The Mastery of the Air

anley Spencer, head of the well-known firm of Spencer

rs claim to be the premier balloon manufacturers in the world, and, at the time of writing, eighteen balloons and two dirigibles lie in th

irship flown by Santos-Dumont; that is, there was the cigar-shaped balloon

ivance the envelope was made so that, in the event of a large and serious escape of gas, the ball

's air-ship lost a considerable amount of gas when driven through the air, and on several occasions the whole craft was in great danger of collapse. To keep

s a great contrast to the modern dirigible which carries a crew of thirty or forty people. Mr. Spencer made several exhibition f

between this and other air-ships built at that time: the propeller was placed in front of the craft, instead of at the

oposed to fly from the Crystal Palace round the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral and back to his startin

eart of their city, and it was at once seen what enormous possibilities there were in the employment of such craft i

hought in people's minds was not so much the possibility of Mr. Spencer being able to complete his journey successfully-nearly everyone recognized that air-ship construction

e elements, right over the heart of the largest city in the world. At times the air-ship seemed to be standing quite still, head to wind. Unfortunately, half a gale had sprung up, and the 24-horse-power engine was quite incapable of conquering so stiff a breeze, and making

,000 cubic feet. The framework is of polished ash wood, made in sections so that it can easily be taken to pieces and transported, and the length over all is 56 fe

gen of 100,000 cubic feet. The framework is of steel and aluminium, made in sections, with cars for ten persons, inc

in the spacious grounds of the Alexandra Park, to the north of London. An enormous shed was erected on the northern slopes of the park, but visitors to the Alexand

elope a smaller balloon, or compensator, was placed inside the larger one. The framework was of bamboo, and the car was attached by about eight

s were connected with a long pipe, in the centre of which was a hand-pump. When the bow of the air-ship dipped, the man at the pump could transfer some of the water from the fore-t

, in common with many other residents in the vicinity of the park, made dozens of journeys to the shed in the expectation of seeing the mighty dirigibl

The huge balloon, made of tussore silk, cruised about for some tim

1910, an air-ship in which he flew from Cardiff to London in the dark-a distanc

working there on a new air-ship. For some time he has been the only successful priv

s at Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness. This firm has erected an enormous shed, 540 feet long, 150 feet broad, and 98 feet high. In thi

ich the difficult task of safely removing

ships are included in the great constructive programme now being carried out. It is not long since the citizens of Glasgow were treated to the spectacle of a full-sized British "Zep" circling round the city pr