AIRSHIPS FOR TRADE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXVI, Issue 17569, 13 May 1919, Page 7

AIRSHIPS FOR TRADE.

AN EXPERT REPORT,

A memorandum prepared by the British Air Ministry iiutitutes a comparison between the advantages of airships and aeroplanes tor commencial purposes nn<i appendices discusses the relative development and potentialities of rigid r.r*ships and aeroplanes and some of the commercial consideration relating vo airships.

The opinion is expressed that the future use of aeroplanes and airships for commercial purpose wil not conflict. The airship is essentially a longdistance, weight-carrying craft in comparison with the short-distance, highrpeed aeroplane; yet the airship to-day with a speed of 77.0 miles an hour, can brf considered slow only in comparison with the aeroplane, and is unquestionably i'ast in comparison with existing methods of land and (.ea transport. She has, further, the advantage of not being dependent on her speed through tho air for her ability to remain aloft, and is, therefore, not liable, like the aeroplane, to forced descent in case of engine failure, lv fact, quite largo

■apairs. such as the changing of a cyliu-c der. are possible in the air.

The airship is thus worthy of consideration for commerciial flights over" sea or over land of a wooded or broken nature, • such as would be unsuitable ior the landing of aeroplanes, and on journeys involving ndn-stops flights ot 1000 miles and upwards. In additioa, she is the most suitable type of aircraft for the carriage of passengers, where safety, comfort, and reliability are essential. She can always remain on an even keel, and there is therefore no danger in flying at night or in fog and clouds. The great lift permits of much more comfortable accommodation being provided than in an aero, plane, and there is room to move about it being possible, for example, in the case of a rigid airship, to take a walk or 400 ft. or 500 ft along>the keel. Tha fact that the envelope is filled with an inflammable gas need not cause any mis-givings as to safety,,when it is remembered that during the war largo numbers of motor vehicles have been used carrying bags filled with equally inflammable coalrgas at no- greater distance from the engine than in the case c 4 an airship. Official statistics show that only one airship has been lost in this country owing to catdhing fire in the air, although 83,360 hours were flown and over '2J million miles covered1 during the war. In that case the flight was an experimental one with a new. type of airship, and the cause haa since been ascertained and eliminated.

It appears that for commercial purposes large rigid airship stations should be established at distances of 2000 *-o TJOOO miles apart mainly for trans-ocean-ic traffic, the aeroplane being used for bringing passengers and merchandise to these from.-the neighbouring countries. A Continental airship service, for example, might run from Lisbon to New York, passengers being taken to Lisbon fiom Paris, Rome, and other places by aeroplane. In thia way the aeroplane would compete with the train, and tho airship with the steamship, over whic}) she would have the advantage of reducing tho average time of transit by at least 50 per cent. In addition airships would be used for linking up the,railways in such places as Central Africa, where the country i<i difficult for bo ill aeroplanes and land transport.

Though airships are generally considered fair-weather craft, up to the end nf November there were last year only nine days on which no airship flight took place in the British Isles, which rre notorious as possessing almost the worst weather conditions of any country in the world. In long voyages idvantage could he taken of favourable winds and the routes chosen accordingly, while, owing to her long endurance, an airship could afford to fly over or' round a depression should one be encountered.