132 ANNUAL REPORT-SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1908. 



for land near Friedrichshaf en ; shops are being constructed, and it 

 has been announced that within one year the construction of 8 air- 

 ships of the Zeppelin type will be completed. Recently the Crown 

 Prince of Germany made a trip in the Zeppelin No, 3, which had 

 been called back into service, and within a very few days the Em- 

 peror of German}^ visited Friedrichshafen for the purpose of seeing 

 "the airship in flight. He decorated Count Zeppelin with the Order 

 of the Black Eagle. German patriotism and enthusiasm has gone 

 further, and the German Association for an Aerial Fleet has been 

 organized in sections throughout the country. It announces its in- 

 tention of building 50 garages (hangars) for housing airships. 



United States. 

 Signal Corps, Dirigible No. 1. 



Due to unavailability of funds, the United States Government has 

 not been able to undertake the construction of an airship sufficiently 

 large and powerful to compete with those of European nations. 

 However, specifications were sent out January, 1908, for an airship not 

 over 120 feet long and capable of making 20 miles per hour. Con- 

 tract was awarded to Capt, Thomas S. Baldwin, who delivered an 

 airship in August, 1908, to the Signal Corps, the description of which 

 follows : 



Gas hag. — The gas bag is spindle shaped, 96 feet long, maximum 

 diameter 19 feet G inches, with a volume of 20,000 cubic feet, A 

 ballonet for air is provided inside the gas bag, and has a volume of 

 2,800 cubic feet. The material for the gas bag is made of two layers 

 of Japanese silk with a layer of vulcanized rubber between. 



Gar. — The car is made of spruce, and is 06 feet long, 2^ feet wide, 

 and 2^ feet high. 



Motor. — The motor is a 20 horsepower, water-cooled Curtiss make. 



Propeller. — The propeller is at the front end of the car, and is con- 

 nected to the engine by a steel shaft. It is built up of spruce, has 

 a diameter of 10 feet 8 inches, with a pitch of 11 feet, and turns at 

 the rate of 450 revolutions per minute. A fixed vertical surface is 

 provided at the rear end of the car to minimize veering, and a hori- 

 zontal surface attached to the vertical rudder at the rear tends to 

 minimize pitching. A double horizontal surface controlled by a lever 

 and attached to the car in front of the engine serves to control the 

 vertical motion and also to minimize pitching. 



The- position of the car very near to the gas bag is one of the 

 features of the government dirigible. This reduces the length and 

 consequently the resistance of the suspension, and places the pro- 

 peller thrust near the center of resistance. 



