The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1919-07-08
Designed for Battle Cruiser
and Carried Guns and
Heavy Bombs
DESCRIPTION OF
PRESENT MACHINE
Dirigiblc is 67O Feet Long and Has
Capacity Of 100000 Cubic Feet of
Gas-Propelled by Five Motors of
Sunbeam Maori Type.

/ NEW YORK, July B.-The R-34 is |
about GO feet long with beam of about
10 feet, and from the top of her cigar
| shaped gas bag to the lowest point of her
five gondolas she measures about 80 feet.
i The capacity Of her gas bag is about 2,
100000 cubic feet A sister dirigible is
the R-33. The two airships were built
originally to bomb Berlin and other Ger
man cities The two vessels are the larg
est dirigbles in the world, as long from
end to end as the ocean steamship Adri-
attic
Under her cigar-shaped bag the R34
has five gondoas to carry the members
of the crew and the motors to furnish
power The forward gQndola is for the
use of the commander and the navigator
and also carries the radio instruments
The five motors are of the Sunbeam Ma
orr type, of about $50 horsepower, and
with $500 revolutions enable the airship
to make 10 miles an hour under favorable
conditions.
All the sondoas are inclosed by glass,
and are connected by a huge platform
so that the commander and the members
OF the crew may pass easily from one gon-
dola to the others The gondolas are
equipped with cooking apparatus so that
hot meals may be prepared for the 30
members Of the crew
When the war apparatus was stripped
from the vessel six extra gasoline tanks
were added and it was estimated that
this gave the dirigiblc cruising radius
IF : In l., bo,
] total freight and fuel capacity about p
TONS the weight of the balloon itself and
the other equipment amounting to about
80 tons
4 Shortly before the signing of the armis
ticc the British air ministry called into
conference some of the best aerial ex
merits among the allies and announced that
it had been decided to build lighter-than
air bombing machines, larger even thar
the Germans had sent over London II
was reported nnofiicially at the time that
some of the ideas for the super-drigible,
were to be taken from one of the Zeppe
Inns that had been brought down in flames
near London while on bombing raid
III Although the war ended while worl
was being carried on in the construction
of one of the dirigibles, orders for tn
4 speedy construction of the twin arcraf
\ were not cancelled The dirigibes wer
turned out at the plants of Sir w G
4 Armstrong. Whtworth & Co., at Inch
imam, near Edinburgh The work wa
carried on SO rapidly that both Graf
were ready for their trial flights las
March Trey completed their trial flight
within two days OF each other and wer
accepted hv the admiralty They wer
armed with machine guns, bombing az
paratus, and other war material, an
4 were held in readiness at their hangar
4 at East Fortune, near Edinburgh, fo
any emergency il the event the German
n failed to sign the arlnistcc.
When it seemed quite certain that th
i IGcrmans would not give cause for tn
continuance Of hostilities, it was decide
to dismantle both cruisers and send thei
Z on a peace I'll trip to the United State
It was at first planned to start them I
the same time, but on different route
However, when the work of dismantir
II began it was found that it would tai
50 much time to dismantle the ships
their war equipment that it was decide
to remodel only the R-34 for the Atant
crossing.
Is a battle cruiser the R-3I carried tv
fourinch guns, several machine guns, fo
bombs, weighing about $50 pounds eac
capable OF destruction IN an area of A
600 square feet, and eight smaller bomt
weighing about go pounds each 1t W
estimated that the changes necessary
make the dirigible harbinger of pea
rather than Of war would permit it
- carry between 5000 and 1000 gallons
gasoline
Although no definite figures have Ne
. mad" public Of the cost of Construct
81 or the making Of the alterations, it h
= been said that British experts figure t