Dangling 'Twixt Earth and Sky from a Zeppelin 



The real pilot of a Zep- 

 pelin is often a man 

 suspended from the air- 

 ship by a light steel 

 cable nearly a mile long 



ALMOST simul- 

 J-\ taneously with 

 the first news 

 of the part played by 

 Zeppelin airships in the 

 great war came rumors 

 that the Germans were 

 using suspended cages or 

 baskets to act as observa- 

 tion or steering cars. Later, 

 when a damaged Zeppelin 

 cast off its obser\-ation car, 

 windlass and cable, the rumors 

 became undisputed facts and 

 the military authorities ceased 

 to wonder how the big ships of 

 the air could maneuver with such 

 unerring precision. 



It was discovered that the real 

 pilot was not the man behind the 

 steering apparatus of the Zeppelin 

 itself but a man lying prone on a 

 mattress at the bottom of the ob- 

 servation car, with a telephone 

 strapped to his head, and with clock, 

 compass, light and other instruments 

 'conveniently near at hand to enable 

 him to inform his comrades above of 

 the exact location of the dirigible at 

 any given time. 



By means of five thousand feet 

 of steel cable and a windlass the 



bser\ation car was lowered 

 trom the Zeppelin. The ob- 

 sfirver entered the car 

 through a sliding trap A 



door in the top, and kept 

 in constant communication 

 with the men above. The 

 telephone wire ran through the steel cable. The 

 streamlike form of the car and its large fins at the rear 

 enabled it to maintain a head-on course, making it 

 possible for the obser\er to get a near view of the 

 country below through celluloid windows, even 

 though the Zeppelin was hidden in clouds and mists. 

 On a stormy night it is thought that the observation 

 car sersed as a great help in determining landing 

 positions. 

 On the other hand, there are those who surmise 

 that the man in the car dropped bombs. The 

 main argument against this, however, is that the 

 combined weight of the car and the bombs 

 would prove too much of a strain for a light 

 steel cable, if, indeed, it might not seriously 

 interfere with the maneuvering of the 

 Zeppelin. The dut>' intrusted to him is im- 

 portant and dangerous enough without the 

 added responsibility of dropping bombs. 



CELLULOID WINDOW 



mmmtm 



The streamlike form of the car and its large fins at the rear enable it to maintain a head-on course, 

 and make it possible for the observer to get a near view of the country below through celluloid windows 



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