The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-10-28
vANImAN IS CONFIDENT
With Bigger Balloon Than WeIlman's
He Says He'll Reach Europe


Philadelphia, Oct. 2s.-When Mel
win Vaniman trundles his dirlgible
airship the Akron, out of its hangar
today, Atlantic City will witness the
ascension and testing of the largest
dirigible ever built in America and
the most capacious gas bag ever con-
structed anywhere.
Vaniman is working on the dirig-
ible and is able to talk to visitors
only a few moments He says he is
confident that he will cross the ocean
but complains that he is not receiv-
ing the encouragement that he
should The balloon envelope which
is to support him and his FIVE COM
panions consists of seven thickness
es--four of rubber and three OF cloth.
II is impervious to moisture. 1t is
25S feet long, AZ feet in diameter,
and weighs over 5000 pounds. When
the Akron sails for Europe the cen
trail chamber will contain about AGO.
600 cubic feet OF hydrogen gas. The
bag is divided into four compart-
ments-one for gas and four for air
The car consists of framework Of
light steel tubing attached to a
long, torpedo-shaped gasoline tank,
on which four engines will rest. The
gasoline reservoir will contain more
than 10000 pounds of gasoline. The
car weighs 5000 pounds and is 1856
feet long. The Akron has lifting
capacity of 10000 pounds.
While it was intended originally
that there should be four engines,
with total horse power of 317, there
are but two engines in the monster
now. One of these is a 100 horse
power affair and the other is 80 horse
power. A third engine will be in
| position before Saturday There
are six propellers, three on each side
made of French walnut. Four Of the
propellers are of tie type invented
and manufactured by Vaniman
Beneath the car twenty-seveI
foot lifeboat is suspended by swiv
ell, so arranged that no matter wheth
er the Akron is being carried broad
side or not, the boat will enter thS
water head on, thus obviating th'
danger of swapping. The boat II
non-capsizable and is fitted with SUI
ficient air compartments to make i
practically unsuitable The wire
less apparatus and provisions for |
fifteen days voyage win be carrie,
in the lifeboat, which will likewis,
be used for sleeping quarters. Jacl
Irwin, the wireless operator OF Wal
ter Wellman's America, will operat
the telegraph key.
Probably the greatest departure
that the Akron is making from tn
lines of the America lies in the equil
ibrator, upon which much OF tn
blame for the failure of the Wellmal
expedition was placed.
The new equilibrator is compose,
Of two chains of pipes, strung at in
tervals on wire cables. There ar
two equilibrators; one composed O
4-inch and the other OF inch pipes
These pipes are cigar shaped, abou
4 feet long. and pierced at the lowe
ends by three rectangular holes. Van
imam figures to use the four inc
pipes when the Akron is making fas
time and the larger piped equilibrato
when the speed is slow.
The pipes and cable will be lowe
ed into the sea open end first. Fac
pipe will FIJI with water as it strike
the ocean, and thus the weight OF tn
equilibrator can be fixed at the star
dard required.
Vaniman says that when the Anne
lea started out, the old, solid, mol
regulatable equilibrator was tw
tons too heavy, but by reason OF tn
loss of gas and the terrific expansio
, due TO the sun the equilibrator fiji
ally became one ton too light.
If Vaniman's new equilibrator is
success he will have solved a pro-
lem that has been the perplexxin
question to all the aerial navigator
who have desired to soar above n
ocean.
The Akron's maximum speed Is Z
miles an hour Her wireless appa
atus will flash signals over radiI
Of 500 miles. The personnel OF II
crew is not yet settled, but thel
will be Vaniman, Irwin, Louis Lou
the chief engineer two mechanic
and a navigator
With his personal assistants an
three shifts OF mechanics. includir
several women employed in sewiI
canvas, Vaniman is working eightee
hours a day on the Akron.
IOWA MEAT PACKERS WIN