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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 1274.PDF
DECEMBER 16, 1920 AIRSHIP MOORING AND HANDLING* By Flight-Lieut. F. L. C. BUTCHER AT the present time, although an airship can navigate in very strong winds, when in the air, great difficulty is experi- enced in handling her on the ground, and many opportunities of flying are missed for this reason. It is, therefore, essential to the success of airships in the future that the mooring problem must be solved to enable them to be quite as inde- pendent of their sheds as a sea-going liner is of her dry dock. I will endeavour to explain the various methods which have been tried in this country with their advantages and dis- advantages. Handling by Means of Latidmg Party and Windscreens I will take as an example the most difficult case usually experienced in housing a large rigid i.e., a wind blowing across the direction of the sheds), and explain the method employed to get the ship in. The bows are manoeuvred into a position as far to windward of the doors as the windscreens allow see Fig. 1), and the stern is walked towards the shed by the men on the after guys. The bows are eased away from the wind, but kept well in hand and not allowed to drift to leeward of the centre line of the shed. When the The rails are of I-section and the set consists of three—one horizontal and" two vertical (Fig. 3). The trollies are fitted with four wheels, running inside two vertical rails which take the lifting and upsetting forces, and six wheels running on the horizontal rail to take the side thrust. All wheels are fitted with roller "bearings, and brushes are placed both in front and behind the trolleys to keep the rails clear, thus ensuring smooth running. To take a ship in by this system the following method is employed :— The ship is landed as near as possible to the end of the rails and walked up to them, rope tackles are led from two trolleys (one on each rail) to the mooring point and hauled taut. The ship is then walked towards the shed by parties of men on the bow hauling rope and fore guys until the stern can be hauled up to the rails and secured in the same way as the bows. Each trolley is fitted with ropes which are manned by not more than eight men who keep them abreast of the ship. The rest of the handling party are employed on the bow / ship is lying in the position shown in Fig. 2, she is walked bodily astern, the bows being allowed to drift toward the centre line of the shed as the stern moves further into the shed. When the wind is blowing " up and down " the sheds, the ship may be taken in at either end of the shed, and a considerable difference of opinion exists as to which is the better method. If the ship is taken in through the leeward doors, handling is rendered difficult owing to the bumps and eddies caused by the shed ; but in the event of the "ship "taking charge," she is more likely to drift clear than if the windward doors were used. By opening the windward doors slightly, and allowing a current of air to blow through the shed, the state of the air on the leeward side is improved to a great extent. The following is a short description of the German method :— Mechanical Handling In each double shed four sets of rails are laid down and extend to a distance of about 1,000 ft., as shown in Fig. 4. * Extracts of a paper read before the Royal Aeronautical Society onDecember 2, 1920. hauling rope, fore guys, and underneath the car and handling frames to prevent the cars from bumping along the ground. This method of handling is very simple, and undoubtedly superior to our method of handling parties and windscreens ; it enables the ships to be taken out in cross winds up to 25 m.p.h., without risk of damage, with two-thirds of the landing party usually employed. '•-,.... - • i - Mooring Over the Sea The following is a short description of the tackle usually fitted in rigids for riding to a drogue. The general arrange- ment can be followed by referring to Fig. 5. The drogue itself is made out of stout canvas roughly in the shape of a bucket, strengthened round the rim by roping, and eyeletted to take the 12 bridles which, in groups of three, are hooked in the jaws of the drogue slip. The drogue wire is continuous from the bows of the ship through the slip and drogue, which are fitted some 30 to 40 feet from the end, thus leaving sufficient wire trailing behind to be picked up and secured by the towing ship before the drogue is spilled. The slip see Fig. 6), which was especially designed for I276
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