Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-08-25
Planning Giant
Air Liners for
Tourist Service

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Air Liners for
Tourist Service
Lakehurst, n. J.. Aug. 24.-fP)-Ths
navy dirigible Los Angeles is in eff
feet a 70O-foot test tube with which
aviator scientists are making expert
ments looking toward eventual COM
plete conquest of the air by man.
Luxurious ocean air lines for tour
ice service twice as fast as steam
boats. giant airships several thousand
feet long, able to carry airplanes for
war. improvements in radio and
weather forecasting and reduction in
cost and maintenance-these are but
a few of the results being sought by
experimenters at the air stations.
These men are working ceaselessiy
under direction Of Captain e. s. Jack
son, commandant OF the station, and
Lieut. Commander c. E. Rosendahl,
commander of the Los Angeles, and
survivor of the Shenandoah disa
I'VE are experimenting all the time"
Commander Rosendahl told the Asso-
ciated Press I'VE have to work
largely by trial and error. We know
what we want and we keep trying un-
then We GO on to something else.
We have our regular work to do,
such as the calibration of coastal RAJ
dio compass stations on which We
have been engaged in good flying
weather all summer. This is impor-
tant in increasing the flying safety Of
airplanes.
Asked II the Los Angeles was the
ideal size for a rigid airship. Com
mander Rosendahl's eye lighted with
a vision evidently dear to his heart.
"Airships this size are just the be-
shining he said. The English are
now building two ships of 100000
cubic feet each more than twice as
large as the Los Angeles. and we our
selves have heen authorized to con-
struct two Of 5000. 600 cubic feet each,
although the money has not yet been
appropriated.
Designers know that as the size of
airships increases. the comparative
strength is greater. but of course
there must he some limit to the prac-
teal application of the safety factor.
Science has not yet been called on
to determine actually what this limit
is. but ships of 1000, 600 foot capacity
are now in prospect"
Speaking of the commercial future
of airships, Commander Rosendahl
said:
"Airships can beat trains The
speed and potential comfort are
about the same, but the train can
carry more passengers and cut indi-
vidual expense in that way. But
when il comes to crossing water. the
traveller can get luxurious conditions
either on the surface or in the air.
but in the air he can double his speed
and get TO Europe in three days in
stead of six. And in the air. storms
can be lodged and discomfort from
the motion of the sea is done away
with .
''Of course the choice doesn't exist
for the ocean traveller of today, but
we are talking of tomorrow and
that's written on the pages of tomor-
row in indelible ink"
Weather. Commander Rosendahl
acknowledged. has been a hndrance
to advancement of flying. but he be-
lieved increa sed knowledge OF atmos-
ppheric conditions would overcome
the difficulty.
The reason ships have been brok-
en- up by storms" he said, lis that
they didn't have complete weather
reports. Under the old system the
predictions were made up from sur
face conditions and not from flying
level conditions
Commander Rosendahl admitted
that cost OF construction and main
tenance had been large in the past
and had retarded advancement of
airShip work, but he told of various
ways in which such cost was to be
enormously reduced.
fI,o IT,
airship ever built in America, had
2,15O.000 cubic feet in the hull apd
it cost approximately a dollar a fooE
to build. But for the next ships, US
ing men trained on construction Of
the Shenandoah and materials since
invented, he was confident the cost
would be enormously lessened. BY
mechanical means of handling and
landing the ship, it is hoped to re-
place the present ground crew of 800.
If our present experiments along
these lines pan out, as they probably
will" he said, "all costs will be cut
down TO a point where they will be
small in comparison to the value of
our practical work. Then the air.
ship will have come into it's own"
Commander Rosendahl believes
that in the event of another world
war, after airships have proved
themselves commercially. peace time
vessels would be quickly convertible
to war purposes as scouts but would
have little value as bOmbers.
And if opposing fleets had such
fast scouts?''
"The fleets would probably never
meet. If either was outnumbered il
could have plenty of time to with
draw for endorsements"
But wouldn't these airship scouts
be vulnerable to airplanes. launched.
say. from the decks of enemy ships?"
NO, a dirigible can carry many
times the artillery possible to an air
plane. And much larger. up to three
inch guns. Also it can see, and shoot,
in all directions.
Even if airplanes did get near
enough to fire on the dirigible the
damage would probably not be con-
siderable. 1t would be simple TO ar
NOR the control cabin and engine
cars and bullets sent directly through
the bag would not serious There are
fourteen gas bags in the Los Angeles
and war experience showed the Ger
man ships returned safely with one
third their cells Debated And. then,
airships are now being planned that
will carry their own scouting and de-
fensive planes that can be launched
in the air and picked up out of the
air again. These scouts would be
amply able to protect their mother
ship from enemy attack even if she
wasn't lying arsenal herself. The