522 



Popular Science Monthly 



The early car of the Zeppelin and the new car are here contrasted. The new car is far more 

 comfortable. It is roofed over probably to prevent the possibility of a chance spark reaching 

 the gas envelope above rather than for any protection required by the navigators. Note the 

 positions of the machine guns near the motor, which is unfortunate because of the motor vibration 



craft aloft. The gas in a Zeppelin (but 

 not in other types because they are too 

 slow) is required for buoyancy only when 

 the ship is standing still or merely drifting. 

 Down on the ground, in starting and land- 

 ing, the gas is a blessing. 



By giving his titanic structures a speed 

 greater than that of most railway trains, 

 Count von Zeppelin has at one stroke 

 removed all the fatal imperfections of bal- 

 loon support — the fluctuations in displace- 

 ment resulting from the chilling effect of 

 high altitudes on confined gas as well as the 

 changes in volume that take place in rising 

 and falling. 



I have spoken at some length about speed 

 and the aeroplane lifting effect of a Zeppe- 

 lin because the entire future of the dirigible 

 depends on its transformation when in 

 motion into an efficient aeroplane. More- 

 over, the Zeppelin is regarded both in 

 Great Britain and in the United States as 

 an out-and-out dirigible. Only recently an 

 illustrated London weekly attempted to 

 demonstrate the harmlessness of a Zeppelin 

 by graphically depicting its diminishing 

 gas lift at increasing altitudes. The power- 

 ful aeroplane lift was not considered at all! 

 Similarly, in a presumably authoritative 



American review of European dirigibles, 

 published just before the war, the aeroplane 

 lift of a Zeppelin was considered negligible. 

 And yet the Germans themselves con- 

 stantly harped upon it! In one German 

 official publication, for example, it was 

 plainly enough stated that without aero- 

 plane lift, a Zeppelin would be an impos- 

 sibility. 



Advantages of Speed and Carrying 

 Capacity 



Next to speed, the most astonishing 

 feature of a Zeppelin is its carrying capa- 

 city. That has its merits, especially in a 

 fighting craft. It means that much cargo 

 can be supported at high altitudes and that 

 the favorable swift upper currents, prevail- 

 ing chiefly at high altitudes, can be utilized 

 for speedy journeys. It costs thousands of. 

 dollars to inflate a Zeppelin with hydrogen j 

 gas. Unlike other airships a Zeppelin need" 

 not be inflated to the full at low altitudes,; 

 but with just enough to allow for complete] 

 expansion at high altitudes. No loss isj 

 incurred to relieve pressure. 



The third advantage which accrues to 

 Zeppelin because of its great size, the ac 

 vantage of enormous radius of action, is 



