Air Wonder Stories, December 1929 — page 80: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

. R-101 Most Luxurious of Airships HE R-101, the world’s largest -airship, ia commended as a-marvel of luxury ‘by those who inspected it just before camping at Cardington, England, The test flight will be tnder the command of Major G.-H, Scott, who crossed: the Atlantic on the R-34, The two: berth staterooms Sonate favorably with those of. a steamship. It has a smoking Poms and ash trays are placed beside each berth; this is a divergence pa the “no smoking’ rule the Graf Zeppelin—adopted.~ It will be possible to accommodate fifty or more passengers, and a dince floor is provided: for their entertainment. A spacious Inunge extends the ship's width, It hos five heavy-oil engines, four forward and ane reverse, It will be capable ‘of traveling at from 70 to 80 miles an hour, It is only 73 feet long, as compared with the Graf Zeppelin’s genet ot 776 feet, but-it has sixteen gns bags with a capacity of 5,000,000 cubic fect, as against the Zeppelin’s 3,700,000, The diameter is 131 feet, wherens.the Zeppelin’s ia-100, The craft is-to prove the practical itty of establishing an jttr-route between England-Kgypt-India. Beryllium Foreseen as Aircraft Metal A PREDICTION of Dr, W. H. Gillett, di- rector of the Battelle: Mentorial Anette Coltimbus, Ohio, that beryllium, a light ‘me! now worth 200 a pound, is likely to find com- mercial utihzation in future aircraft -construo- tion, iz contained in Science Service, Beryllium is now in the rare metal class, but becatse of ita light weight—a third that of aluminum—it would considerably degrease’ the weight of air- craft, It is estimated by designers that it is worth forty dollars to-roduce the weight.of an airplane one potind, -Dr, Gillett declares, how- ever, that although. beryllium is so. expensive to-day, if there were a demand for it,it could be obtained in quantity at-a price.of about $25 to $50 a pound, Geologists estimate, that there is ax moch beryllium by weight in the earth's crust as lead or zinc, and much more by volume, Beenuse: of ita present high oost, little is known as fo its cast in fnbrication and endurance. It is known’ to have-a higher modulus of elasticity than other digke metals and this property, nearl equal that of ‘steel, promises to allow aircraft now possible. It’ would be well, Dr. Gillett declared, for aircraft manufacturera to: investi- gate the possibilities of this metal. Planes Predicted GOR SIKORSKY, aircraft builder and de- signer, has. predicted that in-a few years we will see giant air liners, weighing 50 or 100 tons, with a-carrying capacity of: 200° persons; that there will be ao regular thirty-six hour trang-Atlantic transport service;-and that planes will be able to attain a speed of from 500°to 800: milés an hour at an altitude of 25, miles. Mr, Sikorsky -states that the sole reason ‘huge air Hners do not exist to-day is the reluctance to invest so much onpital in a single flying unit. The. wings of the. planca_ will ‘carry the bulk of the passengers on the future liner, he says, and each will will- be pemble of accommodating fifty persons, There will be no donger of flying such planes blind through. storm. and: fog, as flying will be guided by the use of instruments; and_the gréat driving power. of thousand horse- power motora will reduce the bazard. Mr. ikorsky bases his opinion of plaints Speed ¢ B00 peas 20. hour Ae sepetessor ea cory that, Planes fly at an altitude of,.2 miles, they will bein the stratosphere, where the air is so rarefied that it has no retarding “ect. on the progress of the plane. By her- scully sealing ‘both the passenger and-/engine rtments, and artificially maintaining normal sure, it willbe possible to reach this ye gays, designers to use methods of construction not- 800 Miles an Hour with 100-Ton: CONSTRUCTION New York May Haye Central Air Terminal SURVEY has been made of the metro- politan district of New York from an air- lane by W.. J. L, Banham, preaident of the ew York Board of Trade, with a view to choosing..a_ suitable site for a Grand. Central Air Terminal, The locations most satisfactory are Governor's Island,. the west’ bank of the Hudson, or the Bronx, The site of such a terminal should be. convenient to the important city transportation lines, hotels, railroud: “sta- tions, and the -shipping district, Mr. Banham stated, “He predicted that the’ city’-will have union airport terminals, union steamship ter: minals, and union railroad terminals, The steamship companics would never have obtained control of the New York waterfront, he said, hind the leaders of a decade -or two ago forescen the development of ‘the city. Work on Ocean Landing Plat- forms Progressing ‘HE work on the first of- what may be a series of ocean landing stations for airplanes is now progressing rapidly. This platform will be anchored to the floor_of the Atlantic between New York and Bermuda.-The United States hydrographic ship Haonwsbal some weeks -a, made a-survey between New York and’ Bermuda and confirmed a report-of a new elevation on the Atlantic floor, The plateau is about four. miles square nnd 3,600 feet above the surrounding ocenn bed, It provides a surface of clay that would ‘affotd—good anchorage for the sendtom Tf& the plan is adopted for the construction o| a series of trans-Atlantic. seadromes, ocenan- ography will have to be delved into further and new stirveys made to ascertain the most suit- able locations for the placing of the platforms. 400-Passenger Airship to be Built by Burney GOMMANDER SIR CHARLES BURNEY, who is betlging te great. British Djrigible R-100, is now working on plans for a new ship that would carry 400 passengers, besidea a suit- able crew. He says: that even the R-100, though not yet fully completed, is already “obsolete” and that, if he bad had his way, it would never have been built, Ships-much largér than the R-100 or the Graf Zeppelin must be built, to make trans-oceanic alr transportation practicable, The Air Ministry, however, is of the _belief that the present ships, the R-100 and R-101, must be proved practicable before larger vessels are constructed, The new ship would-have a single large hull in which Sverre: would be contained, instead of ‘separate panda 3 for the engines, -The envelope~ would more stream- lined, and the hull. would extend the whole length of the underpinning. “Tin Bubble” Has Successful Flight ANOTHER stride forward has been made in lighter-than-air aeronautics by hte stccess- fal cross-country trip-from Detroit to Lakehur: N. J,, of the all-metal ‘dirigible ZMC-2, at a average speed of forty miles an hour, Captain William Kepner, U.S.A, was its pilot. A new composition of. plates called alclad (having a base of duralumin conted with a thin layer of nickel steel), is used inthe construction of this ship. Two Wright Whirlwind motors. are wsed; and the ship, has 2 capacity of 200,000 cubic feet of helium gas. It. was built as an experiment for the United States, Navy, and as this is the first successful flight ofa craft of tts kind, it may_be the precursor of larger. dirigibles made of the same material. It has a cruising range of 1,200 miles and can carry a crew of four with 1,000 pounds of provisions or ammunition. 558 Floating Airship Will Assure Safe Travel N airship capable of floating in“the water and docked like an ocenn liner, ig the plan described in a new hook by Commandgr Sir Charles Burney, builder of the R-100," Ever aince -he began—the construction of this latter airship, he has-been experimenting. with ‘the pousibttity of.a floating dirigible, and he believes that when such a one is consttucted it will revolutionize the future of long-distance air travel, He has called the proposed sea-going dirigible the “elliptical” ship; as its cross-scc- tions are \clliptically shaped instead of circular, as in the present sical Beneath the “hull, which will buil€ on ship's lines, will be two huge pontoons as far apart-ag ia possible, These will scoop up water for ballast and: keep the ship floating until: the pasecn cers disembark ‘on small boats. \ Commander Burney is of the opinion that —the- present system of. mooring Masts at Jnnd stations is not satisfactory; - it lTeaves-the airship atthe mercy of sudden gusts of .wind,. He suggests a “and docking raft," consisting: ofa. telescopic mooring mast mounted at the end of a- istforai, whioh is pivoted’ at the end ofa rail-rack leading to. the hangar, Vertical arms on either side of the platform will hold the — airshi firmly, and the. whole structure, including the mooring mast, can ‘be swung Jike a turntable until it points to the hangar and run into the shed safely, New Hangar to be Largest in the World AFR0n, OHIO, is to have the Jargeat hangar ‘in. the world, designed for the Goodyenr- Zeppelin Corporation, and’ now under construe: tion, which will be 1 for the assembling of two super-dirigibles being built for the U. 5, Navy. and house: them when completed. The sides of the hangar are to slope, and the top will- be- arched, while the general appearance will be that of. an enormous cocoon cut in half. It ‘is thus fashioned to present the least amount of resistance to the ud actording to the archi- tect, Wilbur J, Watson. : It will be 1,175 feet Jong, or half as long.again as the hangar’ at Lakehurst, 325 feet wide and 19744 feet high, The round doors of the hangar will probanly be-the most unusual feature ofthe building, according to“Mr. Watson, They are supported on forty forged-steel, double-flanged wheels, Seenty sevens saveena SLES and ae ae wo tails weighing pounds per yard elic! ee bas ate mounted on pearioe es and rest -a avy springs, which’ will ‘permit of the equal distribution of ‘the weight, The doors. are. operated by electric motors and can move at from-twenty to forty feet per minute. Miniature Models of Planes Used in Tournaments A NEW kind of aitplane derby has been originated... In thie derby the contestants are boys and girls and the. machines art miniae - ture planes-that look and fly Hke the original » Young America haa become © greatly enthusiastic about. aviation, and the parks and playgrounds are full: of youngsters constructin; novel and ingenious planes, which they fly. wit great dexterity, Clubs- are Rene formed ‘by them, and Boston alone has 60 model: acro clubs, with a total yenuberstip of 3,000. Aircraft clubs: in Detroit made 1,065 model ‘planes, in seven ‘months, Cities of the United States and Canada are constricting model-aircraft’ build: ings through Jocal playground and reereation departments, The Spirit of St, Louis bas been a very popular model for most yottngsters, An- other form of plane is one using akyrocketa as means of propulsion, SoHo the idea of Fritz von Opel, One plane is snid to bave remained aloft for’.seven and-one-fifth seconds employing metal tanks cquipped with pistons as. mative power, Girls, too, seem-_to be taking interest inthis eaets and Miss Amelia Earhart, noted- trans- antic flyer, is reputed to bave said that some of them prove better carpenters than cooks, comicbooks.c _———— f a ——— Tk a