Evening star., 1924-12-21
PR0P0SESA|RSH|P
VOYAGE TO BRITAIN
Moffett Reveals Pans to
Send Los Angeles Over
Ocean With Load of Mail.

The Bureau of Aerenautics wants
to send the dirigible Los Angeles to
England next Summer with a batch
of mail aboard to demonstrate to the
world the ease with which a trans
oceanic dirigible mail route could
he operated, Rear Admiral William A.
Moffett. chief of the bureau, said in
a lecture last night before the Uni
Versity Club. Admiral Moffett. who
made the transcontinental flight on
the Shenandoah. spoke on Rigid
Airships," enthusiastically endorsing
them as a valuable aid to commerce.
The Navy does not intend to go
into the mail carrying business, the
admiral explained, but such trip
would make it worth while to con-
struct a 6,500,000 cubic feet dirigible
that could carry 100 passengers and
100000 letters. A trip TO England
by the Los Angeles could be accom-
plished, the Admiral believed, with
the aid of one surface vessel-the
Patoka, to whose mooring mast the
Shenandoah hooked up at the naval
maneuvers off Newport, II. l., last
Summer.
Loss In Lifting Power.
The Patoka, for such an expert
mental flight. he added, could be sta
toned at Greenland, Newfoundland
or the Azores and the Los Angeles
could secure itself to the mooring g
mast and take on fuel Consid ering
that the dirigible's gas cells would
be inflated with helium instead of
hydrogen as the IRIS carried on its
transatlantic flight, the performance
would not be as efficient, perhaps,
owing TO the s per cent decrease In
lifting power.
A special board of naval officers
recently met and drew up recon-
1nendatfons for the future perform
ances of the German built dirigible
and forwarded it's report to Secretary
Wilbur, who now is studying the con-
tents prior to making IL public Ad-
miral Moffett also said that the Los
Angeles may go to Panama and even
Honolulu. 1t also is the plan of Sec
retary Wilbur to bring the big ship
to Washington before the present
session of Congress adjourns and have
1t here for several hours for inspec-
ton by members OF Congress and the
general public.
Aviation, said Admiral Moffett, will
not interfere with automobiles. rail-
roads and ships 1t has not yet
reached the point where 1t can carry
freight in other but limited amounts.
He predicted the more widespread use
in peace time of the rigid airship, be-
cause there is not a motor made that
Will not stop. When the power plant
of heavier-than- air craft fails. he
said. the ship has got to come down,
whether 1t be in a. tree, on a house,
in the water or on good landing
field, but with a dirigible, If the mo-
tors stop, the ship will hang in the
air until they are repaired. The pos
sibiltty Of motor failure also will
handicap night flying, with the ex-
ceptton of conditions such as the air
mail flies under-lighted airways. and
this, the admiral said, is expensive.
"Extravagant claims for aviation" he
declared, do more harm than good"
Scarcity of HeIium. =.
The big obstacle that is holding
back the construction of more diri-
gibles for private use is the scarcity
Of helium, the admiral said, adding
that it will be at least two years
before more big rigid airships are
seen in operation. The supply of
helium is not as much as we would
want" he said.
The work of the Navy in building
the Shenandoah and obtaining the
ZR-3 from Germany, Admiral Mcf-
fett assreted, has saved a generation
of delay in airship building. The less
of the ZR-2 at Hull, England, and
the Roma at Langley Field through
explosion of its hydrogen-filled cells
had great discouraging tendency,
but the successful performances of
the Shenandoah and Los Angeles has
gone a long way to convince the
world of the dirigible's practicability.
Il personally believe airship travel
is the safest FORM" Admiral Moffett
added. He predicted that the con-
tinued successful performances of the
two ships would prove to the hard
headed business man" the practical
bility of airships in commerce.