River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1921-09-01
Structural Weakness Apparent
Cause of Tragedy of the
Giant Airship ZR-2.
FAULTS KNOWN IN ENGLAND
Congress Takes Thirty-Day Recess
After Discarding Anti-Beer Bill
Panama Yields Ccto to Costa
RIGA at Uncle Sans Com
mand, and Goes Into
Mourning.
BY EDWARD w. PIckARD.

''The hull structure is, IN Senerai
principles. of standard type such as
used in Zeppelin airships and in
earlier British types, but very con-
siderable saving of structural weight
has been effected by large number OF
improvements in details"
This excerpt from the official British
description of the ZR-2 seems to ex-
plain the disaster which befell the
giant dirigible while on its trial trip
last Wednesday. The saving of struc-
tural weight was effected at the ex-
pense of the entire airship and the
lives of 46 of the men who manned
her According to survivors, an abb
rupt change of direction when the YES
sci was above Hull strained the frame
work beyond its strength. 1t broke in
two In the middle and fell into the
Humber river with terrific explosions.
Included in the dead were Commander
Louis H. Maxfield and Is more of the
American crew which was to bring the
airship to the United States, and
British Air Commodore /. M. Maitland
and % of the English crew. Only one
American, a rigger, was among the
survivors.
ZR-2 was the largest airship ever
constructed and was built by the Brit
ish government for the United States
navy. The price was to be S2,OO0,0OO.
OF course, as she had not yet been
turned over TO the Americans the
financial loss does not fall on the Amer
lean government The catastrophe was
not great surprise to those in Eng
land who had watched the building
and tests of the airship. On several
preliminary trials defects and weak
nesses were uncovered, and the final
trial flight which ended so disastrously
Ind been postponed repeatedly though
the weather seemed entirely favorable.
IT is said that enlisted men of the
British air service stationed at How
den had offered to bet ten to one that
the dirigible never would get across
the Atlantic: that they declared it was
structurally weak, and impossibly
large. with unreliable engines and
framework incapable of standing the
strain Of its own 33 tons of dead
weight while in the air.
News of the disaster reached Wash
ington while a congressional commit
tee was listening to arguments in
favor of an appropriation for the COM
spletion of FRI. an American-built
companion ship Of the ZR-2, on which
more than a million dollars already
has been expended. officers of the
naval bureau of aeronautics are conf
dent that the navy will be permitted
TO continue its rigid airship building
program notwithstanding the loss of
ZR-2
Plans for the FRI call for an air
ship of slightly smaller size than the
ZR-2. a length of $40 feet, diameter
about so feet. and gas capacity of ap-
proximately 100000 cubic feet The
total cost is estimated at $2,500.000.
Her designers have adhered more
closely than the British to the struc-
turnl plans of the Germans. who We're
the original builders of rigid airships.
The naval gas extracting plant at Fort
Worth already has stored enough
heiium gas TO fiji the envelope on
Fri. Helium is far less dangerous
than hydrogen gas. being noninflamma-
Bile.
Late Wednesday night congress adj
journed for 30-day recess. or until
Sootap,ber 81 The senate finance
committee remains on the job to con-
tinus its work on the permanent tar
if and the tax revision measures