Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-01
pting Machines the World Has Ever Seen

side gangway are located a number of rooms
for officers and crew. Each sleeping room Is
provided with four comfortable berths. A large
galley, with ample cooking facilities and mess
rooms, will make up the living quarters for the
crew.
One of the most novel and picturesque fea-
lures of the Navy airships is the provision made
for carrying fighting planes. A storage COM
partment about rs feet long by go feet WIDE
the size of fairly large auditorium, is located
about one-third of the way back. Collapsible
doors in the bottom of the ship cover T-shaped
opening through which the airplanes may be
lowered or hoisted. trapeze arrangement for
launching or taking aboard the fighting planes
in flight will be provided.
The House committee was told that 800 men
are employed today in the construction Of the
two ships. This force, assembled from all parts
of the world, Is expected to form the nucleus
of the future American airship industry.
The commercial airships which are expected
to follow the Navy ships will be even larger
than the ZRS-4 and zRS-5. They will carry 80
or more passengers in surroundings luxurious
as those Of the finest ocean liners. The COM
mercial airShip win be not less than $500 600
cubic feet in capacity. This will almost double
the pay load, or load upon which revenues may
be collected, that could be carried by a ship
the size Of the Navy craft.
The commercial future of the airship Is dis
tinctly in overseas traffic, the Congressional
Appropriations Committee was told by Paul W.
Litchfeld, president of the Goodyear-Zeppelin
Corporation, which is building the Navy air
ships and which will operate the commercial
lines.
Our thought" Mr.. Iitchfeld told the COM
mittee, lis this briefly: That there is just as
much possibility of airships making the big
advance in transportation compared with
steamships as there was when steamship per-
Torrance built up great traffic as compared
with the old sailing ships. The steamship cut
down the time Of crossing the ocean to about
one-third Of what it was when the sailing ship
was the mode of transportation The airship
will cut that down one-third again. The air
ship overseas represents just as great an advance
in speed compared with the steamship as the
steamship had over the sailing ship Whenever
you create new form Of transportation it takes
portion Of the existing traffic and also builds
up an additional traffic because of the time
saved.
Overland 1t is a different proposition" he
explained you have fast express making SO
miles an hour. You have the airplane making
120 miles an hour. The arship has no chance
commercially from a speed standpoint in COM
peting for business overland. But it does treble
the speed overseas. So we feel that the field
of the airship is in journeys of probably I 500
miles or more overseas or where a large portion
OF the journey would be overseas. The airplane
or anything heavier than air cannot take these
long distances overseas with any pay load.
There is no prospect that they will be able to
do it."
The date Of the first flight will not be set
in advance. It win depend entirely upon the
weather, Lieut. Settle says Though the Akron
is built to Withstand storms in flight the initial
movement Of the great craft out of its dock is
an operation with which those in charge will
take no chances. II conditions should be favor
able in the middle Of the night the AiEship
viii come out then.