A SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13727, 17 August 1908, Page 5

A SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT

LONDON. Augii&i 15. Colonel Capper, commandant of the balloon school at Aldershot, in n new military dirigible airship, attained a height of 1000 feet, and demonstrated the control of the machne, making it describe the figure eight.

[Secret experiments in ballooning have been carried out at Aldershot undor the superintendence of Colonel J. K. Caype-r, C.8., Royal Engineers, wh,Q has under him seven officers, one warrant officer, seven sergeants, two trumpeters, 127 rank and file. Tho military balloons are made of gold-beater skin, and are usually inflated wi^h pure hydrogen gas. The^fine material used in the construction of balloon cover obviates a great waste of gas, and as a rule the aeronauts carry with them zinc shavings and sulphuric acid for the purpose of replenishing the supply for a second trip in emergencies. There are no great secrets about the airships as regards their general construction, and anyone with a practised eye might, by merely looking over them, note the details of their construction. Writing of the French war balloons, the- Paris correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph states that thero is only one secret in 'the matter, and that is tho scientific calculation of M. Julliot concerning the metallic armatitre and the "empennage," as he calls it. This is the basis of the airship's stability, and M. Julliot alone knows thh secret. It is a matter, however, which may be calculated by other scientific engineers, provided they devote themselves to it as long as he has done. The resistance of the nickel-plated steel tubes is also more important than is generally supposed. If these are ever so little heavier than required, or only a trifle too light, the lifting power or strength of, the airship may be seriously impaired. The limits between the two extremes are very narrow indeed, and must be calculated to a nicety. On the other hand, the stability of the airship is a still more important matter, and here M. Julliot. with his so-called "empennage," has solved the question as no other engineer has done. This was fully recognised by the German experts. When tfrey heard of the success of the French airships and of the decision of the Government to apply them to military purpose, it was quite natural that Germany should be on the alert.]