British Airships, Past, Present, and Future

ths had been centres of feverish activity. The enemy submarines were withdrawn from our shipping routes and merchant ships could traverse the sea in safety except for th

terms, their aircraft industry will be destroyed. Such is our position at the present moment, a position almost incredible if we look back to the closing days of the year 1914. Are we now to allow ourselves to drift gradually back to our old policy of supineness and

ion and marching of the armies of the past, but the nation resolved on war will be able to strike its blow, and that a very powerful and terrible one, within a few hours of the rupture of negotiations. Every nation to be prepared to counter such a blow must be pos

l be appreciated that for certain commercial purposes both these mediums for transport have their possibilities. The future may prove that in the time to come both the airship and the aeroplane will become self-supporting, but for the present, if assisted by the Government, a fair return may be given for the capital laid out, and a large fleet of aircraft together with the

eader of this volume. The aeroplane is eminently adapted for certain purposes, and the greatest bigot in favour of the airship can hardly dispute the claims of this machine to remain predominant for short-distance travel, where

considered in some detail. It will be shown to what extent the present types will fill this dem

leas

e means of transpo

delivering goods of reasonable w

S. Zero, would be an ideal craft. In cost it would be considerably less than a small yacht, and as it would only be required in the summer months, it would be inflated and moored out in the open in a park or grounds and the expense of providing a shed need not be incurred. For longer distances, a ship of 150,000 cubic feet

sure trips at various fashionable seaside resorts, and until the novelty had worn

mer in completing this journey is at present about five days. If this time can be cut down to two and a half days, no doubt a large number of passengers will be only too anxious to avail themselves of this means of travel, providing that it will be accomplished in reasonable safety and comfort. The requirements for this purpose are a

hip will score, and for long distances on the amount carried the success of the enterprise will be secured. For this purpose the rigid airship will be essential. There are certain instances in which the non-rigid may possibly be profitably utilized, and one such is suggested by a mail service between this c

to 1914, the Deutsche Luftfahrt Actien Gesellschaft successfully ran a commercial Zeppelin service in which four airships were used, namely, Schwaben, Victoria Luise, Hansa and Sachsan. During this period over 17,000 passengers were

s to be expected for the capital invested in them. General Sykes stated, in the paper which he read before the London Chamber of Commerce, "that for commercial purposes the airship is eminently adapted for long-distance journeys involving non-stop flights. It has this inherent advantage over the aeroplane, that while there appears to be a limit to the

ill in an embryonic state, but sufficient has already been accomplished in this country, and more particularly in Germany, to show that with increased capacity there is no reason why, within a few

hat, "airships are the most suitable aircraft for the carrying o

e average endurance of the Zeppelin at cruising speed was under one day and the maximum full speed about 50 miles per hour. In 1918, the German L 70, which is of 2,195,000 cubic feet cap

at has already been accomplished in the way of a long-distance flight the exploit of a Zeppelin airship based in Bulgaria during the war is sufficiently remarkable. This airship in the autumn of 1917 left the station at Jamboli to carry twelve tons of ammunition for the relief of a force operating in German East Africa. Having crossed the Mediterranean, sh

merica to-morrow as far as actual distance is concerned, but various other conditions are

. It is not reasonable for airship stations to be situated either in the inac

ing the forward speed of the ship to be small even with the engines running full o

assage in calm air, should unfavourable weather conditions be met. This amount could be

e ship should be in the form of merchandise or passengers

ps R 33 and R 38 under the conditions given above. Two speeds will be taken for the purposes of thi

er hour a distance o

shed in

nsumpti

(additional for sa

or fuel and frei

rried =

----

r freight

---

per hour, di

hed in 66

nsumpti

tons additiona

e lift =

rried =

----

freight =

----

t 60 mile

consu

68 tons addition

or fuel and frei

rried =

----

alance

----

iles pe

consu

.23 tons (17

or fuel and frei

arried

----

or freigh

----

ed only. At 60

consu

tons addition

for fuel and fr

arried

----

for frei

----

iles pe

2 tons + 9 tons ad

for fuel and

arried

----

for frei

----

t all in the case of R 33, that is assuming, of course, that the extra fuel is carried, of which 75 per cent o

arly in R 33, they are too small to be considered commercially. In R 38, however, the lo

dimensions. In the airship, however, this automatic improvement takes place in a very marked degree; for example, an airship of 10,000,000 cubic feet capacity has five times the lift of the present 2,000,000 cubic feet capacity rigid, but the length of the former is only 1.7 times greater, and therefore the weight of the structure only five times gre

ent of tractive resistance." Experiments have shown that as the size of the airship increases, the co-efficient of tractive resistance decreases to a marked extent; with a proportionate increas

hips fairly constant, it follows that the ratio "disp

ize, and that the bigger the ship the greater will be its efficiency, providing, of course, tha

well over 50 per cent when compared with the gross lift. When the accompanying table is studied it will be seen that with air

Gross Lift L

in tons in

00 60.7

00 91.1

0 121.4

0 151.8

0 182.2

0 212.5

242.8 1,

273.3 1,

0 303.6 1

has been used, and complicated girders built up to obtain strength without increase of weight. In a large ship with a considerable gain in lift, steel will probably be employed with a simpler

tions as are desired. The endurance of such a ship at a cruising speed of 45 miles per hour will be in the neighbourhood of three weeks, with a maximum speed of 70 t

festly of great importance. Urgent mails and passengers could be transported from England to America in under half the

both for scouting in conjunction with our fleets and convoy duties. The British Empire is widely scattered, and large tracts of ocean lie between the various colonies, all of which

the large number of trained personnel to assist in landing and handling it when on the ground; thirdly, the risks attendant on the weather--for the airship is still considered the general public as a fair-weather craft; and fourthly, though this is pr

ion is dependent on good weather conditions and the best railway facilities possible. In all respects this station will be comparable to a dry dock for surface vessels. The airship will be taken into the shed for overhaul of hull structure, renewing of gasbags or outer cover, and in short to undergo a periodical refit. The cost of a shed capable of housing two rigi

p its moorings as does the big steamer, and land its passengers and cargo, at the same time replenishing its suppl

We saw in the previous chapter how, in the case of small non-rigids, they were sheltered in berths cut into woods o

to fall short of perfection; the second, "the three-wire system," and the third, "mooring to a mast," both have their champions, but it is probable

the ship and led to some fixed point on the ground. It has been found that an airship secured in this way requires constant attention, and that steering is always necessary to render h

ship moored out by this method remained in the open for a considerable time and rendered the future of this experiment most hopeful. It was resolved to continue these experiments by adding a subsidiary system of wires with running blocks, the whole wiring to form a polygon revolving round a fixed centre. The disadvantages of this method appear to be rather serious. It seems that great difficulty will always be found in picking up these moorings in a high wind, and though this also applies to th

in the open has been so ventilated and is now considered of such vital importance, these experiments have been continued, and in less spasmodic fashion than in the past. In a trial with a small non-rigid airship some months ago a signal success was achieved. The ship remained attached to a mas

be most practical is to attach the extreme bow point of the ship to some form of cap, in which the nose of

scharging cargo and also refuelling, vanish at once. Assuming the mooring problem solved with success, and we feel correct in this assumption, the first two of our difficulties automatically disappear. Sheds will only be necessary as repair depots and will not be extensively required, all intermediate stopping places being provided with masts and necessary arrangements for taking in gas, etc. At these intermediate stations the number of men employed will be comparatively speaking few. At

them in and out of sheds has always been unduly magnified. The provision of track rails and travellers to which

that, should it encounter bad weather, it will be able to wait for a lull to land. Meteorological forecasts have now reached a high state of efficiency, and it should be possible for ample warnings to be received of depressions to be met with during a voyage, and these will be avoided by the airship flying round them. In the northern hemisphere, depressions

engines. It may be said that the danger of disaster due to the gas catching fire is for peace flying to all intents and purposes negligible. At the risk of being thought hackneyed we must point out a fact which has appeared in every discussion of the kind, namely, tha

ue to the use of incendiary bullets, rockets and various o

e chief danger to be apprehended is attack from small scouting seaplanes, possessing great speed and the power to climb to a great height, or from aeroplanes launched from the decks of ships. If, however, the airship is fitted to

ently cheap to be used for inflating airships. In the past the expense of this gas has rendered its use absolutely prohibitive, b

phy will prove of immense assistance. The method at present in use is to call up simultaneously two land stations which, knowing their own distance apart, and reading the direction of the call, plot a triangle on a chart which fixes the position of the airship. This

ountry and vast tracks of forest can be much more easily undertaken from an airship than an aeroplane, on account of its power to hover for prolonged periods over any given area and its greater powers of endurance. For exploring the unmapped regions of the Amazon or the upper reaches of the Chinese rivers the airship offers unbounded facilities. Another scope suggested by the above is searching for pearl-oyster beds, sunken treasure, and

southerly course is taken which adds considerably to the length of the voyage. The proposal put forward is that during these months as continuous a patrol as possible should be carried out over these waters. The airship employed could be based in Newfoundland and the method of working would be very similar to anti-submarine patrol. Fixes could be obtained from D.F. stations and warnings issued by wi

wide stretches of desert country as in Arabia and the Soudan. The merits of all of these

ion of a company to exploit airships only will at the present moment appeal to business men. Airships are very costly and are still in their infancy, which means that the premiums demanded for their ins

hem. If the burden of insurance is taken off their shoulders, it is considered feasible to promote companies which will give an adequate return fo

hostilities commandeer all or any of the airships for war

n the emergency arises, in the same way as the fleet can call upon the R.N.R. This system appears to be the best

e dark days of 1914, when we only possessed two airships of utility, the one manufactured in France, the other in Germany, while to-day we have built the mighty airship which can fly to America and