The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-07-27

her moorings in the center of the Cav
cndish Dock.
Working with absolute precision,
under the direction of Captain NJ. F.
Sueter, inspecting captain of airships,
were parties of close upon 100 blue
Jackets and marines from the cruiser
Hermione. AS early as a. m. the
curtain at the entrance of the shed
was drawn aside. At $3.50 the final
staging holding the airship was re-
moved, and she was allowed to rest
upon the water supported by the two
boat-shaped cars or gondolas under
her hull The various launching par
ties now took up their stations. A
cable had overnight been stretched
along the surface of the dock from the
back of the shed to a buoy well out
towards the center of the dock, and at
a signal from Captain Suter the mem
bers of the crew, who were in the air
ships gondolas, assisted by bluejack-
cts in boats attached to the sides of
them, began to haul upon the cable
and the dirigible moved evenly from
her shed stern first at about a walk
ing pace. AS she emerged she was
held steady on either side by parties
of men who were stationed on pom
ICONS and who handled ropes fixed to
her hull. In a little more than FIVE
minutes, so dexterously was she hand
led, the airship foated clear of her
she'd Now, for the first time, the de-
tails of her construction could be ap-
preciated.
The hull OF the airship, which is ex-
actly 512 feet in length, is slightly
blunt at the bow and tapers away
finely at the stern, being as matter
of fact precisely in the stream line"
form found most suitable for minimiz-
ing wind resistance by the tests of the
National Physical Laboratory. The
framework of the hull, constructed OF
"duralumin," is sheathed completely
with a special fabric This is water
proof and gas-tight, and has been
treated externally with a paint which
resists the action of light and pro-
tects the gas-containing balloonettes
from expansion and contraction due
to atmospheric changes. In color the
hull is a metallic silver grey upon its
upper half and has yellow tint on its
lower side. This contrast in color is
caused by variation in the treatment
of the fabric, the light rays from
above and the damp from off the sur
face of the water being resisted by
two different processes.
The framework is so arranged that
the hull of the airship is 12-siued. In
the framework are the seventeen bal
lonettes, each one being in a sep
arate compartment. Altogether they
contain more than 100000 cubic feet
Of hydrogen, with a lifting effect equal
to twenty-one tons. The two gondolas
are each about twenty-five feet in
length, and are made of polished
wood. They are suspended, fore and
aft, close up under the hull by means
of metal rods and are connected by a
covered-in passageway, which pro-
vides in its center the quarters of the
airships crew.
In each gondola is a Wolseley-Sid-
deley petrol motor developing 200
horsepower. Three propellers in all
drive the airship. On either side of
the fore gondola is placed a four.
Eladed propeller, while a two-bladed
propeller, larger than either of the
others, is fixed Immediately behind
the rear gondola. A clutch mechanism
is fitted in connection with both power