Evening star., 1921-08-24

Tho ZR-2, on her flight to America,
was to have sailed from Howder
westward over Ireland and then
head, about west by south, fol-
lowing the curve Of a great circle.
with Newfoundland as its objective.
In case of storms or other handicaps
tho aerial dreadnaught was to take
q more southerly course. A convoy
Of army and navy aircraft. together
with some destroyers, were to meet
the giantess Of the clouds of New
foundland, and escort her down the
coast, passing over Nova Scotia. cross
ing the eastern points of New Eng
land and flying over New York to
New Jersey.
with fair weather. naval obssrv-
ers said. the entire trip Of $500 miles
could have been made In from three
to four days. No matter how bois-
ferrous the conditions aloft, however,
the zR;s was supposed ~ SEE t. ,b be ~ well tsa
six powerful engines installed in
power exEs," as the stream-lined
cars .slung beneath her hulls were
called, were reversible and thus In
creased her supposed maneuveraoilisy;
Unlike the R-s4, which made a
similar trip In July. 1919, the ZR-2.
1t was expected. would not have to
nurse her engines or conserve her
fuel supply Of 1o.4oo gallons. She
had one more engine than the R-34
had and each were Of $50 instead OF
$50 horsepower. and her gasoline sup
ply exceeded the R-34's by 2,9o0 gal
Ions. She was also faster. her cruis-
ing speed being fifty miles an hour
and her maximum seventy-ave miles.
projecting downward from her nose.
and from there Commander Maxfeid
controlled her movements. Her hull
followed the general lines OF Zeppe-
lin. but OF lighter construction, the
framework being Of duralumin lattice
/ frame were fourteen separate hyaro.
gen gas cmpertments constructed OF
fabric. lined with geldbeaters skin,
thin, fInpervious membrane.
In case Of war the ZR-2 was TO be
filled with Notwithstanding heHum
or anti-afrcraft gunfire except by
actual punctures to her fourteen
separate gas bags and, as her cell
fng" or altitude capacity was 26,OO0
feet, she could have sought and round
i comparative safety above the range
1 OF +8H0OH0 zine uT6s Wu1Ct. - VIC ceAos
he'd never proved especially effective:
| Il vas pointed cut that Ss q naval
scout the zR-z was practically invul-
noSable. In this connection It to In.
FtSfesging 70 note fhat the Untteo
Ststeo government, having practical
monopoly on helium. 10 the only na-
tion today IN q position to have
| helium-Alfed a3rBhips.
I He1tIn. besides being non.fnhem.
mable, 10 almost a. buoyant as ny.
drogen. The Navy'S heliAm plant aa
Fort Worth, Tex, the only one ca.
pable of extracting the elusive element
from Texas natural gas. Is In daily
operation. Naval experts say, how.
| ever, that more than 100000 cubic feet
tof heliuna are wasted daily, and they
urge that extracting be done at al
natural gas wells, since the process
does not fnjure the gas in any way.
I; BY q simple rearran6ement. the
Navy Department announced. the
i ZH-2 could have been converted into
+; commercial airBhip capable OF carry.
| ing approximately forty xons oi
freight and ~ many as sfxty-0ve paS'
SsnGers on uingfe tr5p. She cost the
Unfted S1ates gUveFnn1ent $2,o02, ,e00
l ltNe buiEdtn8 0f ths hangar ef Lake.
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VNaek 0a eAe ZN-1. eEstef ship: wAl
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