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Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0720.PDF
commercial, and the rest^military. It is stated, and is probably correct, that at the end of the War no less than 12,000 workmen were engaged at the Zeppelin factory. Then came the Treaty of Ver- sailles, which limited the'size of airship that Germany was permitted to build to such an extent as virtually to preclude the production of ships of any practical value. If, therefore, Germany was to continue with airship development her only opportunity to do so lay in transferring her works to some country outside Germany. The Goodyear-Zeppelin agreement confers on America the benefits of the experience gained by the Zeppelin experts during more than 20 years of experiment and research. The fact that the United States possesses the only supplies of helium in the world, at any rate in such quantities as to enable it to be used commercially, adds enormously to the significance of the new agreement. It is fairly safe to assume that had the German airships been filled with this gas during the War the task of bringing them down would have been immensely more difficult than was the case. In fact, it would seem that when the danger due to hydrogen is removed, the vulner- ability of an airship is reduced by something like 80 per cent., although the presence of petrol on board still constitutes a danger in a military airship. The Zeppelin company drafted plans for commercial trans-Atlantic airship services, but while the restric- tions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles tied them down, these plans could not be realised. Now, however, that the Goodyear company has acquired the building rights, and will, moreover, have the assistance of a corps of experienced Zeppelin designers and builders, there is little, doubt that some of the plans which have hitherto been but dreams will become stern realities. Already it is stated by the Goodyear company that within sixty days a thoroughly experienced technical staff will be at work at Akron, Ohio, and will be prepared to co-operate with Washington or with any other responsible interests that may "desire to embark on definite constructive projects. It is known that a careful survey has been made by Zeppelin engineers for the establishment of a twelve-hour New York to Chicago airship service, and the organisation of an airship-operating company is foreseen when the manufacture of the great air liners gets under way at Akron. Five types of ships have been evolved, which may be regarded as standardised, and of which the Zeppelin engineers have so great experience that they are in a position to guarantee their perform- ance. In Spain, as is well known, an airship scheme of considerable magnitude and importance is under way, and as the new Zeppelin transfer to America relates to the United States and Canada only, the Spanish scheme will, presumably, not be affected. By this scheme it is intended to establish an airship service between Seville and the Argentine, a start being made first with smaller ships, built in Germany coming within the limits imposed by the Allies. These ships are intended to be used between the mainland and the Canary Islands, and are intended chiefly for the training of crews. The larger ships for the Atlantic route will be bruit under licence in Spain, and will be stationed at Seville. While all this activity is going on abroad, what are we doing ? It is now many months since the Burney airship scheme was first drafted, and since that time the scheme has undergone various modifi- NOVEMBER 29, 1923 cations. It has now been " accepted in principle," but that seems to be about as far as we have got, and although it has been officially stated that a start will be made, it seems obvious that, even if action is taken at once, it will be at least two years before the first ship can take the air. Then there is the question of personnel. Owing to indecision in Government circles the excellent personnel which we had at the end of the War has been dispersed, and if a fresh start is indeed made later on it will be a matter of the greatest difficulty to gather together the necessary personnel for the operation of an airship service of any sort. What makes the position all the more intolerable is the fact that if our Government had had any sort of a policy a start could, and would, have been made long enough ago. The Zeppelin company were prepared to enter into an agreement with a British company, somewhat on the lines of the Goodyear- Zeppelin agreement, receiving a small share of the profits as their compensation, and employing British labour entirely. An option on Howden was acquired, and a well-known shipping company promised a large share of the money necessary. Owing to the indecision of the Government the scheme came to nothing. The position is unsatisfactory, to say the least, but fortunately it is not yet too late to make up for the time and opportunities lost, but it is essential that action be taken at once. The United States score through being the sole possessor of helium gas, but there are airship experts in this country who consider that as good results may be obtained by surrounding the hydrogen-filled gas bags with an outer layer of inert gas. Then there is the very considerable advantage of the addition of hydrogen to the fuel, an advantage which improves the economy of running, which the helium-filled ship does not share. On the technical side, therefore, we are not hopelessly out-classed—as yet, at any rate— and if proper financial arrangements are made without further delay we may still hope to take our place in the world's airship industries. • • • -v.1 ' ~ • " .'' The Federation Aeronatttique Inter-T^.jf'^VJ; nationale has now homologated as a and World s , ,, , ,, «• v. . vDuration WOI"lds record the night made by Records Lieuts. Smith and Richter when they remained in the air for more than 36 hours, flying a D.H.4 aeroplane with Liberty engine. During the flight the machine was refuelled 15 times, and there was some doubt whether, in view of this fact, the flight would be homologated. Probably the F.A.I, had no option but to recognise the performance, but the question now arises whether, in the future, such flights should be admitted. The main object of duration flights should be to encourage the production of load-carrying machines, and this object can scarcely be said to be attained when the fuel is replenished during flight. In fact, the D.H.4 machine used carried little more than its normal fuel supply, and would have been quite incapable of a duration even approaching that established. The problem of refuelling during flight is one of extraordinary interest, and one that may have useful application, but it should not, we think, be admitted in flights for world's records, or rather, if it is, then a distinction should be made between records established by machines carrying their fuel on board and those put up by machines taking fuel on board during flight. 720
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