Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1912-03-19

Melvin Naniman former Honolulu
man. Is preparing to cross the At
lantic ocean Ia an airship. an Inn
mcnse dirigiblc In recent number
the SC entiiiC American publishes an
Interesting account Of Mr.. vaniman
and his ship" the Akron" The
account says:
1T was with no feeling of regret
iha' Mr. Melvin Vaniman, leaning
over the tanrai OF the steamghiy
TRENT watched the Inflated airshiI
America" sink slowly to the sea. One
might suppose that the engineer who
mad spent so many years OF. work Oh
this dirigible would entertain some
sentimental regard Tor the old bal.
loon. But Mr.. Vanimln's thoughts
were ON another expedition. in which
ne would not be hampered with old
material, an old gas bag. and old en-
zines, but could plan an entirely new
aiTship made of brand new material
exactly as he wanted It, The Anne
ncn hai served her purpose we'll. and
from her IN the years that had pass
ed Mr. Naniman had learned the les
sons that were necessary TO make q
this new airship was already begin.
ming to take form In his mind, and
after short rest he was eagnr 10
begin the work again along new
lines
When the America" was abandon,
ed II was structurllly sound, showing
that the principles involved were COZ
rect. one part only had failed: d
key worked loose In one Of the pro-
pellers, and to this defect Mr.. Vani-
man attributed the failure OF the eN.
petition. a. was pointed out In the
Scientific American Of October 29th
1910. The propeller was one of q
pair that could be revOlyed with theil
axes so as TO exert thrust at any
desired angle. Had he been able ,(
use this pair OF propellers to lift the
machine bodily upward by power, h,
could have raised his eIuilibrator on
of the water and prevented that ter
rifying and nerye-racking surging o
the airship caused by the drag Of tn,
equilibratOr In the waves during tn,
storm. Contrary to public opinion
Mr. Nanimans faith In the equilibra
tor or its equivalent was not shaken
OF enabling the America" to beat al
records for dirigible balloons as tC
time in the air. distance travelled, and
weight carried. Its action In the sea
ita defects and good Qualities were
all known alter this voyage. and II
was from this experience that M
Naniman got to the heart of the pro
hlen, viz, the designing Of device
that would serve the purp Sc OF tn,
old equilihratOr and not have its de
!oCts, device that would have
chungeablc weight, not fixed weight
IN other words, an ePIilibratOr tina
could be made heavy or light at will
Principal Features Of the Construc
ton.
Fairly this summer Mr.. vanimal
succeeded in interesting Mr.. F. A
Soibcrling, president of the Goodyea
Fire d Rubber Co., of Akron, Ohio
who agreed to furnish the necesslr.
capital The construction OF the ga
bag was Immediately started at tn
Goodyear plant and 1t was shipped L
Atlantic City early in September. Tn
gas bag was built according to Nj
Vaniman's directions, and differs con
siderably from that of the America.
The "AkrOn," as the new airship
called. Is longer but of smaller dia
meter, and tapers gracefully towar
the stern. The old hangar of the las
years expedition is being used by Nj
Vaniman. and to use this shed with
out enlargement II was found neces
gary to cut ont 10 feet from the en-
velope as originally designed TIL
present length of the gas bag there
fore, Is two hundred and fifty-eigi
feet, while its diameter Is forty-seve
feet
Below the airship runs car sim
lar in shape to that of the America
bu'. In the present instance, consit
crably longer The body OF the ca
Is steel tank forming reserve
for five tons Of gasoline. On TIL
rank a platform IL built which Is III
deck of the airship. To drive the al
ship three engines are provided. On
forward, OF 100 horsepower rating.
Atted with propellers that rotate on
in the vertical plane. The next ~
engines, OF 100 and so horsepowe
respectively. drive the propeller
whose plane OF rotation may be turf
tu 10 any NeSlTeu angie. NOiHndll
only the forward engine will be use
10 drive the airship ahead, and
should give the craft speed of abo
30 miles per hour. About 60 pount
~ gasoline will he consumed per hou
so that the supply of gasoline shOu
last about week The propelle
Of the other tive engines will be feat
cred, or turned to horizontal positio
20 as to offer no resistance to II
forward propulsion of the vessel.
addition to these engines. there Is
II horse power engine directly CO.
nected with a dynamo which VI
generate current for lighting the al
ship AT night and for operating Il
Marconi wireless telegraph applr
tus. This engine will also operate