1937-07-10 — Page 2

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THE CHINA MAIL, JULY 10, 1937.

The Future Of The Airship

was

But these very precautions re- sulted in the buoyancy being cut too fine; the Diesel engines and

some

As a consequence of the tragic of petrol; special provision end of the famous German airship made in the construction of the hull of to enable her to resist bad-weather the Hindenburg, the attention the public and that of every ser-conditions and to ride out a storm ious student of aeronautics has at her moɔsing post. once more been directed to the yet undecided question of long-distance flight, whether the future lies with

expected. A the airship or with the aeroplane. other components came out just a The disaster to the Hindenburg little heavier than may or may not prove more than a lack of buoyancy in an airship is a It was one of the temporary setback. Travel by air-fatal defect.

of ship will certainly lose popularity findings in that particular case that for the time being, but as concerns there had been a serious leakage the future, much will depend upon gas, but that merely exaggerated a the result of the investigation now defect that would probably have re- taking place; for the present that sulted in disaster in any case. aspect of the subject may be dis- missed in a few words.

was

the

The huge Pan-American Airways Clipper, which yesterday flew to Southampton from Ireland' after completing the first trans-Atlantic test - flight.

Hong

Kong's Part

In Air History

service length of the Nile to

in

on

Helium Necessary

Channel there When over the Whatever may have been the im- were already signs that the R. 101 mediate cause of the disaster, the was deficient in buoyancy, and she only fact so far disclosed is that it should have been ordered back It is worthy of remark that due to fire and not to any home.

If helium had had R. 101 been filled with helium structural defect. been used in place of hydrogen, it instead of hydrogen the disaster is fair to assume that the airship would not have occurred, because would not have been lost, although then she would never have left the there might have been something in ground at all; she would have re- the way of an "incident"; but if mained safe and sound at Carding- the Hindenburg had been inflated ton.

In discussing the future of with helium her buoyancy and her margin of lift would have been re-airship vis-a-vis of the aeroplane it duced by approximately 14 tons, would be wrong to make too much which would represent the loss of of the disasters of the past; a great a pay-load of the magnitude equi- deal of experience has been accum-

Kisumu are doubtless there valent to 150 passengers and crewulated, and

The Imperial Airways with an allowance of 1⁄2 cwt. each many more lessons to be learnt.

may On the score of safety, we.

Kong recent-Victoria Nyanza, then swung east to left Hong which for luggage, &c.

the aeroplane of the

an-the Coast at Mombasa, turning south its part assume that

played R101 Dilemna

Com-again to call at Zanzibar, Dar-es- Lorenco Flying Boat Bluntly stated, this means that future will be driven by not less ly

the ship's Marques, the great the Hindenburg would, for all prac- than four engines of sufficient po-other step in the history of

the entry appeared in

glided down into the harbour tical purposes, have ceased to wer to render the plane safe to flymercial Aviation. For the first time Salaam, Mozambique and

1 bag.

Durban. possess any commercial value; and with any one engine out of

Şuch machines exist to- Mail Waybills:-

Hong Kong to Durban

was this bag

This simple routine entry then it would become a question of mission.

On a large machine it is fur-

At Alexandria weight saving, cheeseparing, a bit day.

Em- here and a bit there. The dilemma ther possible to make provision for is the same as that which resulted the rectification of minor defects placed with the usual ton or so of perhaps help to bring home the pro- the pire's Air Services: London to Dur- in the loss of the R.101. In the de- while in the air; this means that a mails on the Southbound England gress. being made in the re-organisa- ban-8000 miles-in 61⁄2 days, soon sign and construction of that air-breakdown involving a forced land-to Africa Flying Boat Service. 41⁄2tion and acceleration of the

further. The to be reduced still ship everything possible was said ing would be a very rare occurren-days later, having traversed

next step will be the transfer of the to have been done with the object ce.

Diesel en- of making her safe.

Egypt to Australia route to Flying Beardmore were gines by Messrs.

Boat Operations, with corresponding adopted to do away with the danger

acceleration of schedules. Already wireless and meteorological services, night landing equipment, Flying Boat docks etc. are far advanced, the splendid new civil Airport at Singa- pore being an example of what the The stages flown over long stret-various Governments are doing for

could be negotiated Civil Aviation. ches of water by flying boats, which if brought down could be navigated under favourable conditions or would re- main afloat for a considerable time There in bad or stormy weather.

42 DAYS

PENANG-LONDON

-51⁄2 DAYS

SINGAPORE-LONDON

TWICE WEEKLY:

Special Through Fares on Application Government Officials and Officers 10% Reduction

com-

It is already recognised that the Diesel type of engine for flights of (Continued at Foot of Next Col)

KLM

ROYAL DUTCH AIR LINES

AGENTS: JAVA CHINA JAPAN LINE YORK BUILDING, OHATER ROAD.

long duration has the advantage of the additional deadweight being more than compensated by the economy and saving weight in fuel: thus the danger from fire is practi- cally eliminated, or at least reduced to very small proportions.

Little Future

is no necessity for the one type of machine to be used on the different stages of a long-distance flight. An aeroplane capable of making a passage at something over 200 m.p.- h. would not be at the mercy of the wind as would an airship with less than half that flight speed; and there is no prospect that the speed of the airship can be increased be- yond 100 m.p.h. unless its size be increased substantially beyond what it is to-day.

And even as things stand, the very possibility of total loss is...a considerable risk; an airship, if from any cause it is unable to re- main in the air, is almost certain to meet

with disaster unless by good

yof fortune it is in the vicinity mooring post and able to call up the requisite crew to effect a safe landing.

In

[feels of the above, the writer

doubtful whether the airship has any prospect of a com- mercial future at all-Dr. TW. Tanchester, F. R. S. in Engineering.

|

of

may

the

After extensive - experiments, Dutch Government has placed an im- portant order for guns, to be used by infantry against tank attacks, with the firm of Boehler Brothers and Co., of Vienna.

More than 300 chicks were roasted to death in a poultry-house fire at Kinnerley, Shropshire.

An Englishman whose name is given a native of Bodmin, Cornwall, was ac- as Mr. Harry Cardel Runnalls, aged 52, cidentally drowned from his yacht, the Mallar, at Calais.

for

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PERFECT SEASONING

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