AIRSHIP IN STORM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20721, 14 November 1930, Page 12

AIRSHIP IN STORM.

« ROLLED LIKE STEAMER." DINNER SWEPT FROM TABLE. EXPERIENCE OF THE RIOO. A graphic account of the storm met by tho airship TSIOO during its recent flight to Canada, arid the way in which it " rolled like a tramp steamer in a rough sea," is given in a letter from one of the airship's officers received Jjy an Auckland resident. No trouble was encountered until within 150 miles of Montreal, tho letter says. When passing the inouth of a river flowing into the St. Lawrence, the ship received a terrific gust broadsido on, and the officer commented that it was tho only occasion ho had known an airship to roll. Ho said that such was the force exerted on the ship that a portion of the covering was torn. About 30 square feet on tho port stabilising fin was found to be in ribbons when an inspection was made, but a sparo sheet of fabric was spread over the hole and it remained in position. The repair had only just been completed and the airship was running quietly above tho St. Lawrence toward Montreal, when it encountered a thunderstorm, the letter continues. Tho airship was flying at about 1200 ft. at the time, and a strong upward current of air created by the storm lifted the ship quite gently at first on a fairly even keel to 3000 ft. Tho current then got under the tail fins and tilted tho nose down at an angle of about 25 degrees. The ship went on rising with tho nose down, to 4000 ft. "The passengers had just sat down to dinner when »this occurred, and it can be imagined what a clatter and rattle there was as crockery, glass, soup and everything shot off tho tables across the saloon," the letter continues. The officers said that a tin of "dope," which is the preparation with which aircraft fabric is treated, was unfortunately upset just above the control car, and tho contents spilled through the flooring into the wireless cabin. As "dope" is very inflammable the electric light had to be cut off in the wireless cabin bo that the occupants of the cabin were in darkness while the ship was still at a steep angle. After tho ship had righted itself, some five minutes later, it was found that the plane that had been repaired temporarily had weathered the storm without any damage, but tho other one had two slits in it, each 20ft. long. It took another four hours to get this sewn up and patched, and by this time the ship was over Montreal, which was a wonderful sight at night with its myriad of lights. Tho home trip was uneventful.