Evening star., 1924-11-27
D|R|G|BLE TO HOLD
KEY IN AIR BATTLE
Ability to Act as Mother Ship
to Planes Would Revolu-
tionize Fighting.
Special Dispatch to The Star.


Special Dispatch to The Star
NEW YORK, November 25-As
old as the young art OF flying Is the
heavier-than-a air flyers antipathy for
the gas-filled airship. In the be-
ginning he distrusted and Feared it
because the buoyant hydrogen with
which it was inflated was highly
fnffammable. The man who pinned
his faith to airplanes expected sud-
den disaster to overtake his friend In
dirigible. and too often his ex-
pectations were fulfilled.
The advent of helium eliminated
the explosion hazard. but IT failed to
convert the flyer who believed only
in sturdy wings and a good motor.
He conceded that for peace-time mis-
sions the dlrigible might be all
rfght-if it We're ever learned how
to land them when and where they
were wanted-but that for warfare
1t was almost as out of date as
archery.
Both Have Arguments.
Maybe Il bullet won't bring them
down in flames any longer" he said,
but the Slowest and cheapest plane
Uncle Sans got can put the most
expensive dirigible ever built out of
commission with 25-pound bomb"
The * ter-than- air flyer had his
faVorfte arguments. too. not T.. least
OF them being that the mere . ping
of moor didn't mean q .orced
landing for him as it did for the
aeronaut who had nothing but wings
TO keep him aioft. He could tinker
with his engines all he pleased with
out having to worry about rough
terrain or possibly rougher enemy
waiting for him to come down. Also,
he could cruise more hours, cover
greater distances and carry larger
loads than any airplane ever de-
signed
But now the ancient breach be-
tween the two schools apparently is
about to be closed. Maj Gen. Mason
N. Patrick. chief of the Army Air
Service, believes that the next month
or two will see developments in avi-
alton that eventually Will effect this
miracle. II his hopes are realized,
heavIer-than air flyers will be con-
WINGED at last that the dirigibIe has
proper and indispensable place In
the scheme of national defense. They
nay even reach the point where they
VIII net believe that money spent on
such ships as the Shenandoah and
LR-3 has been utterly wasted
hahhCh rhine rom Dir1G1Dle.
Gen. Patricks scheme is mother
ship" OF the air for carrying planes
10 points where dan er threatens.
munitions load and bringing them
back TO base when these are ex
hauSted. 1t might 20 thousand miles
10 sea, II necessary, and meet an en-
emy steanin@ 10 terrorize our coast;
1t might cross the continent or hurry
TO the defense of the Panama Canal.
A month or so ago we Demon
strated at Dayton just before the
Pulitzer trophy race that Ii was Dos
sib.e to launch an airplane from a
dirigibie." he told an audience the
other night at New York University.
In another month or two we are GO
ing to show that airpianes can be
landed on an airship.
Plan "Mother Ship.-
Then we hope TO build 'mother
ship for planes. 1t will be to the air
what the alrplane carrier Langley is
TO the sea, bearing swift fighting
planes distances far beyond their linn
ited cruising radius and acting as q
mobile base for them once their fuel
has been exhausted in useful military
activity"
In effect the proposed airship would
be a great flying roost for airpiares.
Unlike the sea-going carrier, 1t would
have little or no facilities for the re-
pair or servicing of planes, all Of it's
lifting power being devoted to the
Carrying of airpianes. Gen. Patrick
says It Is entirely feasible to construct
a giant dirigib.e of the ZR-3 type but
Two or three times as large, which
could easily transport so two-ton air
planes anywhere they were needed
within a radius Of several thousand
miles.
All In Readiness,
When the airship left its base the
wariike brood intrusted to its cara
would be in place on 'roosting hooks"
along the great cigar-shaped belly.
Their tanks would be filled with easo.
line and oil and their bombs and ma.
chine guns ready for instant action.
Ihe pilots and observers probably
would be sleeping or loafng on hunks
IN a comfortable cabin inside the air.
ships keel. All that would be neces-
sary when it came time for action
would be for them to scramble down
into their cockpits, start their motors
and give the signal that would drop
them off into space.
Il" get back on the mother ship
after their job was done, it would be
neoessa.y .ur the planes to attach
themselves one at a time to a LANDING
hook lowered from the dirigible.
This feat was successfully demon
strated in theory more than q year
ago at Mitchell Field, L. l., when a
second plane played the role of the
dirigible, and. Gen. Patrick promises.
is soon to be accomplished on a prac-
tical basis. AS a plane hooked itself
to the mother ship, winches in the
keel of the latter would hoist the
smaller craft and swing I,t nosi
tion on its own roosting hooks, while
other landing lines were dropped for
planes still in flight
Advantages Are Obvious.
To facilitate the return of planes
to the mother ship the latter wouL
fly at so or 70 miles an hour ans
the planes would follow at their slow.
est cruising speed. Thus the two would
remain practically motionless with re-
spect to each other and the shocks
incident to hooking on" be virtually
eliminated. The mother ship, Of
course, would carry a limited arma-
ment for protection against enemy
aircraft, but this menace, for the
most part, would be taken care of by
a guard of small planes which would
remain with the mother ship while
the rest of the aerial fleet accom-
plished its mission.
The advantages of such a mother
ship are obvious. Planes might be
stripped to the minimum Of gas tanks
for the sake of additional speed or
in order to take on more bombs. 1t
would no longer be necessary for
them to use up precious fuel flying
to and from the battle zone, and In
the case of long distance operation
against an enemy the fast fighting
gIane of limited cruising range ordi-