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Aviation History
1924
1924 - 0735.PDF
NOVEMBER 20, 1924 THE PREVENTION OF FIRE IN AIRSHIPS COMMANDER F. L. M. BOOTHBY, whose name is well known to our readers in connection with Airship design, has expressed the following interesting views in a letter to the Press, dealing with the very important point of the prevention of fire in airships. He says the great danger from petrol fumes has been overcome by the adoption of an engine consuming heavy fuel in conjunction with hydrogen. There remains the danger of fire to gas. This may arise from lightning, spontaneous combustion of oil rags left near the gas-bags, smoking in unauthorised places, etc. That the danger is real enough is shown by the following letter received by Commander Boothby from Major Stelling, the German pilot who carried out the trials of the first British Naval airship to be commissioned when she was purchased from the Parseval Company by the Admiralty before the War :— " Dear Boothby,—In reply to your letter of September 25, I inform you that as far as I can remember the following ships are burnt:—The Navy airships L.2, L.10, S.L.8, and P.L.26. L.10 and S.L.8 were destroyed by lightning—L.10 over the North Sea 1915, S.L.8 over the Baltic 1917. L.2 was burnt during the trials in Johannisthal before the War. The fire was caused by inflammation of hydrogen, which poured from the valves into the engine car. P.L.26 was burnt in the shed at Bitterfeld, 1915. A big accident occurred 1917 in Ahlhorn, where four airships and four sheds were destroyed by explosion of hydrogen.—Your sincerely, A. STELLING." In this country we lost N.S.ll, struck by lightning, C.ll through a fire over the Humber, and S.S.I from a collision with telegraph wires. There is a simple method of dealing with this trouble, which is to exclude the oxygen of the air from the neighbour- <5> <8> Air Ministers' Secretaries THE Right Hon. Sir Samuel Hoare, Bart., C.M.G., M.P., Secretary of State for Air, has appointed Mr. C. L. L. Bullock to be his principal private secretary, and Flight-Lieut. G. W. Dobson and Mr. Paul E. Paget (unpaid) to be his assistant private secretaries. He has further appointed Sir Geoffrey Butler, K.B.E., M.P., to be his Parliamentary private secretary (unpaid). Sir Philip Sassoon, Bart., G.B.E., C.M.G., M.P., Under- Secretary of State for Air, has appointed Mr. P. J. Oldfield to be his private secretary. Amsterdam- Batavia Flight THE " Flying Dutchmen," led by M. van der Hoop, who are flying from Amsterdam to Batavia (Java) on a Fokker monoplane (Rolls-Royce " Eagle IX "), arc now nearing the end of their journey. On November 12 they departed from Ambala—which they reached the previous day—and arrived at Allahabad, having passed over Delhi en route. They left again next morning and reached Calcutta in the afternoon. On the 14th they left Dum Dum aero drome, Calcutta, at 7.15 a.m., and arrived safely at Akyab at 1.35 p.m. The weather conditions were ideal. On Satur day morning, November 15, they proceeded to Rangoon. hood of the hydrogen by inserting a layer of inert gas between the two. Anyone can test the efficiency of the system by putting a layer of exhaust gas from his motor-car round a tin of petrol, and then firing incendiary bullets or Verey lights into it. Our authorities do not seem to be alive to this danger of fire in the new passenger ship ordered. In the White Paper giving such details of the contract as are available, some 15 tons more weight is allowed for the hull structure than would be required by experienced designers, but no compensating advantage of gas protection is mentioned. There is ample time to arrange for this, as the delivery date of the airship is September, 1927 (the Germans assembled their large ships in ten weeks during the War), and the neces sary provision could be made for the addition of gas-armour in the next Air Estimates. If this is done the programme begun under the auspices of the late Air-Commodore Maitland will be completed, though four years later than would have been the case had not the old airship service been destroyed. This programme started with perfecting the mooring mast, so as to allow airships to operate in any weather ; to abolish the use of petrol, and cheapen cost of running, so that com mercial air lines could operate without a subsidy. The final stage was so to protect the gasbags that an airship could be struck by lightning again and again without catching fire. Given this, the new generation of airship officers, who must shortly arise, will have an implement to their hand suitable for welding the Empire. The building of commercial airships which are not rendered as safe as possible in every way is a waste of money, as the public will not travel by them, except by way of an adventure, and the air line will not pay. <$> <$> Arriving there, they found the racecourse crowded and a race in progress, and after circling round several times at a low altitude, they finally made for a spot about 7 miles away, where they landed. The following morning they com pleted the somewhat tricky section from Rangoon to Bangkok. Zeppelin Works for Spain IT is reported that an agreement has recently been made between the Zeppelin Co. and the Compana Transaera Espanola whereby the greater part of the Zeppelin works at Friedrichs- hafen will be transferred to Seville, where Zeppelin airships will be constructed. Four ships, it is said, of 130,000 cu. m. are to be started on at the earliest opportunity. Successful Trials of " E.E.C. " Flying Boat TRIALS were carried out on November 13 at Lytham with a new flying boat built by the English Electric Co., Preston, for the Air Ministry. It was piloted by Major W. G. Brackley, D.S.O., who, after the machine was success fully launched, took the machine up to 1,400 ft., with a load, including a crew of three, of 14,200 lbs. It took off easily within 25 sees., and attained a speed of about 95 knots. This flying boat, which is, we believe, called the ", Kings ton," is fitted with two Napier " Lion " engines. <•> <$> <•> <$> PEACETIME PRODUCTION : A view inside the Fokker works at Amsterdam, showing a batch of Fokker D.XIII single-seater chasers. These machines, a specimen of which will be exhibited at the Paris Aero Show, are fitted with Napier "Lion " engines. 735
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