Los Angeles herald., 1910-08-01

an ascending whirlwind, with its ac-
companying heavy fall of snow.
THE loss of buoyancy through the
elevation of the ship, the fall of tenn
perature of about 15 degrees and the
covering of wet snow is estimated at
approximately two tons. Such storms
are fortunately only associated with
particular states of weather, like ty-
phoons. which still claim victims at
set. But just as sailors have already
learned to avoid these, so navigators of
the air will soon have no more reason
to fear whirlwinds. Passenger airships
can and will avoid them in future.
"The catastrophe in the. Teutoburg
forest must remain unique of its kind.
That the memory of it is not a much
sadder one is due to the method of con-
struction of my rigid airship, which
obviates danger to the lives of passen-
gers through the presence of large
structural parts which reduce to abso-
lutte harmlessness the force of the i'm
pact against solid bodies, as we'll as
through extended lower surfaces, which
exclude too rapid fall"
The count lays down the following
principles for future passenger jour-
neys:
"In the first place, thorough con-
Sideration of the general meteorological
conditions, from which the probable ap-
pearance of whirlwinds is always to be
inferred. If it is desired to undertake
passenger trips from a place of shelter
to which it is absolutely necessary to
return the journey must be commenced
against the prevailing wind in order to
insure a return to the starting point.
1t is not enough to travel only short
distance against tht wind till the SUI
periority of the airship's speed to that
of the atmospheric current has been
~ 49, ftNA ytWas1
may increase, or that of the airship be
decreased by the breakdown of the
motors in such a way as to render a
return impossible.R
VERTICAL SCREW CONSIDERED
The champion of the rigid system
further returns to his old demand that
suitable anchoring grounds for airships
should be laid down at as many diff
ferent places as possible to provide for
the eventuality of an involuntarily in
terrupted voyage. Count Zeppelin adj
mits that the use of his airships is con-
siderably limited by the force and
direction of the wind. He overlooks,
however the two chief objections which
other experts make against his system,
namely, its high cost, and the practical
certainty Of total destruction when his
craft is compelled to descend during a
storm on difficult ground, where no
preparations nave uSSll iHduo 1Or It's
reception.
Many people are of the opinion that
the Deutschland would have been over
taken by it's melancholy fate with just
as much certainty even if the storm
had not been complicated by whirl-
wind. A semi-rigid or non-Eigid air
ship would have descended ay soon as
It's own speed was overcome by that
of the wind. The ripping cord would
have been pulled, and the component
parts of the vessel would have been
packed on to carts and carried back to
the starting point. But the Zeppelin
must go home either with its own mo-
tive power or not at all, and the per-
centage of cases in which the latter
alternative has come to pass has been
very high.
1t is an interesting fact that the
ballooning department of the army is
now considering the advisability of
fitting it's airships with vertical screws,
with view to facilitating ascent and
descent, experience in maneuvers hav-
ing shown that it is very difficult and
dangerous to bring a dirigible to earth
where no special arrangements have
been made to assist the process.