The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1908-05-31
THE MILITARY AIRSHIP
Three Nations Have Adopted It
Ii is the Only Type to which Elk.
perimenters Look to for Inn
mediate SeryiCe-It can be Re-
lied Upon to Sail TO any Point.

| portance by events that have been
little heard from. The season OF
outdoor experiment of 1907. saw the
accomplishment of more remarkable
| things In the progress sof air travel
than have been brought about since
the flight of Santos-Dumont in 1902.
The year 1907 may be called ths
year In which the availability OF suf-
ficiently light and powerful motors
first enabled the experimenters to
fight.
The airship of the general type
first controlled in flight by Santos
Dumont, has entered definitely into
the military establishments of the
Powers. Its success in the hands
of the French military experiment
ers has led to its adoption by Ger
many and England as we'll. The
aeroplane flying machine of the gem
eral type heavier than the air. has
for the first time accomplished free
flights through the air. carrying with
it both motor and passenger, for
distances considerably exceeding its
own length. second type of Inc
heavier-than-air kind the heliocopter
has for the first time lifted machine.
power and passenger clear OF the
ground, and so given proof OF tbs
right to be considered as possibly
the final type for the free mechanical
flight OF the future.
In the autumn Of 1907 manoeu-
vres OF the French. German and
English armies airships took part. II
has not been possible so far for
judges to say whicn country pos
sessed the most serviceable air aux
Hilary, bat IN all three cases the new
arm of the service proved that II
had come to stay. The three arm
les all possessed mechanisms that
could travel through the air at
speed to make head against
any ordinary wind, could stay in
flight long enough to cover con-
siderable distance and could be d.
rected SO accurately as to reach
desired point or alight without mis-
hap. The three requirements Of the |
airship speed, endurance and di- |
rection have been attained In a
measure sufficient to make them of
use in military operations,
Such results are more tangible
than anything that has been obtain
ed with the heavier than-air type.
While the airship may not be more
than an intermediary between the
balloon and the eventual flying ma
chine. 1t is the only type to which
nperimenters look for immediate
service. No two things can be more
Inherent than the airship and the
dying machine. The airship Ia a
balloon. 1t carries q vast
gas bag of a capacity to float not
,nly passenger and all the usual APP
,aratus of the round balloon, such ss
ballast and cordage, but also the
weight OF the motor which Is to drag
I through the air The gas bag, in
Ill forms of airship which have thus
1
usefulness, is not much less
han 200 feet In length, nor OF less
han 100 900 feet In capacity.
The enormous bag of gas neces-
AIRY to give Rotation to the airsnip
S an incumbrance in more ways
han one. If made blunt and thick
{ cannot be pushed trough the air
II a speed Sufficient TO make II of
eryice. II built In the usual long
igar-like shape 1t is tender. Then
heavy framework becomes Deces-
AIRY to give 1t strength. The leak
lge of gas limits the length of pos
ible flights and reduces them TO a
point where il is much inferior to
he ordinary drifting balloon. Long
Iefore the gas bag of the airship
mpties sufficiently to cease to float
Is load 1t begins to sag. Loss OF
ihape after a certain point makes
light through the air no longer pos
ible. Thus the endurance of the
Iirships Us limited to flights of a
ew hours. The need of gas to
nflate the bag and the difficulty of
the unfinished airship
m the surface of the earth make IL
iificult TO effect an ascension in
most places and so still further Linn
{ its availability.
In the military airship, indeed,
he authorities foresee all the pos
abilities that may come of an enemy
,eing able freely to pass over the
ace of section of the country with
,ut effective opposition possible
rom its defenders. If only for the
purpose of observation, this manoeu-
re of the alrships would overturn
II; the present system OF attack
nd defence. The movements Of
roops, other things being equal.
.eI end for their effectiveness upon
he ignorance of the opponents.
The Hague Conference on Aug.
9, passed ruling forbldding the
cropping of proiectiles upon hostile
yositions from balloons or aerial
machines. II may be that this rule
yill not be observed in the wars