to Aldershot on a motor lorry. OTHER AIRSHIPS READY.

Already two other smaller airships are ready in waiting at Farnborough to bo used", if need be, to complete trie trials which have already token place. These dirigibles have only been built for the purpose of finding out defects. There is now in course of erection, and it is nearly completed, an airship which will be much larger and more powerful than no so-called Nulii Secundus, which thus will be badly miscalled. The new vessel, which will be out before many days arc past, will be nearly twice as large and powerful. All tho defects which had been noticed in the old craft, and all the lessons learned from her work in the air, will bo remedied or utilised in the new vessel. It will be sufficiently large to carry a crew of six, ai.d whereas the old airship* was only intended to progress against a wind of less than 16 miles an hour velocity, the pertected machine is expected to contend t with a wind of at least 30 miles an- hour. Colonel Capper and Mr. Cody have been hard at work during the time the first airship lias been making ascents on the fabric of the larger vessel, and*, they hope to do very much better withAthe improved article. Their one ambition is to get in front of Franco and Germany in the matter of dirigibles. Colonel Templer, speaking to an interviewer yesterday afternoon, remarked: "We shall give "you a really goon show next time." .He" strongly deprecated the idea that the airship had been a failure. "I am not disappointed at all," he said. "Tho experience winch was wanted wc have gained. It is in no sense a catastrophe. Indeed, if the ship had gone back to Farnborough instead of lying up hero at the Crystal Palace, we should have lost much valuable knowledge. Wo have learned, for one thing, that the balloon cannot stand in tho open. It must be protected from the weather, and there must bo. a stronger team of men to look after it. What is wanted is shelter beneath tho balloon to prevent the wind from driving it up, as it nearly did. to-day." Asked whether in the future he thought the balloon would be able to take means of shelter with it, he replied that ho thought it would. Captain King, of the Royal Engineers, said the experiences of the past few days would servo to induce the authorities to adopt a still lighter form of machinery for the airship.