HOW TO FLY TO AMERICA.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10528, 9 August 1910, Page 6

HOW TO FLY TO AMERICA.

(By Herbert Trench in the London Chronicle.)

I am able to make the interesting announcement of the completion or the designs for an entirely new type of airship. It has been named "Blue Bird." ' The airship has been designed by a famous engineer who is a University professor of engineering. He is ,onc of Count Zeppelin's right-hand meii, and one of his trusted friends. One of ins ingenious inventions is for conveying coded messages in war-time, and is supplied to the British Admiralty. This engineer has crossed the Alps in the air on a trip lasting three clays. I am not at liberty yet to mention his name. This airship embodies all the best features comprised in the -Zeppelin diriI giblcs, in the Patrie and in the Geneva, but its leading features are wholly new. ]n the entire tribe of balloons of the dirigible type the motor has been suspended from a cigar-shaped body enclosing a balloonette and has been suspended at a considerable distance below this cigar-shaped' body. This was the case in" the Patrie, the Liberte, the Republic, Villc de Nancy, and Russie balloons. The result of the suspension of the engine far below the body of the balloon is that the entire centre of resistance to. air-pressure was at too ■ great a distance above the. centre of propulsion. : Jn the Blue Bird airship, Which has been designed for Trans-Atlantic work, the body of the balloon ' is rigid by the singular formation-, which turns the keel as it were into the baek r bone of the airship itself. The airship can carry inside .the keel a crew of ten persons, two engines forward, two engines aft, and on the' tinder side of the keel, which is 160 ft in length, is a 'series of immense petrol reservoirs. This huge ship offers far less resistance, to progress through the atmosphere than any ship hitherto constructed; while owing to its extremely simple design it can carry more power than '-.any other. Moreover, it is manoeuvred with surprising ease' Thes "whole command of the ship is concentrated in the ■hands of the pilot in the centre of the keel, and at his hand are very simple appliances which can, at the touch of u finger, put in or throw out of action, as desired, the motors, propellers, rudder, ventilators, and valves. It was a wonderful sight to watch Mr Kipling's face when the plans of the Blue Bird Airship were laid before him the other day, and to watch the gradual kindling of his enthusiasm. He could hardly believe his eyes, the llovelist's own story had been realised by the engineer. It was a case of Adam's dream. "He awoke and found it true. ' • Now, what are the powers of the Blue Bird Airship for its trans-Atlantic voyage? It can carry five tons of petrol. It can stay eighty hours in the air. It can rise to a height of 10,000 feet above the level of the sea. It has a' maximum speed of fifty miles an hour, and consequently a" radius of action over no less than 4000 miles, without descending, and it • can comfortably carry a crew of ten persons. The next remarkable feature of this airship is that by the construction of its engine it can use cither gas or petrol at the same time or separately; by this means automatically lessening its weight by using petrol (which it carries as ballast) and then using gas to prevent the rise which otherwise the decrease in weight would cause. This reinforcement of petrol by the use of hydrogen gas is an absolutely new feature, and the result of the combination is to increase the radius of action and distance of flight bv no less than onethird.

Another feature; of the Blue Bird airship, is that it is not a/feeted by change of temoeraturo, or hot sun. as have 'been all previous airships. The action of the sun affects the volume of the ;rns: the action of rain overloads the balloon. But in the Blue Bird airship these two effects are compensated by the regulation, in a single apparatus, of the amount of petrol or gas to be burned in the motor. The pilot has .under his hand two entirely independent means, not only of propulsion, but also of rise and fail. What will be the result of the completion of this airship? In the first place it will put us* (if the English Government take immediate action with a view to acquiring it) on the right road for the constructing of a national aerial fleet. It is not generally known that the huge aerial fleet of Germany numbers

no fewer than 18 dirigibles. There are seven Zeppelin, five Parscval, and six others. In France immense sums have | been voted towards the Jaime, Patrie, ! Kepublique, Libertc, Ville de Paris! | etc:., and they are now about to vote | ten millions of francs for the construe- ; tion of a new aerial fleet. In Italy the ; Government have voted ten million lira '■. for an aerial fleet to be constructed on : plans made by Forlianini. Russia is ; making two airships. This gives some ; faint idea of the vast sums that will ; be expended before any one Power obj tains supremacy of the air. I The Blue Bird, which is to be com- ( pleted (in order to obtain facilities for sea-transport) on high ground lying by Falmouth Harbor, is an absolutely ideal aerial cruiser. In every case in which it- has been examined -by engineering experts it has obtained 'unanimity of approval. It is designed primarily for the transport of travellers. Moreover, cruisers of the Blue Bird type will be no less important for purposes of national defence. In a few moments this ship can be transformed into a warship of absolutely infernal power, provision having been made for carriage, in case of need, of a Maxim gnii, and a ton weight of a very high explosive. There will also be a torpedotube in the keel, as in an ordinary tor-pedo-boat, for the emission of torpedoes. These weapons will be of a weight equivalent to the number of extra passengers carried in time of peace. I'ou may ask why the name of Blue Bird is given to this redoubtable engine of './ war. The reply is simple. It was the name given by the maker of dyna-

mite, Mr Nobel. The possibilities of dcstrtiction by tin's aerial cruiser will be so./great that they may .practically cliihiuatc the possibility of war between nations

Blue Bird airships will be incomparable commercial instruments, and, . withal, machines of war so terrible as . to/make war well-nigh impossible. ' "V =======