Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-08

buildings In the country. Not onl
would 1t have TO house airships large
than the Graf Zeppelin. but it is likel
that the structure would Be planned +
care for possible increases in dirigibl
sizes beyond any now contemplated ia
early construction.
Transoceanic travel in dirigibles wi
Be safe In proportion to the size
the craft, in the opinion of William j
paeity, he pointed out. means NOR
safety devices, stronger structural mem
berg and more resistance to wind an
storms.
Safety Is Held Relative Term.
''The larger the safer, In the cas-
of dirigibles." the naval architect ex
planned. Safety Is a relative term, bu
practice will have to demonstrate JUS
how safe such q trip is. The dirigibl
can take care Of itself in complication
to an amazing extent. With create
size. the girders can be made heavie
so that they won't break up in a win,
or storm. In the small ships, they arr
Of course. lighter"
1t is expected that the proposed ter
minal will require hangar facilitie
C4uai bAlOSC ltOW uAt0CE
at Akron, Ohio, for construction Of tn
two Navy lighter than-air giants Thi
hangar is the largest building yet con
structed by man. 1t is so huge tina
IA foot ball games could be playe,
within 1t simultaneously.
The structure rests upon moving roll
lers instead of being anchored firml,
to its foundations so that it may b
free to expand and contract will
changes in temperature. The hangal
has such tremendous doors that thu
task of opening one of them is eQuG
to swinging the side of an 16-storI
sykscraper on hinges.
The Akron hangar is ZOO feet long
a city block wide and equal to tbs
height of an 18-Story building. De,
spite the tremendous area which mus
be enclosed under one roof, there car
be no interior supports, obviously, t.
interfere with the movement of the
dirigibleS Construction of such q
hangar presents an entirely new fielo
of engineering.
Larger Airships Underway.
Larger airships than the Graf Yep
pelin are building not only in this
country but also in England, and Dr.
Eckener has said that the next Ger
man dirigihles also will be larger than
his present pride. There now are only
six rigid dirigibles in operation or under
construction in the world, though con-
struction of q number of others is ex-
pscted to begin within the next year.
The growth in size of each successive
dirigible in the present world series
of six is an indication of what the
future holds in this respect. The
Navy Los Angeles, oldest of the six.
has q nominal gas volume of 2,470, 900
cubic feet The Graf Zeppelin's ca
pacity is 3,708,000 cubic feet. Grsat
Britain now is completing two 5000, 900
cubic foot ships and the two United
States Navy dirigibles, construction of
which now is under way, will contain
100000 cubic feet of lifting gas
apiece.
Not only in size, as measured by gas
capacity, but in efficiency, as measured
by the amount of useful load they can
carry, are the dirigibles improving
with each model The Los Angeles can
carry useful load of 10000 pounds, as
against 100000 pounds for the Graf
Zeppelin. The British R-1O1 will carry
an estimated load of $4,000 pounds
and the R-100 is to carry 100000
pounds. The twin United States Navy
giants each will have a useful life of
1872. 900 pounds, more than three times
that of the Los Angeles.