Soaring over London.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13462, 7 December 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

Soaring over London.

ARMY AIRSHIP, A SPLENDID SPECTACLE. XULLI SECUXDUS RESTING AT CRYSTAL PALACE. ("Daily Chronicle" October 7th.) Britain's first army aiisliip, "Nulli Secundus," made a succu-sfi.il trip from Farnborougli to London on Saturday, carrying Col. Capper and Mr Cody. It circled St. Paul's, manoeuvred over Buckingham Palace, and descended in the grounds of the Crystal Palace like a falling leaf." Weather conditions were favourable, except that a wind was encountered over London. The journey was made at an average height of,Booft., and a/ speed of 15 to 16 miles an hour. Ten gallons of petrol were consumed. The distance covered is estimated at between 50 and 60 miles. » ASTONISHED LONDON. The airship's appearance on Saturday was an unexpected treat to Londoners, for the trip had not been officially announced. Men and women stood in groups at the street corners and strained their eyes to watch the movements of a strange monster in the sky. Not till it came more hear was it recognised as ,the " Nulli Secundus." It lias been said that one of the seven most beautiful, things in the world' is a ship in full sail moving over glistening waters. If there is anything that/ can compare 'to such a sight it mxast. be a ''gracefully modelled airship skimming through blue skies, turning hither and thither at the will of its master, 5 and descending easily/and swiftly at any chosen spot. It was the beauty of the spectacle that fascinated the Spectators on Saturday.. The " Nulli Secundus " left Farnborougli (Aldershot) at 10.40, with Colonel Capper, the War Office ballocth expert, at the rudder, and Mr Cody, the authority upon kites, in charge of the machinery. From Staines came thefirst new* that the .ship was making for the capital, and later Richmond telegraphed her appearance over the town. Then Brentford took up the tale, and before long the crown in the neighbourhood of. Hyde Park 'greeted her. It was 12.30 when the ship thus; hovered over London. From the park the ship passed over Buckingham Palace, where it rehearsed a - demonstration which it. is proposed to give over the heaid of tlie. King after His Majesty returns'from Scotland. -

The machine was all the time apparently under perfect control. From one of the windows of the-War Office a group of distinguished officers, including members of the Army Council, w-atclied the ship as.it cam,e over the houses of Parliament and Whitehall with an eye t6 its capabilities if it were equipped■•with light torpedoes, such, as the French • airship "Lebaudy" call carry. >

From the War Office "Nuili Secundue" passed over the National Liberal Club, the terrace of which was crowded with members at the time. At this point her altitude was quite 1 the whirring of the prbpeller could be faintly hoard. ">■*. ' . To tlicee in the neighbourhood of St. Paul's Cathedral -was given the privilege of witnessing the prettiest spectacle of the voyage. Easily and gracefully, and with a gentle dipping motion, the vessel was turned round the bilding, and here a cheer was .-raised by the spectators; At Clapham Common a strong wind was encountered, and the ship wars observed to "yaw" considerably. It came to a pause for, a, moment or two. and then turned' towards the-/Crystal' Palace at the highest speed attained during the trip. ; , ALIGHTED LIKE A BIRD. . The airship was seen approaching the Crystal, Palace about -1:30. Mr Stan-, the manager, went up into the North Tower, and waited its .arrival. ;It quickly came within apparent hailing distance'"of the tower, and Air-Starr shouted through a megaphone: " Gome in and have lunch." .The. distance was deceptive, howev-v and the .invitation wiirs unheard; But the airship sounder her syren as an indication that .she.- intended toVdescehd.- -' A great cheer went up 'from the crowds below. Then, the ship .gently'sank to earth, and rested in the middle of the cycling track " like a falling 'leaf."' . In the words of Mr Starr, "She came down: as, gracefulyl as/a bird descending to its nest. Her- impact/ with the ground would-not have broken an egg." • , ,Mr Starr sent a. force of nren to yr-sist Colonel Capper; and the ship was -moored, -on the cycle ground. Colonel Capper-and Mr Cody stepped out, arid soon the plates were- rattling in tho luncheon rooni. v AERONAUTS fNTRRVIKWEDColonel Capper gave the " Daily Chronicle" representative ail of his journey. " Most ol" ou-r iourney was done at the height of about ' 800 feet, although at one time we reached 1,300 feet,- and' dropped over Clapham : Common mostly, At the start the pilot balloon that we sent up showed that there was no wipd> at all. After we had /started we struck a, light breeze, about, j I should say, four or five miles an hour-/which'Was with us. . " The wind/i mn-t have increased in force, for we seemed to go over London at a greater speed. When we had - turned,, we made for. Clapham Common, but the head-wind- had,-increased so much that we made practically, .no progress... •• "At one timer we. thought of coming down pri the common, but we decided that the crowd might be too great, to be -pleasant-,.. so we soiight- the hospitality of the Crystal Palace;' " WE CAN HOLD OUR OWN." " And may I ask what you have learnt from it?" " Just this :. . That we have got. a de-slow-speed airship which we can navigate if tlie wind i<s not too strong. We are trying to perfect a military airship, which shall be of some practical use." " And do you think you have sue-; i ceeded ; j " Yes, 1 think we may say that wc have. Of course, I don't mean to say that we i-can go in the teeth of >a strong wind — yet. And a wind blowing at twenty miles i an hour would he a gale to our vessel." "And what-was your speed to-day ?" "Tliat is mainly guess-work, but 1 should say about fifteen or /sixteen miles sari hour, withi .no wind. That is. to eay, we hrive aji liirship that will, travel at the rate of sixteen miles an hour in a calm ,which can be steered, and which can be raised audi depressed at will without the use of ballast: Jf we meet a breeze of fifteen mike an hour we can just hold our own, and icari select a nice quiet harbour in which to come to anchor—as we* have done to-day. •" We cannot, tack like a ship at sea, because we have not- a strong fulcrum to 'work against, as we should have against the water. "But, af!<T all, the great fact is that we have succeeded ill getting an airship which -is dirigible, and we can bring her down in safety, when we want to do so,in a quiet spot, ready to go on- again when the wiild is favourable —-like boats running into harbour in the face of a storm. I " AS TIME GOES ON."

" As time goes on we shall bo able to stand heavier vraifher; but we shall have to that increased power means increased! weight*, find tliut. we cannot lift this increased weight to any useful purpose at present.""Anrl what) of your crew of two;? ' " I t6ok die steering wheels" said Cal-

onel Cai.)per, " and Mr F. S. Cody had charging of the lifting apparatus. Our engines were running part of the time at about forty horse-power. They weie, I am tony -to say, made in Fiance. The fans make about 1,000 or 1,200 revolutions a- minute. We carry some ballast, in case we should find that the •aeroplanes ceased to act.

"'■ Our experiments have shown i;s what is wanted. Wo do not pretend that what Ave have done to-dav is anything firstclass, but we do say it is satisfactoiy as a first attempt—with a gas bag nuade live, years ago by Colonel Templar. We eou'.d have stayed up for another . six hours, and we were able to select our own spot in which to come down. We have got a ship, which in fair weather its cap .line of running, a fair distance in. the air.'' Discussing the question of navigating his ail-ship at night, -Colonel Capper Kite] : " I should not have the slightest hesitation in doing this if it were necessary, and 4he. wind was favourable. "I t-lnu'c we may claim," he added, " to have d un: more tliau Ihe French ever did, until f hey got La Patrie. I reckon we have done eighty kilometrera to-day. The record so far is 200 by Zeppelin . We could' have gone as far had the conditions been favourable." j

The "Nulli Secundus" is cigar shaped, about 100 feet long, with balloon made of gold-beater's skin; propelled by a 50 h.p. motor; capacity 30,000 feet; 'speed, 15 to 16 miles an hour in a calm. Count Zeppelin's late,st German is 417 feet ' long; capacity 300,000 feet, an alluminium case containing 16 gas bags; and driven by two 85 h.p. motors; he got up a speed of 31 miles an hour.