The Benson signal., 1919-03-22
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BY LLOYD ALLEN,
Special staff Correspondent.


built for the allies The impression got about
that lighter than air ships were failures because
the Zeppelns failed In their raids. There is no
doubt on this subject in the British air ministry.
There it is known positively that the era OF the
dirigible is just beginning
An immense amount of antisubmarne patrol
ing and convoy escOrting was done Dy dlrlglDles
during the last year Of the war. A chain OF
airship stations was maintained right around the
coast of England, from Mull1on In Cornwan
around Scotland to Pembroke. large number
of hostile submarines were either put out OF ac-
ton or actually destroyed by bombing. other
subs were located by the air men and the IN
formation passed along to the destroyers that
knew well enough how to handle the under-sea
murderers.
It was in convoy escorting that airships showed
their special advantages airplanes The
airship with Its big bag of gas to keep 1t up
could go very slowly, keeping an even pace with
the transports below, loaded with American SOL
diers It could stay at any given height while
it's lookouts searched the sea for mines and subs
Can Cross Atlantic In Fifty Hours.
During the war one British airship made
cruise lasting 30 hours and IS minutes and since
the armistice this record has been beaten by
trip of 81 hours With such reliable data as this
to work on the air experts figure that crossing
the Atlantic is going to be fairly easy job,
since there are in existence today dirigibles that
would mean something like 40 so hours con-
tnuous flying to reach New York
At nresent the British builders are specializing
on two big lighter than-air types. The first Is of
about the same size as the largest Zeppelin,
while the second type, the one that will have a
2OOoo-mile cruising range is four times large
as the largest Zeppelin ever built.
Imagine an airship with a gas bag LOO feet
long longer than the Mauretania and higher
than the Woolworth building were the dirgible
set on end Inside this bag 100000 cubic feet
of gas will be carried capable of lifting 200 tons
of freight and passengers in addition to the
weight of the operating machinery. Plans for
the craft make provision for saloons, drawing
rooms smoking rooms. and a ''roof garden"
which may be reached by an elevator. The es.
timated speed is 95 miles hour
When the German Zeppelin L 70 was built
It was predicted that she would be the largest
OF her kind yet the British Goliath Of the
air has uuadrupled the capacity of the German
production.
AS compared to the 'ten million" ship the
other British type is somewhat of an infant since
she can carry but 80 tons of luggage and pas
sengers and can travel only 5000 odd miles
without descending for fresh supply Of gaSo-
line and Oil.
Best for Long Distance Flights.
With these possibilities in aerial travel virtually
realized it is conceded here that the dirigble
must take first place as a long-distance pas
senger carrier. Heavier than air machines will
be built in considerable numbers, and will come
into very large USE but in Ill probability they
will he utilized mainly for fights that aggregate
into the hundreds of miles rather than into the
thousands. The airplanes special advantages will
be 'aode use Of where certain routes are to be