DISCOVERY 



297 



Such vessels will be approximately 760 feet in length 

 and no feet in diameter. They will have an air dis- 

 placement of 150 tons and a speed of 80 m.p.h., and 

 will be able to carry 200 passengers and 11 tons of 

 mails and freight on a non-stop flight of 2,500 miles, 

 \\hich would amply cover the distances from England 

 to Egypt and Egypt to India. Carrying no cargo, 

 this type of ship would have a range of 11,500 miles 

 at 80 m.p.h., or 24,000 miles at 40 m.p.h. Each ship 

 will have six engine imits, of which two w'iU probably 

 be held in reserve. The area of fabric for gas-bags for 

 each ship is 40,400 square metres, which is about 

 10 acres. 



A possible new feature may be the introduction of 

 hydrogen-burning, in addition to liquid fuel for the 

 engines. It must be realised that, as the airship 

 consumes liquid fuel and the gross weight therefore 

 decreases, some of the hydrogen which fills the gas-bags 

 has to be released in order to keep the airship at the 

 proper level. It is suggested that it may be possible 

 to burn this waste hydrogen in place of the liquid fuel 

 in the engines, and experiments are now being carried 

 out in this direction. Had the R34 been fitted for 

 hydrogen-burning on her Atlantic flight, instead of 

 landing at New York with barely 100 gallons of fuel 

 left, she would have had nearly 1,000 gallons surplus, 

 or sufficient to have carried her another thousand miles. 

 Hydrogen-burning would enable the commercial load 

 of a 5,000,000 cubic foot airship to be increased by 

 13 tons on a flight from England to Egypt. 



In any case the new airships will probably not be 

 fitted for using petrol, as this is considered the greatest 

 danger to which modern airships could be subjected. 

 Possibly kerosene will be used, though a heavier oil 

 may eventually be substituted. 



This will also have the effect of reducing fuel costs 

 to about one-seventh of the present costs incurred 

 when using petrol. Another factor is the increased 

 number of hours an engine can be run without an over- 

 haul, the increase being approximately from three 

 hundred to eight hundred hours. 



The estimated cost of building a 5,000,000 cubic 

 foot capacity airship works out at about £150,000. 



Mooring Masts Fitted with Lifts 



Along the route to Australia will be two types of 

 bases, one being a shed or docking base, and the other 

 a mooring-mast base. For normal purposes a mooring 

 mast is the simplest and most efficient method of 

 anchoring aircraft. The ship can be brought to rest 

 far m.ore simply at a mast or tower than in a hangar, 

 and can be released still more expeditiously. Pas- 

 sengers will enter the ship by means of lifts operated 

 inside the tower to the top of which the nose of the 

 airship is fastened. They will then enter the vessel 



along a covered gangwaJ^ Fuel and stores can also 

 be taken up through the tower. 



The estimated cost of these bases is £300,000 each 

 in the case of the shed or docking base, which would 

 also be fitted with mooring masts, gas plant, etc., and 

 £100,000 for a mooring-mast base onty. The masts 

 themselves are estimated to cost about £20,000 each 

 with equipment, whilst the sheds would cost £150,000 

 each, or approximately as much as an airship itself. 



With regard to the financial return which might be 

 expected on the route when the service is operating 

 fully, the capacity of the ships would be 400 first-class 

 and 400 second-class passengers per week, i.e. 100 first- 

 class and 100 second-class on each voyage in each 

 direction. In addition about 44 tons of mails and 

 baggage could be carried. If the passenger freight is 

 assumed to be 50 per cent, of the full load, and mails 

 and baggage 70 per cent, of the full load — not an out- 

 side estimate — and first-class fares from London to 

 India cost £70, second-class £45, mails 2M. per oz. 

 and parcels is. per lb., the total receipts per year would 

 be £1,827,480. Running expenses for six ships, crews, 

 gas, material, and depreciation, in fact all expenses, 

 would be about £880,750 per annum, so that with a 

 50 per cent, load a profit of about £1,000,000 a yea.T on 

 the total capital of £3,000,000 would be made. Even 

 if only 25 per cent, loads were carried, there would still 

 be a small profit. 



The final consideration is whether passengers would 

 be tempted to travel by airship. In this connection 

 the following comparison of existing times of transit, 

 and times of transit by the future airship service are 

 of interest : 



Average saving = 66 per cent. 



When to this saving is added the fact that the pro- 

 posed airship fares are considerably lower than the 

 present liner fares, and that the comfort and safety 

 of travel by airship will be at least equal to that 

 experienced at sea, there appears very httle doubt 



