500 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September 1. 1011. 



The ''Akron" Dirigible Balloon. 



FOR tlie first time in history, America lias produced a dirigible 

 balloon of the first class. From bow to stern the "Akron," 

 in which Melvin Vaniman will essay to cross the Atlantic 

 ocean some time in October, is a home product, and whether 

 or not the expedition meets with success, the fact will remain 

 that this country has produced what is in many ways the most 

 complete ship of the air ever built. 



With a total length of 268 feet, the "Akron" measures about 

 30 feet longer than the "America," which Walter Wellman built 

 for his polar e.xpedition and in which he later tried to fly across 

 the .Atlantic ocean. This latter craft, however, was "Ameri- 



fice to keep it in shape. With the framework, engines, tuel 

 tank and other equipment attached, the "Akron" has a net lifting 

 power of 12,000 pounds. This means that it could carry eighty 

 people, including the crew. 



For very obvious reasons, Mr. Vaniman is not ready to start 

 a trans-Atlantic passenger airship line just yet, and on its initial 

 trip over the briny deep it will carry but six men. The rest of 

 the weight will be taken up mostly by gasoline and provisions. 



The heavy fabric, of which most of the big gas plant is made 

 and on which the fate of the expedition and the life of every 

 member of the crew will literally hang, was made at the plant 



G.\S-B.\G OF THE SeIBERLING-VaNIM.\N B.\LI,(1()X, ".\kr0N.' 



can" in name only, for it not only was assembled abroad, but 

 practically all of its equipment was of European manufacture. 

 But especially in the last three years has this country been "catch- 

 ing up" with Europe in affairs areonautic, and both Mr. Vaniman 

 and Mr. Frank A. Seiberling. who is financing the venture, have 

 seen to it that this new dirigible is representative of the country 

 in which it was built. 



While not so large as some of the numerous Zeppelin ships, 

 the huge gas bag now at .'\tlantic City has a lifting; power greater 

 than any ever before constructed, it being capable of sustaining 

 26,000 pounds in addition to its own weight. The reason of this is 

 that airships of the Zeppelin tj-pe are built with a metal frame to 

 keep them rigid, which necessarily adds weight, while the airship in 

 question is so made that the internal pressure of th^ gas will suf 



of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, in Akron. Ohio, on 

 special machinery. It is composed of three layers of the finest 

 cotton cloth and four layers of the purest Para rubber and is 

 .03 of an inch thick. 



In the early days of ballooning it was supposed that nothing 

 could surpass silk as a balloon material, but years of costly ex- 

 perimenting have proven that it is inferior to cotton. In the 

 first place, cotton is the more fibrous and the rubber, in conse- 

 quence, adheres closer 1o it, making a gas-tight fabric. Cotton 

 also lasts longer than silk, the latter showing a proneness to 

 crack and split. 



After coaling a single strip of the cotton cloth on both sides 

 with a special rubber compound, the "Akron" fabric was built 

 up by taking three such layers and cementing them together. 



