Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-06
BY EDWARD B. GARRETT.


AKRON, Ohio, July S CN.A.NA).-
Just how near has America approached
the realization Of that dream of flying
to Europe in a giant airship with al
the comforts and luxuries Of q modern
ocean liner?
What have the recent flights Of DR.
Hugo Eckener and the Graf Zeppelin
accomplished in making this country
more air-minded?
Will the commercial airships be ready
when the American business man Is
ready for them? And what about the
construction Of the big dirigibles for the
Army and the Navy?
What is it like to ride in q lighter
than-air flying machine?
To find answers I was assigned To
make a flrst-hand investigation.
] saw in a magazine one of those
highly imaginative drawings of the air.
snip OF the future with story. The
caption read:
1.-TWO Days TO Europe in a Flying
Hotel-There will be ball rooms, elabo-
rate baths. gorgeous bed rooms, sun
parlorS and promenades in these air
minister's in which you will move swiftly
over the Always of the world"
The magazine writer had a gift OF
imagination and had written dramati-
cally.
What was the "low down" on the
future OF airships? At the first oppor-
tunity would go to Akron, where these
airliners will be built, and find out.
A recent morning found me here
seeking Paul w. Litchfleld, president OF
the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation that
now is building for the Navy another
airship practically twice the size Of the
Graf Zeppelin.
Mr.. Litchfield has been here 80 years
in various executive positions with the
| Goodyear Tire g. Rubber Co.-from
superintendent to factory manager, vice
president and president since 1926
For 20 years or more he has devoted
large part of his time to aeronautics
He began with the manufacture of rub
Der balloons.
During the war his company made
blimps for the Army and Navy. This
led to the building in Germany Of the
large dirigible, the Los Angeles, for the
Navy and, in 1924, five years before
DR.. Eckener made his first successful
overseas flight with the Graf Zeppelin,
Mr.. Litchfield joined hands with him
and organized the Goodyear-Zeppelin
Corporation of America, obtaining the
Zeppelin patent rights for this country.
The Eckener of America.
A well set up man Of SIS, rudy face,
gray-bluish eyes a mien of serious
determination, mobile features in a
countenance that can both smile and
frown quickly, expressively. Thats
Paul Litchf1eld-the Eckener of America
How many of the details of this
startling magazine article are true?"
The answer came Immediately:
Practically all of them"
DO you mean that within the next
few years it will be possible, as these
stories say, to go up in an airplane,
hook on to a dirigible, be pulled up
inside its hull. get out, walk along a
corridor to a luxurious stateroom and
sail away for Europe?"
''Yes-poSsibly within five years;
perhaps sooner than that. There al
ready have been successful experiments
in boarding the Los Angeles from air.
planes. The Graf Zeppelin has state
rooms and corridors. Commercial air
liners of the future will be about as
that magazine writer describes them
although the magazine artist has drawn
rather freely on his imagination for
that picture. At least, it was not made
from our blue prints"
Blue prints? Then you actually have
such an airliner planned?"
yes"
When will you build it?"
AS soon as Congress enactS the
necessary legislation to make the COM
merical operations practical. Right
now we are building a dirigible for the
Navy. It is larger than the Graf Zep-
pelin. 1t is called the ZRS-4, but we
shall chriSten it the Akron"
When will it be hnished?"
Some time next year"
How long have you been working
on it?"
About four years. That is to say
We began our designs in 1926. Our
big dock, or hangar, was completed last
December, but the construction of the
airship and the dock had gone along
down last Fail"
showed Mr.. Litchfield a clipping
which stated that the Goodyear Yep
pelin dock here Is the largest building
without internal columns or inside sup
ports OF any kind in the world, and is
covered by roof so vast that the giant
structure encompasses its own atmoS-
phere and occasionally causes the
phenomena of providing its own rain
raining indoors when the weather out
side is bright and fair!
That is true" Mr.. Litchfield said
You see, when it is warm outdoors the
air within our big structure over its
vast concrete foor-an area of 1854 600
square feet. or approximately 81 acres
becomes warm and rises toward the
roof, which stands oil feet above the
ground, or about the height of a IA
story skyscraper, for comparisons sake
Then, when the sun goes down and
it gets cooler outside, the warm air ur
there under the roof chills, causing the
moisture it carries to condense, and
down comes the rain. We've had mist
frequently and sometimes nice little
showers"
I've heard 1t said that 10 foot ball
games Oh 10 separate Rridirons could
be played simultaneously in the big dock
Would that be posSible?"
Entirely possible. want you to 20
out and see for yourself"
The Huge Dock.
A 1o-minute drive in a motor car
brought us in sight OF the airship
barn"
The immensely of the building is
awesome. I stood gazing at a four
foot wooden fence that seemed to divide
the huge oval in halveS-cuttinp
through the width as one ordinarily
cuts watermelon for circular slices,
On the other side of the fence there
seemed to be suspended from that in
terror sky gigantic metal ring frame
work, with criss- crossing metal girders
like the intricate but regular design OF
snowflake. And clinging to that metal
ring, which actually is a series of double
rings, Spider-like workmen climbed.
On what looked to be a small park
bench, but actually was a 30-foot scat
told cnAcNanaaAAA nA LII IL