PONY BLIMPS FOR FIGHTING FOREST FIRES 



BY WALLACE HUTCHINSON 



'T'HE mastery of the air bids fair to solve the crucial 

 ' problem of the forest fire game Speed. 



It's a long step from the days of the "smoke chaser" 

 riding his lonely forest beat to the 100-mile-an-hour air- 

 plane patrol winging its way over mountain and plain. 

 Between these two extremes lies a period during which 

 track speeders, motorcycles, motorboats, trucks and auto- 

 mobiles rose to varying heights of popularity as a means 

 of transportation for patrolmen and fire fighters. Many 

 of these vehicles have found their niche, and their use 

 has settled down to a work-a-day basis. Not so with the 

 airplane. Before our enthusiasm over its use has even 

 commenced to cool, up bobs the Pony Blimp competing 

 for a place in the air. 



The Pony Blimp is a small dirigible, manufactured by 

 one of the leading tire and rubber companies of the 

 United States. It seems to embrace all the merits neces- 

 sary to a vehicle for the transportation of fire crews and 

 supplies, and as a means of eflFective patrol and fire de- 



tection service. The makers specify these advantages 

 for the Pony Blimp : A cruising range of eight hotu-s ; 

 speed of from one to 50 miles per hour; ability to buck 

 stiff winds, making 10 miles an hour in the teeth of a 30- 

 mile gale ; control of elevation, flying from 25 to 50 feet 

 of the earth as well as at several thousand feet altitude; 

 maneuvering readily at close quarters; ability to land 

 on a very small plot of favorable ground ; can be held 

 nearly stationary close to the earth ; can discharge fire 

 fighters by means of rope ladders while the machine 

 hovers humming-bird-;like over a selected spot near the 

 scene of the fire; can be anchored by tying to a fixed 

 object while the crew is absent fighting fire ; can be used 

 for transporting supplies and fire-fighting equipment to 

 points of need ; low cost of operation. 



The Blimps will be equipped with a Lawrence motor 

 developing about 75 H. P., and will carry three or four 

 persons in addition to the pilot and mechanic. The price 

 of the "ships" will be approximately $12,000, and the 



ALL READY TO START 



^am*fnrAf&v"K^^! ?*''' ''"'y^^'^*''*=^^K*='"^^^^^^ F"^"*' Los Angeles County. Forester Stewart D. Flint- 

 Sujpli"' t\?lZ,'^^lT"I'ZZ'i-J^^^^^ '''^* "^^^^^ " ground) examming a map of the patrol route. 



