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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0322.PDF
JUNE 5, 1909. NOTHING could be more timely than the splendid new record which has been set up by Count Zeppelin for a long distance dirigible trip, and all the world lias very rightly joined in showering congratulations upon the plucky aged inventor. The trip is timely for this country, inasmuch as every such reminder of enthusiastic activity elsewhere must bring fresh pressure to bear upon British officialdom, and must help in overcoming public inertia in the United Kingdom. To remain in the air from Saturday evening until Monday evening in a vessel which can accommodate ten men, and to have covered during that period a distance of eight or ten hundred m'iles, in a more or less pre- determined direction, is a feat which is not only greatly in advance of anything else that has hitherto been done in .that way, but is an effective and final answer to those who would belittle the practical value of the dirigible on the score of its being an inherently unwieldly monster. For the time being at any rate, Count Zeppelin has done with his dirigible balloon vastly more than any aeroplane has shown itself at all capable of achieving, and has put up a record which might in time of war prove to be the veritable turning-point between success and failure for any great Power engaged in it. It is, perhaps, as well for us as a nation that the culminating triumph of Count Zeppelin was snatched away from him by a cruel late just as his hands seemed about to be closing round it. Had he succeeded in covering the remaining hundred miles or so to Berlin, when he had reached Leipzig, via Ulm and Nuremberg, from his headquarters at Friedrichshafen, and in being welcomed there by the enormous concourse of people which had assembled, with the Kaiser at their head, to greet him, it is safe to assume that aeronautics in the Fatherland would have received an impetus of such magnitude that we in this country could ill afford to have been altogether pleased with it from an industrial standpoint. As it is, the degree of success attained ought to be amply sufficient to put the British authorities more keenly upon their mettle than they have been hitherto, for although the severity of the weather compelled Count Zeppelin to retrace his steps southward when he had got as near to his goal as Bitter- feld, and although the final manner of his descent when coming to earth for replenishment with fuel led to a partial wreckage of his vessel, yet the trip has definitely shown that a modern airship of this size is no unmanage- able and harmless toy that can be ignored with any degree of impunity. Even the manner in which the airship was able to struggle on after a day's delay during which a hasty temporary repair had been effected must be placed to the credit of the dirigible, for it is quite evident, from the fact that several weeks will be needed to rebuild the bows, that the injury received was of an extremely grave character. It is something to know that with one motor removed, with a great part of the steering-gear cut away, and with a serious loss of gas from the envelope, the outlook of an aeronautic party need not necessarily be at all desperate ; and this know- ledge ought, perhaps, to act as a greater spur to further progress than any number of triumphant entries into Berlin during a fairly favourable spell of weather. The precise details of Count Zeppelin's latest journey will probably not be known to the world for some con- siderable period, even if they ever come to be published at all. Accounts concerning it vary a good deal, and the lelegrams that have reached this country indicate very clearly that there is no keen anxiety on the part of those who are in the know to circulate more definite informa- tion than is apparent on the surface. There is, of course, nothing that can be taken exception to in this, and, indeed, the Count and his friends would be very foolish indeed if they gave the full value of their experiences to an expectant world at a time when exact knowledge of the kind is worth so very much to its possessors. The report which will be found in FLIGHT this week gives the main facts which were observed in connection with the flight, and indicates the nature of the trip in a form that is likely to prove useful for future reference. The why and wherefore of what was done by those in charge of the ship is, however, purposely left out by us in view of the many wild conjectures that have been put into circulation during the week; and, as regards the extent of the damage that has been sustained by "Zeppelin II," it is impossible to give any explicit information at present. None of these things have the slightest influence upon the moral of this latest Zeppelin triumph. Germany possesses an enthusiastic inventor whose seventy odd years have not prevented him from firing the imagination of his own people, and whose sheer pluck and determination helped him to meet with that great catastrophe of last year which subse- quently led to his securing the voluntary financial backing of the whole German nation. Already Zeppelin has proved to be one of the best assets to which the Father- land can lay claim. And hence the question is but a natural one : How long is Great Britain going to be content without her Zeppelins ? What this old soldier has done for his country could easily be done by hundreds of younger men on this side of the German Ocean. Nor is it either the skill or the desire that is lacking amongst our own people. And surely it can hardly be the mere cost in pounds, shillings and pence that permits other nations to take the lead in new developments with so much ease ! The money itself is as nothing to thousands of patriotic Britons. But it is the sad lack of interest in science for science sake, or in progress for the sake of industry in the abstract, that causes the United Kingdom to be still waiting for her Zeppelins. FLIGHT. 44, ST. MARTIN'S LANE. LONDON, W.C. Telegraphic address : Truditur, London. Telephone : 1828 Gerrard. SUBSCRIPTION RATES. FLIGHT will be forwarded, post free, to any part of the world at thefollowing rates: — > UNITED KINGDOM. ABROAD. 3 6 12 Months, ,, Post Free ,, s. ... I ... 3 ... 6 d. 8 3 6 3 6 12 Months, Post Free... ... 2 sIO d. 6 o o Cheques and Post Office Orders should be made payable to theProprietors of FLIGHT, 44, St. Martin's Lane, W.C., and crossed London and County Bank ; otherwise no responsibility will be accepted. Should any difficulty be experienced in procuring FLIGHT fromlocal newsvendors, intending readers can obtain each issue direct from the Publishing Office, by forwarding remittance as above. NOTICE.—Advertisement instructions should reach theoffice, 44, St. Martin's Lane, W.C., by first post, Thursday. The latest time for receiving small alterations for Advertise-ments is 12 noon, Thursday. No alterations can be made after that hour. 324
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