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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0221.PDF
MARCH 31, 1921 tV * Jhe IT has repeatedly been stated by airship experts that the future of airships for commercial purposes will be greatly affected by the success or otherwise of the development of the mooring mast. If this invention proves efficient, it will mean that the question of ground organisation will be very greatly simplified. Not only will intermediate airship stations not require large and costly sheds, but, what is perhaps more important still, ground parties will be reduced from a matter of about 300 men to a round dozen. Furthermore, the safety of the airship will be relatively complete. Once in the air, the airship has proved that it is capable of facing practically any conditions that are likely to occur, or if not, it is able to avoid them by going to some other locality where condi- tions are more favourable. Hitherto the greatest drawback to the use of airships has been the danger of taking them into or bringing them out of their sheds. For this purpose very large parties have been required, and even then it has been necessary to await favourable weather before venturing to tackle the task. If the mooring mast can be developed to such an extent that airships can safely ride out any weather within reason, the airships will only have to go into their sheds for general overhaul, much as ships go into dry dock. In view of the importance of the mooring mast problem, a few notes on what has been accomplished in this country up to date may not be without interest, and, incidentally, here is one sphere of airship work in which this country has taken the lead. Germany has a start of several years in the matter of airship design and construction, but as regards landing the airships, she has mainly relied on landing crews, assisted by elaborate guide rail arrangements. The question of mooring out airships has been studied for several years in this country, and it may be remembered that already before the War there was in existence at Farnborough a small mooring mast with which experiments were being made. This mast was used for small non-rigid airships, this country having at that time no airship of the rigid type. During the War experiments were continued, both with mooring masts and three-wire moorings, as well as with mooring at sea. Messrs. Vickers, Ltd., carried out experiments at Barrow with a mooring mast for rigid airships, and lately, since the beginning of February of this year, in fact, experiments havo been conducted at Pulham Airship Station, Norfolk. On March 23 representa- tives of the Press had an opportunity of visiting Pulham and seeing there the results of the work that has been carried out. Although there are still problems to be solved, it may be stated that the last two months' experiments have shown conclu- sively that the problem of airship mooring is capable of a satisfactory solution. On arrival at Pulham the Press representatives were met by Colonel Pace, who is in charge of the station, ably assisted by his staff, among whom was Major Scott, of " R. 34 " fame, to whom is due a great deal of the credit for the successful results obtained. Major Scott combines to a most extra- ordinary extent the qualities of a most skilful airship pilot with thorough technical knowledge of the intricate problems of airship construction and design, and to his enthusiasm and genius much of the progress must be ascribed. It is sincerely to be hoped that, now that service airships have been deleted from our programme, the commercial side will be taken up so that the excellent work done by such men as Major Scott, no !^S tllan *V our airsniP designers and constructors, may not °e wasted, but may bear fruit along more peaceful lines than those on which airship work has hitherto been used. One could devote a long article to the airship station at Pulham, but for the present space does not allow of doing so, and our remarks must be confined strictly to the details of the mooring mast experiments, leaving the question of the airship station, its equipment and its future, to another time. The mooring mast at Pulham is a steel lattice girder atout 115 ft. high. At its base the mast is mounted on a pin joint, and is braced laterally by cables attached near the top and near the centre of the mast, running to concrete blocks placed on the circumference of a circle of about 250 ft. diameter. These cables are somewhat in the way, and when permanent mooring masts come into use it is highly probable that the cables will be done away with, the mast itself being built so as to withstand lateral loads without external bracing. As the mast is pin-jointed at its base, it will be seen that it acts as a strut in pure compression, the lateral loads being taken by the cables. Inside the mast is a steel ladder running to the platform at the mast head. Above this platform the mast terminates in a long, large-diameter telescopic steel tute, the upper extremity of which is in the form of a hollow disc or cone, so mounted as to be free to swivel. On the nose of the airship, which has been specially strengthened for the purpose, is another cone, the male one, fitting snugly inside the female cone on the mast when the airship is moored. Through the cone on the mast a cable passes down inside.the mast, over pulleys and to a winch driven by an ordinary steam tractor. Again, this is a temporary arrangement enly, the question of economy having necessitated a gcod many makeshifts. The permanent mast of the future will doubtless have electrically-operated winches. About three in the afternoon on the day of the visit to Pulham all was ready for a flight, and the crew climbed to the mast head, some using the ladder inside the mast, others swarming up the outside, using the lattice bars of the mast as steps. Arrived at the mast head, the crew entered the airship through a small trap door in the nose via & rope ladder. This looked a somewhat precarious proceeding, and would scarcely appeal to nervous passengers. W7hen, how- ever, airships come to be used for commercial work, the mast will probably be tubular, and passengers will be carried up to the mast head in a lift, and will enter the airship through doors with concertina bellows so that they will not see the ground until they are safely inside the airship. At the time of the demonstration a strong wind was blow- ing, the anemometer later showing that at the moment of casting off the velocity of the wind was 40 m.p.h. The en- gines were set going, with their clutches out so that the propellers were stationary. Just before giving the signal to cast off, the commander of the airship set the rear screws in motion as the wind was blowing directly towards the large sheds, and it would be dangerous to let the airship drift astern. At a signal from the airship the man on the mast head cast off the mooring cable by pulling a lever. The nose of the airship rose above the mast, veered a little to star- board, and the engines were opened out, the airship clearing the mast easily and proceeding on a short trip. While she was away, one watched with interest the preparations for her return, which were very clearly explained by Major Scott. The cable passing through the cone at the mast head was paid out until the end reached the ground outside the mast. It was then secured by a small party of men, who proceeded to haul it out along the ground to leeward of the mast. In this manner about 1,000 ft. of cable were paid out, and the spot where the end of the cable was lying was marked with a flag. In addition to this main cable there are lateral cables placed on the ground, at right angles to the main cables. Tr.e purpose of these became clear when, later in the afternccii. aai c 2
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