Evening star., 1930-12-16
MERCHANT A|RSH|P
SERVICE FORECAST
Dr.. Kari Arnstein, Noted Ex-
pert, Tells of Progress Made
in This Country.

The day of an airship merchant
marine is approaching in this country
as a result OF the United States Navy S
giant airship program, DR.. Karl Arm
sten told members of the Society of
Aut~nlotive Engineers and guests rep
resenting the aviation branches of the
FcGsral Government at a dinner meet
ing asst night in the Washington Hotel.
Ane dirigible has just about passed
and what is needed today is less inven-
ton and more practical application of
the basic principles which have been
learned in the design, construction and
operation of these air giants.
The desire to carry greater loads,
necessary for long-range overseas oper-
ationS, he said, has resulted in larger
dirigibles than ever before contemplated
and the larger ships have resulted in
new and improved methods of construc-
ton. AS the size increases, he said. 1t
becomes possible to replace with high
tensile steel the lighter metals used up
to this time in dirigible framework, re-
sulting in superior strength.
Helium Assures Safety.
Use of helium for lifting gas has
made for entire safety of operaJlon, DR..
Arnstein said. He said the loss OF life
In the British R-10l catastrophe would
not have occurred had hellum been
used. The R-10l accident, he said, was
not due to any fault of the airship, but
to the inexperience of the crew. The
fact that the great British ship flew
into the ground, he said, could not be
attributed to the weight of rainwater,
since the ship was capable of carrying
weight of Is tons OF rainwater, while
accurate calculations show that the
weight of the film of water over 30 per
cent of her surface would amount to
only six tons, the weight absorbed by
the inner fabric about one ton and the
weight represented by the impact force
Of driving rain only about 800 pounds.
He said experiments have indicated
that percentage of hydrogen may be
used in helium airshipS with entire
safety, the helium acting to smother
any possible hydrogen fire. The hydro
gen may be mixed directly with the
helium in the proportion of one part
OF hydrogen to nine of helium, he said,
or the hydrogen may be used in cells
inside the helinm cells, leaving a fire
wall Of helium all around the hydrogen.
With helium used it is entirely safe
TO carry passengers, crew and engines
inside the airship hull. making pos
sible perfect streamlining and greater
efncfency and speed, he said. This
system will be used in the Navy
dirigibles now under construction at
Akron, Ohio, he said
Reduced Land Crew.
The problems of airship fuel have
not been solved, he said. though work
Is going forward rapidly. Gasoline.
fuel oil and fuel gas and combinations
of the three fuels are being studied,
he said.
The Navy Department, through its
experiments at Lakehurst N. j., with
the U. S. S. Los Angeles, Arnstein said,
has contributed more to the handling
of = sc airships on the ground than
al " agencies in the world. He
So II the future large ground crews
- nr -ce sary and that airships
a. 1c. Il by mechanical means
~ ! Ss:2cl force normally kept
Gil LII .or ma ntenance purposes
Ifc Ltt.c attention has been at
IA = > sirchip operations, aside
II ~ Il, trips of the Graf Zeppelin, he
soc,s OF passengers have
b 81 hundreds of thousands of
M airship1, including $4,000
pa in thc United States, car
rieds n 100000 miles of operations by
the small blimps of the Goodyear feet
alone.
Dr. Arnstein was introduced by
William P. MacCracksn, jr., former
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Aeronautics, as one of the worlds fore
most airship eXpsrtS. DR.. ArnStein was
chief engineer of the famous Zeppelin
works in Germany and now is vice
president and chief engineer of the
Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation, Akron,
Ohio, which is building the Navy diri-
gfbleS. DR.. Arnstein showed slides and
motion pictures Of progress at the Akron
plant and illustrating various phases
OF airShip design and operation.
The romance of the prosaic piston
ring was outlined by A. Preston Petre,
former Navy officer and now research
engineer for the American Hammered
Piston Ring Co., who said that the
number of different types of piston rings
runs into the thousands and that there
are hCn reds of patents in existence.
Piston i-l2s have been made of mate
rails hanging from hemp rope and wood
to moiybdenum and silver, he said
Designing Of rings has developed into
q science which now is highly special
lied, he said, describing the various
methods of testing rings and adapting
them to the multitude of purposes for
which they are used in modern life.
Among the guests Of honor are David
s. ingalls,, Assistant Secretary of the
Navy for AeronauticS; Clarence NJ.
Young, Assistant Secretary of Com
merce for Aeronautics; Senator Hiram
Bingham of Connecticut, president of
the National Aeronautic Association:
Capt. John Towers, assistant chief of
the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics; Col.
A. B. Barber, chief of the Transporta-
tion Division, United States Chamber of
: Commerce; DR.. George w. Lewis, direc-
tor of research of the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics. and ]. A. C.
Warner general manager of the Society
Of Automotive Engineers.