FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1936
1936 - 0575.PDF
250 FLIGHT. MARCH 5, 1936. A vivid idea of the size of the fins is given by the sight of men applying finishing touches, to the fabric. officers and ratings are located on " B " deck. As in the Graf Zeppelin, the control car is situated forward and external to the main hull, so as to afford the best possible view. Aft of the control cabin, and communicating with it, are the navigator's quarters, with large tables on which to spread the charts and plot off courses. Above the control cabin is the wireless opera tor's compartment. The suspension of the engine cars in the Graf Zeppelin on struts was found satisfactory, and a similar arrangement is used in the L.Z.129. Access to the cars from the hull is via the corresponding ring frames from the central "cat-walk." The engines are driving pusher airscrews, so that the engine nacelles are mounted with their pointed ends facing aft. In the nose of each nacelle is a radiator, which can be more or less covered with a sliding door in order to vary the cooling to suit different conditions of temperature and weather. Fuel is carried in a series of cylindrical tanks ranged on each side of the lower "cat-walk," but lubricating oil is carried in tanks placed inside the walls of the hull, close to the engines. An unusual feature of the L.Z.129 is the use of under carriages. One of these is fitted under the control car forward, while the other supports the edge of the lower tail fin. The wheels are arranged to swivel laterally, and are sprung by mounting their framework on compressed air cylinders. Those who were fortunate enough to see the Graf Zeppelin brought into Hanworth aerodrome some years ago will remember the superb skill with which the airship was handled. The wheel undercarriages should facilitate ground handhng when that has to be resorted to. There is, of course, a fitting in the extreme bows for moor ing the airship to a mast, such as that available at Lakehurst. On completion, the L.Z.129 will be handed over to the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei for trans-oceanic operation, and a new airship, the L.Z.130, will be put in hand at cnce. It is also reported that a second, and somewhat smaller, airship is being planned—possibly intended for high-speed mail work. Next week some of the many interesting constructional features of the L.Z. 129 will be described. One of the two-berth cabins, fully equipped with hot and cold water wash-basin, well lighted, and cosily and tastefully decorated. SOUNDING FOR SOUNDS AS every engineer knows, one of the most elementary and certain methods of detecting trouble in machinery is to take note of the sound which it emits; very seldom can any- thing go wrong with any type of mechanism without some distinctive noise giving evidence of the. fact. Not always, however, are these noises loud enough to be audible above the sound of the rest of the machinery, and some, indeed, may be of a " microscopic " nature quite in audible to the unassisted human ear. It is for the accurate detection of such noises that the " Capac Bin-Aural " testing equipment has been evolved by the Capac Co., Ltd., 26, Brookwood Avenue, Barnes, London, S.W.13, and it is now being utilised very widely in factories repair shops, and experimental departments. The Bristol Company, Napiers, Wolseleys, Armstrong Siddeleys, S. Smith and Sons, and the Admiralty Engineering Laboratory are, it is stated, among the users. Although rather resembling a stethoscope in appearance, the apparatus is far less rudi mentary than thaf simple medical instrument, and the very siightest sounds occurring in any machinery to which the contact point or "test rod" is applied are greatly- magnified. , Perhaps the most interesting aspect, however, is the lac that the " tectoscope," as the test-rod part of the apparatu- is termed, is supplemented by an alternative type of receiver called a " tectophonc." which can be used for picking up noises such as those emitted by worn teeth of gear wheels, to which, of course, the test rod cannot be applied. Apart from this, two " tectoscopes " can be used m con junction with the same pair of earphones in order t°^ec" t a comparison between the noises emitted by, say, two dine bearings on the same shaft, or, again, the "tectoscope the " tectophone " can be used in conjunction for accur isolating the source of one sound from the source of anot" ',. Sold in a polished oak case containing two " tfectoscop and one "tectophone," with complete sets of connec tubes, joints, and test rods, the equipment costs £6 15s'
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
