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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 1353.PDF
FLIGHT, DECEMBER 25, 1931 THE U.S. NAVY AIRSHIP "AKRON FOLLOWING a series of flights that tested successfullythe speed, fuel consumption, controllability, rateof climb and various other important factors,acceptance of the U.S.S. Akron, the world's largest airship, was announced recently by the United States Navy,and authorisation given the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation for the construction of a sister ship, the ZRS.5. The acceptance of the Akron was announced formally bySecretary of the Navy Charles F. Adams, and several days later the huge airship was commissioned officially at Lake-hurst, New Jersey, the Navy's great air station. The commissioning of the U.S.S. Akron by the LTnitedStates Navy consummated two years of construction work by Goodyear and a series of exhaustive tests. The finaltest was a 48-hr, endurance flight over the central part of the United States, which was pronounced by Rear AdmiralGeorge C. Day, President of the Navy Board of Inspection and Survey, as " highly successful." From Lakehurst the Akron will soon be sent on anumber of cruises with a view to further determining her capacities, and breaking in her crew for regular duty.These trips, some of which will be of several thousand miles' duration, will constitute the Akron's ship cruise.Each naval vessel is given such a cruise before it starts work with a fleet. Following these flights it is probablethat the Akron will be stationed at the United States Navy's new lighter-than-air base at Sunnyvale, California,for duty with the Pacific Fleet. Construction work on the ZRS.5 has already beenstarted. The ZRS.5 will cost the Navy $2,000,000 and is to be delivered by Goodyear within 15 months. TheAkron cost the Navy more than twice as much, because of the necessity of providing construction facilities, doinga great deal of development and training a working force. The new ship will probably contain a number of newdevelopments which construction experience with the Akron suggested. The ZRS.5 will be the same size and gas capacity asthe Akron—785 ft. long, 133 ft. in diameter, and a gas capacity of 6,500,000 cub. ft. Helium gas will be used.With the airship Akron in Lakehurst, engineers and workmen of the Goodyear-Zeppelin organisation will beable to utilise the mammoth dock on the outskirts of the city, especially built for the first Navy ship, for the con-struction of the ZRS.5. This dock, a Mecca for more than 50,000 people each week during work on the Akron, is thelargest building in the world without interior supports. It measures 1,175 ft. long, 325 ft. wide and 211 ft. high, andis built in the shape of a hollow half egg shell. Following construction of the second airship, Goodyearwill probably start work on a still larger ship to be used for commercial trans-oceanic service. P. W. Litchfield,President of The Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Company and the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation, is also head of theorganisation which was formed some time ago to develop trans-oceanic air transportation. o 193 1 "OST * QATTY Round the world flight. TRAVEL AIR "ft" Many fine long distanoo flights. FAIRSY L0H0 RANGE ATJTOGIHO C.24 HIHKLSiVS flight Capa fligbt, troops to Cyprus. SARO A.7 Gibraltar-Plymouth r.cn-stop. In PUBO Moth. Ne-.v York-3.Amerlco-Africa-I.ondon. Some Outstanding Achievements in Practice and Performance during 1931.
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