AIRSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Taranaki Daily News, 31 January 1931, Page 1 (Supplement)

AIRSHIP DEVELOPMENT

THE ILL-FATED RlOl

(By

T.C.L.)

The leading Ministers of the Labour Government, as well as the leaders of the Conservative and Liberal parties, courteously met the delegates to the Imperial Press Conference in London in •June, and addressed them. And informative and interesting addresses they proved. 'The speakers dealt with matters of Imperial interest, and demonstrated how formidable were many of the. social and economic problems confronting the Old Country. They also showed how real progress along certain lines was being made. One of the most impressive speakers was the late Lord Thomson, Secretary for Air, whose duty it was to tell the Press representatives what Britain was doing in the development of her aerial forces. For over an hour he stood before the microphone that carried his words all over England as well as to his immediate audience, and fluently and graphically described the great progress Britain was making in this important department of defence. He then compared its work with what other European countries were doing in the same field. He had no notes to refer to—-he was a master of his subject, and set upon set of figures came quickly to his tongue. It was a most comprehensive survey of a fascinating subject, and at the conclusion of his address he was cheered enthusiastically.

A part of the address eliciting most interest was that referring to the experiments with the lighter than air ships, the RlOO and RlOl, which, he claimed, opened up a new era 'in the development of the communications between component nations of the British Empire. He described, with an enthusiasm that was infectious, the design and working of these mammoth ships, and explained how before long there would be regular aerial services established between the Old Land and distant parts of the Empire —to Cairo, across to India and eventually to Australia; from Cairo to Capetown; from England to Canada. He recalled that one of Dr. Eckener’s principal experts, after seeing RlOl, exclaimed with emphasis “That is the safest conveyance in the world, on land, on sea, or in the air!” Alas, so hopeful and buoyant is the mind of man!

The Air Minister subsequently extended to the members of the Conference a warm invitation to visit Cardington and inspect the two airships, an invitation which was gratefully accepted. A few weeks afterwards the visit was paid to Cardington, which is near Bedford, and about sixty or seventy miles north of London. It was a beautiful day, and the trip proved very interesting.

The party was met by members of the technical staff responsible for the design and construction of the RIOI, and by the officers of both vessels. The RlOO was built by. private enterprise and then taken over and improved by the Royal Air Force. Amongst the officers were Colonel V. C. Richmond, designer of the RlOl, Major Scott, .who had piloted both : ships, Flight Lieut. Irwin, captain of the RlOl, and others who were soon afterwards to meet their tragic death in the airship in which they took such manifest pride. They were a set of fine men. Most were young in years but old in aerial experience. They were all keen and enthusiastic, and their spirit was contagious. The pressmen left Cardington feeling' convinced tha't in the domain of aeronautics, as in the other arms of the defence service, ■ there was nothing wrong or behind-hand with England.

The ill-fated RlOl lias been so fully described and discussed since • disaster overtook her and her personnel that it is unnecessary to furnish any details of her construction and achievements, but there are one or two points which might be emphasised. The visitors were sub-divided into sections of about ten and taken over each vessel in turn. Compared with the newer RlOl, the RlOO seemed small and out of date. A great advance seemed to have been made in the building of the RIOI, which was like a Rolls Royce compared with the Ford RlOO.

In the RlOl there was considerable room —dining ajid social rooms, bedrooms, even a bath-room replete with shower, and a kitchen which for efficiency and economy of space must have been a model. It had a special appeal to ihe lady members of the party. All the partitions of the rooms were constructed of strong three-ply wood, as was, the flooring, which creaked as one passed over it. The windows were of mica, and did not appear, 'strong enough to withstand the outside air pressure, but the party was assured by the officers that they were quite strong enough for the purpose.

Inside, the ship was like a gigantic meccano set, with steel, tubular members running longitudinally and horizontally, and braced by steel wires and cables. “If anything,” the late Captain Scott said, “we have built the ship too strongly. We have gone from one extreme of weakness to the other of strength.” He explained that the safety margin was as 6 was to 1, that of the aeroplane being only 2 to 1; in other words, there was six times more strength in the construction of the airship than would be required in any emergency. That margin, he felt, could safely be reduced to 3 to 1. Along the centre of the ship one could walk from one end to the other. The plank was narrow but on each side there was a wire rope that would act as a support in case of need. The interior was studded with gas bags and water bags, the former to give buoyancy, the latter to steady and trim the ship when in movement. The gas bags were made of a fabric of silk and linen, very light, but very tough. It was the chafing of these bags against contiguous steel members that probably caused the gas leakages that led to the wrecking of the ship. Both gas and water bags were operated from the engine room, which was just like the interior of an electric power house station. It was full of handles, levers and electric buttons.

Below the great envelope were the engines, of a new and powerful design, consuming crude oil instead of the more inflammable petrol. The principal source of fire danger in an airship is petrol, and the engineers confidently expected that in the new engines they had found a solution of the airship problem. They reckoned without the, hydrogen in the gas bags. A good deal of experimental work

had been carried out to find the right kind pf material ■ for the-envelope of the ship. This was no easy task, because of the effect of the air expansion, internally and externally, on the skin. This expansion varied, the visitors were informed, with the altitude, the temperature and the weather conditions generally. “We are,” said the designer, the late Colonel Richmond, “just feeling our way. We have learned much, during the past few years, but there is a great deal more we have to learn,, and we can only learn by actual experience, for the work of others is, little or no help to us.” Unfortunately he and his colleagues did not survive their next trial to give the world the benefit of their experiences. ,

The mooring mast is a considerable structure, .and after seeing it one can better appreciate the reason of its great cost. It is equipped with a powerful electric plant which works the steel cables that anchor-the ship-upon mooring. To the end of the ship is at- t tached a cleverly designed coupling which fits into the mooring mast and permits the ship to move around with the wind. When the ship is coupled to the mast a door opens at the end, a platform is run out, and the crew pass on to the top of the mooring mast and thence down the electric lift in the mast, just as one goes up and down, the Eiffel tower in Paris. The wreck of the KIM and the death of practically all her complement came as a tremendous shock to England-. The people were aghast for days. They did not mind so much the loss of the ship, for which they entertained auch high hopes. It was the loss of such * .fine body of men they felt and lamented. Not only was the complete crew lost but a great part—two-thirds, it was stated—bf the airship’s administrative and scientific staff besides the Secretary for Air and the Director of Civil Aviation. These men carried out experiments of great value, not only to Britain but to all countries, and much of the data and knowledge have been lost.

The RIOI was no ordinary airship. There was lavished upon her all that the knowledge, the science, the enthusiasm of a Government department could bestow. Money was not stinted. The airship had been altered and re-altered till she had come, as her designers and sponsors fondly hoped, to perfection. She was a ship of special Government design competing with the Burney, airship RlOO, and competing also—in a different sense—with the German Zeppelins. And all the work, all the hopes, were brought to nought ‘‘in the twinkling of an eye.” It .was foretold in London that the tragedy will stop activity, in airships in Britain for twenty years—and perhaps for ever, unless another line of attack on the great problem can be found without the likelihood of again incurring such, heavy casualties as have attended British" experiments in airship construction during the past ten year#.