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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0597.PDF
JUNE 3, 1920 RIGID AIRSHIPS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT v BY J. E. M. PRITCHARD. M.A., F.G.S. ' ' ' . (Concluded from page 581.) Car Suspensions Two main types of car suspensions are also in force :— 1. The Zeppelin type. 2. The British typ'e. The Zeppelin Company attach their cars by means of a com- bination of struts and wires. The struts take the com- pressional forces due to the thrust of the propeller, and main- less vibration to the hull of the ship, much instructed opinion appears to favour the Zeppelin arrangement on account of its greater safety and reliability. The British cars, on account of the absence of vertical struts, are called " floating " cars. In the case of a heavy landing floating cars are an advantage, because, except in extreme cases, the cars alone are damaged, and the vertical R 31 : Wing cars, showing British method of car* suspension tain the car at the correct distance from the centre line of the ship. The wires bear all tensional strains, and, broadly speaking, take the weight of the car. The British arrangement allows for a minimum of struts, which are only fitted transversely to maintain the car at a given distance from the centre line, the thrust of the propeller being taken by a wire which is led out through the centre of the propeller aft. Although the British system is the less complicated, and provides a more elastic form of suspension, which transmits struts are not driven upward into the hull of the ship, breaking the main framework at the upper point of attachment. The Zeppelin arrangement attempts to get over this by carefully adjusting the strength of the struts so that, when a heavy landing is made, the struts break before the hull structure of the ship is damaged. Looking into the future, however, it does not seem necessary to allow for bad landings. Few have been made recently by British pilots, and the few German pilots of experience appear to make consistently good landings with no fear of damage. Bodensee: View of power units showing German system of car-su s- pension i il 597
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