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Aviation History
1924
1924 - 0062.PDF
windows are provided, giving an excellent view below, and the five compartments in question are luxuriously fitted up, Pullman fashion, each compartment containing four beds or bunks arranged transversely in two tiers and provided with curtains. When not in use the upper bed folds down and serves as a back for the seat, formed by the lower bed. Passengers' lavatory and water-closet accommodation is provided behind the main compartments on the port side, and the remainder of the space at the rear of the car is utilised for the kitchen, etc. Accommodation for the officers and crew is located along the sides of the corridor, and consists of a cabin for the commander with bed, table, chair, cupboard, etc. ; two sleeping cabins, each with two beds, for the officers ; a saloon, with table and chairs, for the officers ; six sleeping cabins, each with two beds, for the crew ; two saloons, with tables and chairs, for the crew ; and lavatory, etc., accommodation. Cargo, luggage, and mails are carried in the corridor, twenty compartments being provided for this purpose. The five power cars, which are of streamline form, built up on a duralumin framework (as shown in one of our illus trations), are suspended by cables and struts from the hull framework in the following positions : two, port and star board, slightly above the level of the keel a short distance behind the front car ; another two, port and starboard, lower the interposition of an elastic coupling built into the fly-wheel and a dog clutch. As soon as " Z.R.3 " is completed it will be filled with hydrogen gas, for, as the ship will not become the property of the U.S. Navy until it is delivered at Lakehurst, it is not intended to employ Helium at the outset. Several short trial flights of from two to four hours' duration will follow, after which a longer flight of about 24 hours will be made in order to give the engines, etc., a thorough test. As regard the Atlantic trip, the direct route from Friedrichshafen to the East Coast of the U.S.A. is some 4,000 odd miles (" R.34 " covered about 3,225 miles on its Atlantic trip). It is well known that very stormy west winds prevail on the North Atlantic during the winter months—winds averaging 35 m.p.h. at altitude—so that the progress of the airship on this route would naturally be considerablv hampered. As the average west winds in the vicinity of the 30th degree of latitude are considerably less, it has been planned to fly from Friedrichshafen across southern France, passing Cape Finistere, the Azores, south of the Bermudas, and thence northward to Lakehurst, N.J. This route will be about one- third longer than the direct route, being some 5,200 miles. A record crossing, therefore, is not to be expected, and it is estimated that the " Z.R.3 " will make the passage in between three and four days. The flight will be made without any #fii Mm' 4M THE "Z.R.3," OR ZEPPELIN "L.Z.126" : On the left the framework of the front or main car. Right, one of the five power " eggs," each of which contains a 400 h.p. reversible Maybach engine. down and closer together about amidships ; and the fifth car placed centrally immediately below the keel, midway between the last pair of cars and the stern. Each car con tains a 400 h.p. engine driving a pusher-airscrew. These engines have been specially constructed by the Maybach Motor Co., and contain several new features, the principal one of which is that the engines themselves are reversible, thus doing away with the usual reversing gears. Reversing is brought about by sliding the camshaft. This engine has 12 cylinders arranged in V-form, and rhe crankshaft is completely housed in the upper part of the crank-case, the camshaft and valve operating gear being arranged between the two rows of cylinders. Each engine is equipped with two twelve-cylinder Bosch magnetos, driven through an elastic coupling, and the ignition apparatus is arranged to work in either direction of rotation without alteration. Control of the ignition is secured by rotation of the driving shaft, the arrangement being such that the intensity of the spark is the same for all positions. The circulating water pump delivers equal volumes of water for both directions. It is claimed that it is impossible to start the engine in a wrong manner, as the starting levers.the throttle, and reversing levers, and the ignition control are interlocked in such a way that they can be operated only in the correct direction. The interlocking arrangements render it impossible to start the engine otherwise than in the direction fixed by the position of the camshaft. In addition, they are such that the ignition control is always set correctly for the direction in which the engine is to run. It is, moreover, impossible to reverse the engine if the throttle lever is not in the neutral position, and before the throttle lever can be moved the reversing lever must be in one or other of its end positions. The propeller is coupled directly to the motor, except for 62 intermediate stop, and the ship will be navigated by the experienced personnel of the Zeppelin Co. Turning to the commercial possibilities of this ship, let us consider the performance on a regular air line, such as, for example, a route from San Francisco to Honolulu, a distance of 2,300 miles. This journey today takes a steamer about five days. Under favourable weather conditions " Z.R.3 " would be able to make the trip to Honolulu in a little more than 28 hours, and the return flight to San Francisco in about 36 hours. Thus it would be possible to make a week-end trip to Honolulu, with a day to see "the sights." On this route "Z.R.3" could carry 30 passengers and 15 tons of freight or luggage, mails, etc., whilst the service could be so arranged that connections would be made with steamships sailing to Asia. " Z.R.3 " could also be used for flights around the United States. The route New York-St Louis- Los Armeies-Chicago-New York could be accomplised in about four days, without intermediate landings ; besides the crew and fuel, a load of 10 tons would be available for passengers, mail and freight. The following are the official figures relating to the principal characteristics of " Z.R.3 " (" L.Z.126 ") :— Overall length Maximum diameter Overall height Gas capacitv Total lift ".. Disposable lift (appx.) Maximum speed Cruising speed Speed (4 engines) .. Speed (3 engines .. Range (full power) Range (cruising) .. 200 m. (660 ft.) 28 m. (91.8 ft.) 31 m. (101.6 ft.) 70,000 cm. (2,470,000 cu. ft.) 81,300 kilos. (80 tons) 41,000 kilos. (40 tons) .. 122 k.m.p.h. (75.6 m.p.h.) 108 k.m.p.h. (67 m.p.h. 100 k.m.p.h. (62 m.p.h.j 90 k.m.p.h. (56 m.p.h.) 5,600 km. (3,472 miles), or 46 hrs. 8,400 km. (5,200 miles), or 78 hrs
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