Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-14
A FTER a long period in which
\ public interest in aircraft

a \ virtually has been eclipSeC
by the exploits of Lindbergh
Chamberlin, Maitland and Hegen
berger, Goebel and other con.
lquerorS of oceans and continent
Iin heavier-than-a ships, thu
dirigible again is pushing it.
anighty bulk into the limelight.
For many persons there always
will be a thrill in SuperlativeS anC
The mere thought of tremendou:
hulk the size of more than two
city blocks of eight to ten story
buildings rising off the ground anc
flying contains an irresistible ap-
peal to the imagination. Some
idea of the immense size Of the
modern dirigible of the Zeppelin
type may be gained by a compari-
son with familiar ground objects
The Navy dirigible Los Angeles
for example, if brought to rest in
F street with the nose on line
with the west end of the National
Press Building at Fourteenth
street, would extend eastward past
Twelfth street, almost to the
Columbia Theater. With the buffer
bag on the bottom of the control
car resting on the pavement in
front of the Press Building
the top of the long cigar shaped
bag would be approximately on
level with the ninth-Story win
dowS.
Huge though the Los Angeles
NAV be. she is to be dWarfed by
the new Navy dirigibleS for which
contracts have just been awarded
by the Navy Department. The
Los Angeles has but one-third the
gas capacity of the proposed Navy
monsters, this being the yard
stick by which dirigible capacity
is measured. These giant twin
ships are to be approximately
twice the size of the great German
commercial dirigible Graf Yep
pelin, which started her first
Atlantic crossing this week, and
40 per cent larger than the Eng
lish R-100, now under conStruc-
ton.
* x
The transatlantic fight of the
Graf Zeppelin, today the newest
and greatest of the Semi-rigid
dirigibleS, has been the signal for
a revival of the old controversy
over the relative merits of the
lighter and heavier-than-ai types.
Lighter-than-ai- enthusiasts are
vigorous in their assertion that
the dirigible is to be the long
distance air liner of the future.
The possibilities of the gas
buoyed ships as commercial trans
ports is to be thoroughly demon
Strated in the Graf Zeppelin and
the British RICO. Their value
for military purposes, only limited
at during the World War, is to be
scientifically tested by the Navy
Department under service condi-
tionS in the two ships to be con-
structed by the Goodyear Zeppelin
Co. of Akron, Ohio, a subsidiary
of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Co., which has been awarded the
contract for the dirigibleS and a
hangar to house them at a total
cost of nearly 100000.
The Los Angeles, under the
treaty terms covering her transfer
to the Navy Department by Ger
many, cannot be used for military
purposes. She has been reserved
for experimental work and as a
training ship for the officers and
crews which will man the future
Navy dirigibleS.
= II n II
The R-100 is to be used solely as
commercial ship and will make
her first fight, following her off,
cial tests, from London to Mont
real and New York. The big Brit
iSh ship will have accommoda-
tionS for 100 passengers and a
crew Of 40 and also will be able to
carry a quantity of mail. It is
planned to put the R-1OO into reg
ular service between Liverpool,
England, and New York. A sister
ship, the R-101, construction of
which has been begun, will go into
service between Montreal and
London. These English ships are
to be TOO feet long and 1873 in
maximum diameter.
The Graf Zeppelin also is to
make a number of flights with
passengers and mail between Ger
many and the United States, &C
cording to plans announced Just
before her departure for this
country Thursday morning. She
also was designed entirely for
commercial purposes and her pas
Senger quarters are described as
exceedingly comfortable and even
luxurious. The German and Brit
1Sh designers and builders in turn
ing out these modern air liners
intended that they should offer
passengers the same conveniences
enjoyed by passengers on an ocean
steamer, though necessarily on a
somewhat smaller scale.
A part of the revival of interest
In the dirigible is due to great re-
flnementS in the science of light
er-than-air engineering and navi-
cation. The use in this country OF
non-inf1ammable helium instead
OF the highly combuStible hydro
gen as the lifting medium has
been hailed as the greatest single
step ever taken toward safety ir
dirigible operation.
Another outstanding problem
which faced the lighter-than-ail
engineer-that of compensatine
for loss of weight and shifting OF
the center Of gravity of the Shir
due to consumption of fuel by the
motors is being met successfully
The United States Navy uses or
the Los Angeles a highly efficient
form of condenser which takes
water from the atmosphere tc
compensate for the gasoline
burned by the motors. This
obviates the necessity of valvine
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