Evening star., 1924-08-17
Future of Airship in U. S. Held to Reuolue
About Giant ZR-3, Soon to Be Delivered
Best Efforts of Germans
Put Forth TO Assure
Ship Success.
Others Of Type Failures;
Industry May Come to
@nrOn. Ohio.
BY JAMES u. WHARTON.

BN JANES Ii. NHA1EoN.
Correspondent of The Star and the North
American Newspaper Alliance.
BERLIN. August 1G.--Airmen say
that the Immediate development of
the rigid airship in America hangs
upon the way the ZN-3, the giant
riirigihle for two years under con-
Struction. acquitS herself on her non
stop transatlantic flight. The stake,
not the novelty of the feat. Is the
reason for the interest with which
the ships performance Is awaited on
the voyage scheduled to start within
At few days.
The ZR-3 Zeppelin Rigid No. 81
is the last airship tn be delivered to
tho allies under the terms of the
treaty of Versailles. Seven such craft
.slready have been handed over sue
cSSively--threc each to France and
Italy. two to England one to Japan
and now one to the United states. An
i'll fate has attached itself to .eSe
ships Fully half OF them have met
with disaster. have simply de-
Perforated and have been scrapped
one exploded, with great loss of i1fr.
over Hull, England; another was loS;.
with every member of its crew, last
winter in the Mediterranean. So the
Casualty list goes.
Big Money Involved.
on snap Judgment one would be
Inclined To say that the ZR-3.
Americas share of the aerial var
priZe, might easily go the way OF
the others Oniy-it probably wont,
Tor the good reason that there's
great deal of cold cash concerned. An
organization in Akron. ohio GOOD
ycar-Zeppeln Corporation(, WIN
which the original Zeppelin concern
l. -,,,.r h,a
cess of tn" ZR-3 to secure contracts
for the cunst ruction of airships OF
similar tvps for tranSCOntIneHtai or
transatlantic mail or passenger services.
Under the Interpretation OF the
Versailles treaty hy the interaiilTu
commission on control, Germany u
no longer permitted to construct All
:hips for herself of the Zeppelin type.
II is natural that great an lnouS-
trv-an Industry that was organized
primarily for the development O.
cnmms rCial aviatiCn-would fight f"r
It's life. 1t has chosen the only
course. and a wise one--aftlllation
with the corresponding Industry of
tn" most neutral of the allied nations.
America Takes the Lead.
The significance of it is that, in n
sense. the worldfamous Luttschiff-
hau-Zeppelin is moving from Fried
richshafen on the shores Of Lake
Constance. to Akron, Ohio: that thc
great concern Is becoming American
iZed: that the name Zeppelin Will
lose its hostile ronnotation. It is
-.uttmentally fitting that it should
he SO, for Count Ferdinand Won Yep
pelin as 4 youth came to the United
States during the Civil War to serve
as a volunteer officer in the Federal
Army.
All of this makes it quite apparent
that none OF the circumstances or
conditions that surrounded tie de-
livery of the seven other airships to
the allies apply in the case Of the
IE-3 The Zeppelin company is just
a. much interested in its success as
the Navy or any one else. 1t has
been careful never to mention that
il was building the ZR-j under man
date of the Versailles treaty. The
reason is obvious from what already
has been said. There is no doubt that
the Zeppelin concern. regardless of
al previous circumstances, has left
nothing undone to insure the safe
delivery Of the ZR-3 to the Navy De-
partm"nt, and, what is more vital. to
work for its secure maintenance in
the States. With its delivery will go
Il great mass of instructions. data
and charts which will give the Navy
the benefit of the experience the Ger
mans have gained in their extensive
use of hghter-than-ai craft before
and during the war.
Others Old Ships.
There's another poin. of contrast
here. Those seven other ships were
nom. Of them built especially for any
"nc of the allies. They were mostly
old ships. which had borne service to
Germany against the allies.
That fact enhanced the bitterness
and the compulSion of their delivery.
Naturally, they were handed over
with scant grace. The spirit was
shown by the German commander
who delivered the ZR-1l3 to the
French with the words:
Here's your ship. | congrat tulate
YOU for she's a good one. Personally,
7 wish YOU luck with her. but as
former enemy pilot. l hope you may
smash il to bits tomorrow
Incidentally. that ship wasn't
smashed, but it soon deteriorated and
was scrapped.
Plotting il an Instinct.
The main menace to the secure
lnaintcnance of the IRIS under the
navy is that neither America nor any
allied nation has been bred to air
ships. The lighter-than-air craft is
product OF Germany. Germany is
the only nation that employed dirigi-
bleS during the war.
The plotting of an airship is said
to he AN instinct One must be con-
stantly aware of the harmony of
every portion of the huge creature.
1t is an art, the German pilot says,
rather than a science. 1t takes hill
1an a long time to acCuStom him
self TO the plains. The analogy seems
tn . i1,,
The navy. has. however, the ad-
vantage of having built and operated
the Shenandoah
Designed for Commerce.
The ZR-3 has been designed as
commercial craft and it is because of
the commercial aspects of the pro-
posed flight that ii has created so
HGrh comment. While America has
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