FINAL STAGES

Waipa Post, Volume 51, Issue 3695, 9 December 1935, Page 6

FINAL STAGES

THE NEW ZEPPELIN. The new Zeppelin L.Z.129 is now approaching its final stages of completion. It will probably be placed upon the Atlantic routes early next f. year. According to Mr. Geoffrey Smith, ~ managing editor of “Flight,” who inspected the airship at Friedrichshafen 2 in October, the carrying capacity of the L.Z.129 is far greater than that " of any previous Zeppelin, and its floor C space is as much as 4306 square feet '1- —over four times the total of the '.' Graf Zeppelin. One hundred and fifty passengers - may be accommodated, writes Mr. *y Smith in “Flight,” and there is sleep- • ing accommodation for 50 persons in the 25 two-berth cabins, apart from £ the crew, numbering 4S. Each cabin "“has" a wash-basin with hot and cold water and a wardrobe, and there are shower-baths. There are no sides to the cabins, but thin silk material of grey colour is stretched over the metal framework to partition them off. • J r fwo decks have been arranged on Q the lower B deck; on the smaller of y the two there is a smoking room, \j detached from the other compart--4 ments, which co'nsist of a chartroom, officers’ mess, and electric kitchen and lavatory accommodation, while on y the upper or A deck there is a large • room on either side, one the lounge and reading room, the other the dinV ing-room. Between these two rooms which, incidentally, have windows exy tending their whole length to provide y; panoramic views of the scenery, the % series of cabins is arranged and it is '. possible to shut off certain cabins at v the forward end to form a suite. The floors everywhere are of corrugated aluminium 1-16 in. thick, and supported Vby frail-looking but extremely - strong girders, triangulated to iny crease stiffness. ■ Well aft of the passenger accommodation are the quarters for the ft crew, two in each cabin, which are of >‘i small dimensions. A separate messS room adjoins and nearby is a huge T compartment for luggage—large J. enough indeed for an aeroplane or fli cars to be transported as is the inC.. tention when occasion demands. Every room has provision for conditioning - .the air. Hot or cold air may be inh;, duced at will, since the ship is in- -•* tended to visit many lands of widely 2 varying temperatures. The new Zep---;-pelin is 814 feet long.