Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-08-04
WAR BALLOONS FOR ARMY

me United States army is ut last
10 have Il formidable aerial fleet. II
mas just been made known that the
giant war balloon completed a few
weeks ago for the signal corps is onl,
the first of a series of such balloons
OF great size to be manufactured I'M
der the direction of Brigadier General
James Allen, the chief signal officer.
The new war balloon is the largest
aerial craft ever seen in the United
States. The nearly globular Gas en-
vclope Is 81 feet In diameter. holds
$4,000 cubic feet of gas and Is made
OF twentysevcn hundred separate
pieces of Il new combination of linen
and percalc, selected not only lccauscI
OF superior durability. but because It
best resists the actinic rays OF the
sun. Double strength in the mcshcs
only half rs large as hitherto. the en-.
IRE netting weighing 2S6 pounds. The
car carries the full crew OF four men
ana an additional weight OF 1000,
pounds. II is G feet long, ) feet wide
and 4 IL feet high
A novel feature of the new balloon
Is the ripping strip" twenty-five feet
long, running down the side. When
this is jcrked Il seam, so to speak. is
Nititb III viz Si'lf 'iuu Dttit utlil-
ton is effected in half minute This
will be of great advantage in quicl,
field transfers. when the balloon, hay
ing been discovered by the enemy
must be hurried out OF the zone of
danger. All OF the gas having beer,
let out in half minute, IL would then
he matter OF a few minutes more to
pack the envelope in the car and place
the latter aboard the waiting balloon
wagon.
The new series of giant war bal
looms are to Le used for instruction,
service tests and experiments, and
have been designed primarily for war
duty. Experience has proved that IT
requires considerable training and
practice to fit men for usefulness, as
balloon observers. The effects upon
men when raised aloft the first few
times IN Il balloon car to height of
thousand feet or so is generally one
of confused and distorted vision.
feeling akin to seasickness is often
produced by the rocking motion. Oh
jects on the earth's surface have an
expanded appearance, and ideas OF
size and distance become distorted.
nee the signal corps wishes to give
each of its men as many practice
flights as possible. in order that they
may acquire what is known as the
balloon eye"
The army already has three bal
looms. In addition to this new one.
Two are cylindrical, having capacities
of $4,000 ana $4,000 cubic feet, the
smaller being onesxth the size of the
new one. Their envelopes are OF gold.
heaters skin. They were used at San
tlngo during the Spanish-American
War. The third, bought in Germany
soon after the war, is known as the
"Siegsfeld balloon" its inventor, Il
Prnssian officer, having that name IL
Is cylinder 20 feet in diameter Ivy 75
feet long. and in flight is intended to
be boised at about twenty degrees to
the horizontal, or at about the incli-
nation of kite. 1t combines the
kites virtue of going higher the stiff.
fer the breeze with the balloons abili-
ty to stay aloft after the wind has
died down. 1t is divided, internally,
by diaphragm. separating its gas
envelope rorward) from an air en-
velope (afD, and the latter is always
kept stiff by the air rushing into II
through Il funnel opening beneath
The air envelope pressing against the
diaphragm also keeps the gas envelope
solid and thus is avoided the flabb-
ness suffered by the ordinary balloon
as 1t ascends into the region of lesser
and lesser atmospheric pressure III