How It Flies; or, The Conquest of the Air / The Story of Man's Endeavors to Fly and of the Inventions by Which He Has Succeeded

“We packed up our instruments, and began to look out for a cottage; but this is not always an easy task in the dead of night in a foreign country. However, in a quarter of an hour we found a farm, and succeeded in rousing the inmates. A much more difficult job was to influence them to open their front door to two men who talked some sort of double Dutch, and who suddenly appeared at a farmyard miles off the highway in the middle of the night and demanded admittance. Berson can talk in six languages, but unfortunately Swedish is not one of them. He begged in the most humble way for shelter ... and at the end of three-quarters of an hour the farmer opened the door. We showed him some pictures of a balloon we had with us, and then they began to understand the situation. We were then received with truly Swedish hospitality, and provided with supper. They even proposed to let us have their beds; but this we naturally declined with many thanks.... The yard contained hens, pigs, cows, and sheep; but an empty corner was found, which was well packed with straw, and served as a couch for our tired limbs. We covered ourselves with our great-coats, and tried to sleep. But the temperature was 10° Fahr., and as the place was only an outhouse of boards roughly nailed together, and the wind whistling through the cracks and crevices, we were not sorry when the daylight came.”

Lest the possibility of accident to travellers by balloon be judged greater than it really is, it may be well to state that records collected in Germany in 1906 showed that in 2,061 ascents in which 7,570 persons participated, only 36 were injured—or but 1 out of 210. Since that time, while the balloon itself has remained practically unchanged, better knowledge of atmospheric conditions has aided in creating an even more favorable record for recent years.

That the day of ordinary ballooning has not been dimmed by the advent of the airship and the aeroplane is evidenced by the recently made estimate that not less than 800 spherical balloons are in constant use almost daily in one part or another of Christendom. And it seems entirely reasonable to predict that with a better comprehension of the movements of air-currents—to which special knowledge the scientific world is now applying its investigations as never before—they will come a great increase of interest in simple ballooning as a recreation.

Chapter XIV.
BALLOONS: THE DIRIGIBLE.

Elongation of gas-bag—Brisson—Meusnier—Air-ballonnets—Scott—Giffard—Haenlein—Tissandier—Renard and Krebs—Schwartz—Santos-Dumont—Von Zeppelin—Roze—Severo—Bradsky-Leboun—The Lebaudy dirigible—Zeppelin II—Parseval I—Unequal wind pressures—Zeppelin III—Nulli Secundus—La Patrie—Ville-de-Paris—Zeppelin IV—Gross I—Parseval II—Clement-Bayard I—Ricardoni’s airship—Gross II—The new Zeppelin II—La Republique—The German fleet of dirigibles—Parseval V—The Deutschland—The Erbslöh—Gross III—Zeppelin VI—The America—Clement-Bayard III—The Capazza lenticular dirigible.

The dirigible balloon, or airship, is built on the same general principles as the ordinary balloon—that is, with the envelope to contain the lifting gas, the car to carry the load, and the suspending cordage—but to this is added some form of propelling power to enable it to make headway against the wind, and a rudder for steering it.

Almost from the very beginning of ballooning, some method of directing the balloon to a pre-determined goal had been sought by inventors. Drifting at the fickle pleasure of the prevailing wind did not accord with man’s desire for authority and control.

The first step in this direction was the change from the spherical form of the gas-bag to an elongated shape, the round form having an inclination to turn round and round in the air while floating, and having no bow-and-stern structure upon which steering devices could operate. The first known proposal in this direction was made by Brisson, a French scientist, who suggested building the gas-bag in the shape of a horizontal cylinder with conical ends, its length to be five or six times its diameter. His idea for its propulsion was the employment of large-bladed oars, but he rightly doubted whether human strength would prove sufficient to work these rapidly enough to give independent motion to the airship.

About the same time another French inventor had actually built a balloon with a gas-bag shaped like an egg and placed horizontally with the blunt end foremost. The reduction in the resistance of the air to this form was so marked that the elongated gas-bag quickly displaced the former spherical shape. This balloon was held back from travelling at the full speed of the wind by the clever device of a rope dragging on the ground; and by a sail rigged so as to act on the wind which blew past the retarded balloon, the navigator was able to steer it within certain limits. It was the first dirigible balloon.

In the same year the brothers Robert, of Paris, built an airship for the Duke of Chartres, under the direction of General Meusnier, a French officer of engineers. It was cylindrical, with hemispherical ends, 52 feet long and 32 feet in diameter, and contained 30,000 cubic feet of gas. The gas-bag was made double to prevent the escape of the hydrogen, which had proved very troublesome in previous balloons, and it was provided with a spherical air balloon inside of the gas-bag, which device was expected to preserve the form of the balloon unchanged by expanding or contracting, according to the rising or falling of the airship. When the ascension was made on July 6, 1784, the air-balloon stuck fast in the neck of the gas-bag, and so prevented the escape of gas as the hydrogen expanded in the increasing altitude. The gas-bag would have burst had not the Duke drawn his sword and slashed a vent for the imprisoned gas. The airship came safely to earth.

It was General Meusnier who first suggested the interior ballonnet of air to preserve the tense outline of the form of the airship, and the elliptical form for the gas-bag was another of his inventions. In the building of the airship of the Duke de Chartres he made the further suggestion that the space between the two envelopes be filled with air, and so connected with the air-pumps that it could be inflated or deflated at will. For the motive power he designed three screw propellers of one blade each, to be turned unceasingly by a crew of eighty men.

Meusnier was killed in battle in 1793, and aeronautics lost its most able developer at that era.

In 1789, Baron Scott, an officer in the French army, devised a fish-shaped airship with two outside balloon-shaped “pockets” which could be forcibly drawn into the body of the airship to increase its density, and thus cause its descent.

It began to be realized that no adequate power existed by which balloons could be propelled against even light winds to such a degree that they were really controllable, and balloon ascensions came to be merely an adjunct of the exhibit of the travelling showman. For this reason the early part of the nineteenth century seems barren of aeronautical incident as compared with the latter part of the preceding century.

In 1848, Hugh Bell, an Englishman, built a cylindrical airship with convex pointed ends. It was 55 feet long and 21 feet in diameter. It had a keel-shaped framework of tubes to which the long narrow car was attached, and there was a screw propeller on each side, to be worked by hand, and a rudder to steer with. It failed to work.

In 1852, however, a new era opened for the airship. Henry Giffard, of Paris, the inventor of the world-famed injector for steam boilers, built an elliptical gas-bag with cigar-shaped ends, 144 feet long, and 40 feet in diameter, having a cubic content of 88,000 cubic feet. The car was suspended from a rod 66 feet long which hung from the net covering the gas-bag. It was equipped with a 3-horse-power steam engine which turned a two-bladed screw propeller 11 feet in diameter, at the rate of 110 revolutions per minute. Coke was used for fuel. The steering was done with a triangular rudder-sail. Upon trial on September 24, 1852, the airship proved a success, travelling at the rate of nearly 6 miles an hour.

Giffard built a second airship in 1855, of a much more elongated shape—235 feet long and 33 feet in diameter. He used the same engine which propelled his first ship. After a successful trial trip, when about to land, the gas-bag unaccountably turned up on end, allowing the net and car to slide off, and, rising slightly in the air, burst. Giffard and his companion escaped unhurt.

Giffard afterward built the large captive balloon for the London Exhibition in 1868, and the still larger one for the Paris Exposition in 1878. He designed a large airship to be fitted with two boilers and a powerful steam-engine, but became blind, and died in 1882.

In 1865, Paul Haenlein devised a cigar-shaped airship to be inflated with coal gas. It was to be propelled by a screw at the front to be driven by a gas-engine drawing its fuel from the gas in the body of the ship. An interior air-bag was to be expanded as the gas was consumed, to keep the shape intact. A second propeller revolving horizontally was intended to raise or lower the ship in the air.

It was not until 1872 that he finally secured the building of an airship, at Vienna, after his plans. It was 164 feet long, and 30 feet in diameter. The form of the gas-bag was that described by the keel of a ship rotated around the centre line of its deck as an axis. The engine was of the Lenoir type, with four horizontal cylinders, developing about 6 horse-power, and turned a propeller about 15 feet in diameter at the rate of 40 revolutions per minute. The low lifting power of the coal gas with which it was inflated caused it to float quite near the ground. With a consumption of 250 cubic feet of gas per hour, it travelled at a speed of ten miles an hour. The lack of funds seems to have prevented further experiments with an invention which was at least very promising.

In the same year a dirigible balloon built by Dupuy de Lome for use by the French Government during the siege of Paris, was given a trial. It was driven by a screw propeller turned by eight men, and although it was 118 feet long, and 49 feet in diameter, it made as good a speed record as Giffard’s steam-driven airship—six miles an hour.

In 1881, the brothers Albert and Gaston Tissandier exhibited at the Electrical Exhibition in Paris a model of an electrically driven airship, originally designed to establish communication with Paris during the siege of the Franco-Prussian War. In 1883, the airship built after this model was tried. It was 92 feet long, and 30 feet at its largest diameter. The motive power was a Siemens motor run by 24 bichromate cells of 17 lbs. each. At full speed the motor made 180 revolutions per minute, developing 1½ horse-power. The pull was 26 lbs. The propeller was 9 feet in diameter, and a speed of a little more than 6 miles an hour was attained.

In 1884, two French army engineers, Renard and Krebs, built an airship, the now historic La France, with the shape of a submarine torpedo. It was 165 feet long and about 27 feet in diameter at the largest part. It had a gas content of 66,000 cubic feet. A 9 horse-power Gramme electric motor was installed, driven by a storage battery. This operated the screw propeller 20 feet in diameter, which was placed at the forward end of the long car. The trial was made on the 9th of August, and was a complete success. The ship was sailed with the wind for about 2½ miles, and then turned about and made its way back against the wind till it stood directly over its starting point, and was drawn down to the ground by its anchor ropes. The trip of about 5 miles was made in 23 minutes. In seven voyages undertaken the airship was steered back safely to its starting point five times.

This first airship which really deserved the name marked an era in the development of this type of aircraft. In view of its complete success it is astonishing that nothing further was done in this line in France for fifteen years, when Santos-Dumont began his series of record-making flights. Within this period, however, the gasoline motor had been adapted to the needs of the automobile, and thus a new and light-weight engine, suitable in every respect, had been placed within the reach of aeronauts.

In the meantime, a new idea had been brought to the stage of actual trial. In 1893, in St. Petersburg, David Schwartz built a rigid airship, the gas receptacle of which was sheet aluminum. It was braced by aluminum tubes, but while being inflated the interior work was so badly broken that it was abandoned.

Schwartz made a second attempt in Berlin in 1897. The airship was safely inflated, and managed to hold its position against a wind blowing 17 miles an hour, but could not make headway against it. After the gas had been withdrawn, and before it could be put under shelter, a severe windstorm damaged it, and the mob of spectators speedily demolished it in the craze for souvenirs of the occasion.

In 1898, the young Brazilian, Santos-Dumont, came to Paris imbued with aeronautic zeal, and determined to build a dirigible balloon that would surpass the former achievements of Giffard and Renard, which he felt confident were but hints of what might be accomplished by that type of airship. He began the construction of the series of dirigible balloons which eventually numbered 12, each successive one being an improvement on the preceding. He made use of the air-bag suggested by Meusnier for the balloon of the Duke of Chartres in 1784, although in an original way, at first using a pneumatic pump to inflate it, and later a rotatory fan. Neither prevented the gas-bag from “buckling” and coming down with consequences more or less serious to the airship—but Santos-Dumont himself always escaped injury. His own record of his voyages in his book, My Air-Ships, gives a more detailed account of his contrivances and inventions than can be permitted here. If Santos-Dumont did not greatly surpass his predecessors, he is at least to be credited with an enthusiasm which aroused the interest of the whole world in the problems of aeronautics; and his later achievements in the building and flying of aeroplanes give him a unique place in the history of man’s conquest of the air.

In 1900, Count von Zeppelin’s great airship, which had been building for nearly two years, was ready for trial. It had the form of a prism of 24 sides, with the ends arching to a blunt point. It was 420 feet long, and 38 feet in diameter. The structure was rigid, of aluminum lattice work, divided into 17 compartments, each of which had a separate gas-bag shaped to fit its compartment. Over all was an outer envelope of linen and silk treated with pegamoid. A triangular keel of aluminum lattice strengthened the whole, and there were two cars of aluminum attached to the keel. Each car held a 16 horse-power Daimler gasoline motor, operating two four-bladed screw propellers which were rigidly connected with the frame of the ship a little below the level of its axis. A sliding weight was run to either end of the keel as might be required to depress the head or tail, in order to rise or fall in the air. The cars were in the shape of boats, and the ship was built in a floating shed on the Lake of Constance near Friedrichshafen. At the trial the airship was floated out on the lake, the car-boats resting on the water. Several accidents happened, so that though the ship got up into the air it could not be managed, and was brought down to the water again without injury. In a second attempt a speed of 20 miles an hour was attained. The construction was found to be not strong enough for the great length of the body, the envelope of the balloon was not sufficiently gas tight, and the engines were not powerful enough. But few trips were made in it, and they were short. The Count set himself to work to raise money to build another ship, which he did five years later.

In 1901, an inventor named Roze built an airship in Colombo, having two gas envelopes with the engines and car placed between them. He expected to do away with the rolling and pitching of single airships by the double form, but the ship did not work satisfactorily, ascending to barely 50 feet.

In 1902, Augusto Severo, a Brazilian, arranged an airship with the propelling screws at the axis of the gas-bag, one at each end of the ship. Instead of a rudder, he provided two small propellers to work in a vertical plane and swing the ship sideways. Soon after ascending it was noticed that the propellers were not working properly, and a few minutes later the car was seen to be in flames and the balloon exploded. Severo and his companion Sache were killed, falling 1,300 feet.

In the same year Baron Bradsky-Leboun built an airship with partitions in the gas-bag which was just large enough to counterbalance the weight of the ship and its operators. It was lifted or lowered by a propeller working horizontally. Another propeller drove the ship forward. Through some lack of stability the car turned over, throwing out the two aeronauts, who fell 300 feet and were instantly killed.

In 1902, a dirigible balloon was built for the brothers Lebaudy by the engineer Juillot and the aeronaut Surcouf. The gas envelope was made cigar-shaped and fastened rigidly to a rigid elliptical keel-shaped floor 70 feet long and 19 feet wide, made of steel tubes—the object being to prevent rolling and pitching. It was provided with both horizontal and vertical rudders. A 35 horse-power Daimler-Mercedes motor was used to turn two twin-bladed screws, each of 9 feet in diameter. Between the 25th of October, 1902, and the 21st of November, 1903, 33 experimental voyages were made, the longest being 61 miles in 2 hours and 46 minutes; 38.7 miles in 1 hour and 41 minutes; 23 miles in 1 hour and 36 minutes.

In 1904 this ship was rebuilt. It was lengthened to 190 feet and the rear end rounded off. Its capacity was increased to 94,000 cubic feet, and a new covering of the yellow calico which had worked so well on the first model was used on the new one. It was coated with rubber both on the outside and inside. The interior air-bag was increased in size to 17,650 cubic feet, and partitioned into three compartments. During 1904 and 1905 30 voyages were made, carrying in all 195 passengers.

The success of this airship led to a series of trials under the direction of the French army, and in all of these trials it proved satisfactory. After the 76th successful voyage it was retired for the winter of 1905-6.

In November, 1905, the rebuilt Zeppelin airship was put upon trial. While superior to the first one, it met with serious accident, and was completely wrecked by a windstorm in January, 1906.

In May, 1906, Major von Parseval’s non-rigid airship passed through its first trials successfully. This airship may be packed into small compass for transportation, and is especially adapted for military use. In plan it is slightly different from previous types, having two air-bags, one in each end of the envelope, and the front end is hemispherical instead of pointed.

As the airship is designed to force its way through the air, instead of floating placidly in it, it is evident that it must have a certain tenseness of outline in order to retain its shape, and resist being doubled up by the resistance it encounters. It is estimated that the average velocity of the wind at the elevation at which the airship sails is 18 miles per hour. If the speed of the ship is to be 20 miles per hour, as related to stations on the ground, and if it is obliged to sail against the wind, it is plain that the wind pressure which it is compelled to meet is 38 miles per hour—a gale of no mean proportions. When the large expanse of the great gas-bags is taken into consideration, it is evident that ordinary balloon construction is not sufficient.

Attempts have been made to meet the outside pressure from the wind and air-resistance by producing mechanically a counter-pressure from the inside. Air-bags are placed inside the cavity of the gas-bag, usually one near each end of the airship, and these are inflated by pumping air into them under pressure. In this way an outward pressure of as much as 7 lbs. to the square foot may be produced, equivalent to the resistance of air at a speed (either of the wind, or of the airship, or of both combined) of 48 miles per hour. It is evident, however, that the pressure upon the front end of an airship making headway against a strong wind will be much greater than the pressure at the rear end, or even than that amidships. It was this uneven pressure upon the outside of the gas-bag that doubled up the first two airships of Santos-Dumont, and led him to increase the proportional girth at the amidship section in his later dirigibles. The great difficulty of adjusting these varying pressures warrants the adherence of Count von Zeppelin to his design with the rigid structure and metallic sheathing.

The loss of the second Zeppelin airship so discouraged its designer that he decided to withdraw from further aeronautical work. But the German Government prevailed on him to continue, and by October, 1906, he had the Zeppelin III in the air. This airship was larger than Zeppelin II in both length and diameter, and held 135,000 cubic feet more of gas. The motive power was supplied by two gasoline motors, each of 85 horse-power. The gas envelope had 16 sides, instead of 24, as in the earlier ship. At its trial the Zeppelin III proved highly successful. It made a trip of 69 miles, with 11 passengers, in 2¼ hours—a speed of about 30 miles an hour.

The German Government now made an offer of $500,000 for an airship which would remain continuously in the air for 24 hours, and be able to land safely. Count von Zeppelin immediately began work upon his No. IV, in the effort to meet these requirements, in the meantime continuing trips with No. III. The most remarkable of these trips was made in September, 1907, a journey of 211 miles in 8 hours.

In October, 1907, the English airship “Nulli Secundus” was given its first trial. The gas envelope had been made of goldbeater’s skins, which are considered impermeable to the contained gas, but are very expensive. This airship was of the non-rigid type. It made the trip from Aldershot to London, a distance of 50 miles, in 3½ hours—an apparent speed of 14 miles per hour, lacking information as to the aid or hindrance of the prevailing wind. Several other trials were made, but with small success.

The offer of the German Government had stimulated other German builders besides Count von Zeppelin, and on October 28, 1907, the Parseval I, which had been improved, and the new Gross dirigible, competed for the government prize, at Berlin. The Parseval kept afloat for 6½ hours, and the Gross for 8¼ hours.

Meanwhile, in France, the Lebaudys had been building a new airship which was named “La Patrie.” It was 197 feet long and 34 feet in diameter. In a trial for altitude it was driven to an elevation of 4,300 feet. On November 23, 1907, the “Patrie” set out from Paris for Verdun, a distance of 146 miles. The journey was made in 6¾ hours, at an average speed of 25 miles per hour, and the fuel carried was sufficient to have continued the journey 50 miles further. Soon after reaching Verdun a severe gale tore the airship away from the regiment of soldiers detailed to assist the anchors in holding it down, and it disappeared into the clouds. It is known to have passed over England, for parts of its machinery were picked up at several points, and some days later the gas-bag was seen floating in the North Sea.

Following close upon the ill-fated “Patrie” came the “Ville-de-Paris,” a dirigible which had been built by Surcouf for M. Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe, an eminent patron of aeronautic experiments. In size this airship was almost identical with the lost “Patrie,” but it was quite different in appearance. It did not have the flat framework at the bottom of the gas envelope, but was entirely round in section, and the long car was suspended below. At the rear the gas-bag was contracted to a cylindrical form, and four groups of two ballonnets each were attached to act as stabilizers. It was offered by M. de la Meurthe to the French Government to take the place of the “Patrie” in the army manœuvres at Verdun, and on January 15, 1908, made the trip thither from Paris in about 7 hours. It was found that the ballonnets exerted considerable drag upon the ship.

In June, 1908, the great “Zeppelin IV” was completed and given its preliminary trials, and on July 1 it started on its first long journey. Leaving Friedrichshafen, its route was along the northerly shore of Lake Constance nearly to Schaffhausen, then southward to and around Lake Lucerne, thence northward to Zurich, thence eastward to Lake Constance, and to its shed at Friedrichshafen. The distance traversed was 236 miles, and the time consumed 12 hours. This voyage without a single mishap aroused the greatest enthusiasm among the German people. After several short flights, during which the King of Württemberg, the Queen, and some of the royal princes were passengers, the Zeppelin IV set out on August 4 to win the Government reward by making the 24-hour flight. Sailing eastward from Friedrichshafen it passed over Basle, then turning northward it followed the valley of the Rhine, passing over Strasburg and Mannheim, and had nearly reached Mayence when a slight accident necessitated a landing. Repairs were made, and the journey resumed after nightfall. Mayence was reached at 11 P. M., and the return trip begun. When passing over Stuttgart, at 6 A. M., a leak was discovered, and a landing was made at Echterdingen, a few miles farther on. Here, while repairs were being made, a squall struck the airship and bumped it heavily on the ground. Some gasoline was spilled, in some unknown way, which caught fire, and in a few moments the great balloon was totally destroyed. It had been in continuous flight 11 hours up to the time of the first landing, and altogether 20¾ hours, and had travelled 258 miles.

The German people immediately started a public subscription to provide Count von Zeppelin with the funds needed to build another airship, and in a few days the sum of $1,500,000 was raised and turned over to the unfortunate inventor. The “Zeppelin III” was taken in hand, and lengthened, and more powerful engines installed.

The “Gross II” was ready to make its attempt for the Government prize on September 11, 1908. It sailed from Tegel to Magdeburg and back to Tegel, a distance of 176 miles, in 13 hours, without landing.

Four days later the “Parseval II” made a trip between the same points in 11½ hours, but cut the distance travelled down to 157 miles. In October, the “Parseval II” was sent up for an altitude test, and rose to a height of 5,000 feet above Tegel, hovering over the city for upward of an hour.

During 1908, an airship designed by M. Clement, the noted motor-car builder, was being constructed in France. It made its first voyage on October 29, carrying seven passengers from Sartrouville to Paris and back, at a speed of from 25 to 30 miles per hour. The illustration gives a very good idea of the peculiar ballonnets attached to the rear end of the gas envelope. These ballonnets open into the large gas-bag, and are practically a part of it.

In Italy a remarkable dirigible has been built by Captain Ricaldoni, for military purposes. It has the form of a fish, blunt forward, and tapering straight away to the rear. It has a large finlike surface on the under side of the gas-bag toward the rear. Its performances show that its efficiency as compared with its motive power is larger than any other dirigible in commission.

In May, 1909, the rebuilt “Zeppelin III,” now rechristened “Zeppelin II,” after many successful short flights was prepared for the Government trial. On May 29, 1909, with a crew of six men, Count von Zeppelin started from Friedrichshafen for Berlin, 360 miles away. The great ship passed over Ulm, Nuremburg, Bayreuth, and Leipzig; and here it encountered so strong a head wind from the north, that it was decided to turn about at Bitterfeld and return to Friedrichshafen. The distance travelled had been nearly 300 miles in 21 hours. The course followed was quite irregular, and took the ship over Wurtzburg, and by a wide detour to Heilbron and Stuttgart. The supply of gasoline running low, it was decided to land at Goeppingen, where more could be obtained. It was raining heavily, and through some mistake in steering, or some sudden veering of the wind, the prow of the great dirigible came into collision with a tree upon the hillside. The envelope was badly torn, and a part of the aluminum inner structure wrecked. However, the mechanics on board were able to make such repairs that the ship was able to resume the voyage the next day, and made port without further mishap. The vessel having been 38 hours in the air at the time of the accident, so much of the Government’s stipulations had been complied with. But it had not succeeded in landing safely. Nevertheless it was accepted by the Government. The entire journey has been variously estimated at from 680 to 900 miles, either figure being a record for dirigibles.

On August 4, the dirigible “Gross II” made a voyage from Berlin to Apolda, and returned; a distance of 290 miles in 16 hours. This airship also was accepted by the German Government and added to its fleet.

In August, the Zeppelin II was successfully sailed to Berlin, where Count von Zeppelin was welcomed by an immense and enthusiastic multitude of his countrymen, including the Emperor and the royal family.

On September 26, the new French dirigible, “La Republique,” built on the model of the successful Lebaudy airships, met with an accident while in the air. A blade of one of the propellers broke and slashed into the envelope. The ship fell from a height of 6,000 feet, and its crew of four men lost their lives.

On April 22, 1910, a fleet of German dirigibles, comprising the “Zeppelin II,” the “Gross II,” and the “Parseval I,” sailed from Cologne to Hamburg, where they were reviewed by Emperor William. A strong wind having arisen, the “Gross II,” which is of the semi-rigid type, was deflated, and shipped back to Cologne by rail. The non-rigid “Parseval” made the return flight in safety. The rigid “Zeppelin II” started on the return voyage, but was compelled to descend at Limburg, where it was moored. The wind increasing, it was forced away, and finally was driven to the ground at Weilburg and demolished.

In May, 1910, the “Parseval V,” the smallest dirigible so far constructed, being but 90 feet in length, was put upon its trial trip. It made a circular voyage of 80 miles in 4 hours.

For several months a great Zeppelin passenger dirigible had been building by a stock company financed by German capital, under the direction of the dauntless Count von Zeppelin. It was 490 feet long, with a capacity of 666,900 cubic feet. A passenger cabin was built with ¼-inch mahogany veneer upon a framework of aluminum, the inside being decorated with panels of rosewood inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The seats were wicker chairs, and the window openings had no glass. It was christened the “Deutschland.”

After many days waiting for propitious weather the first “air-liner” set sail on June 22, 1910, from Friedrichshafen for Düsseldorf, carrying 20 passengers who had paid $50 each for their passage. In addition there were 13 other persons on board.

The start was made at three o’clock in the morning, and the course laid was up the valley of the Rhine, as far as Cologne. Düsseldorf was reached at three o’clock in the afternoon, the airline distance of 300 miles having been covered in 9 hours of actual sailing. From Mannheim to Düsseldorf, favored by the wind, the great ship reached the speed of 50 miles per hour, for this part of the trip, outstripping the fastest express trains which consume 6 hours in the winding track up the valley.

The next morning the “Deutschland” left Düsseldorf on an excursion trip, carrying several ladies among its passengers. The voyage was in every way a great success, and public enthusiasm was widespread.

On June 29, a test trip was decided upon. No passengers were taken, but 19 newspaper correspondents were invited guests. The Count had been warned of weather disturbances in the neighborhood, but he either disregarded them or felt confidence in his craft. It was intended that the voyage should last four hours, but the airship soon encountered a storm, and after 6 hours of futile striving against it, the fuel gave out. Caught in an upward draft, the “Deutschland” rose to an altitude of over 5,000 feet, losing considerable gas, and then, entering a rainstorm, was heavily laden with moisture. Suddenly, without definite reason, it began to fall vertically, and in a few moments had crashed into the tops of the trees of the Teutoberg forest. No one on board received more than slight injury, and all alighted safely by means of ladders. The “Deutschland” was a wreck, and was taken apart and shipped back to Friedrichshafen.

On July 13, another giant passenger airship, designed by Oscar Erbslöh, who won the international balloon race in 1907 by a voyage from St. Louis to Asbury Park, met with fatal disaster. It was sailing near Cologne at an altitude of about 2,500 feet when it burst, and Erbslöh and his four companions were killed in the fall.

On July 28, the “Gross III” left Berlin with the object of beating the long distance record for dirigibles. Soon after passing Gotha the airship returned to that place, and abandoned the attempt. In 13 hours a distance of 260 miles had been traversed.

Undismayed by the catastrophes which had destroyed his airships almost as fast as he built them, Count von Zeppelin had his number VI ready to sail on September 3. With a crew of seven and twelve passengers he sailed from Baden to Heidelberg—53 miles in 65 minutes. It was put into commission as an excursion craft, and made several successful voyages. On September 14, as it was being placed in its shed at the close of a journey, it took fire unaccountably, and was destroyed together with the shed, a part of the framework only remaining.

On October 15, 1910, the Wellman dirigible “America” which had been in preparation for many weeks, left Asbury Park in an attempt to cross the Atlantic. Its balloon was 228 feet long, with a diameter of 52 feet, containing 345,000 cubic feet of gas. The car was 156 feet in length, and was arranged as a tank in which 1,250 gallons of gasoline were carried. A lifeboat was attached underneath the car. There were two engines, each of 80 horse-power, and an auxiliary motor of 10 horse-power. Sleeping quarters were provided for the crew of six, and the balloon was fitted with a wireless telegraph system. All went well until off the island of Nantucket, where strong north winds were encountered, and the dirigible was swept southward toward Bermuda. As an aid in keeping the airship at an elevation of about 200 feet above the sea, an enlarged trail-rope, called the equilibrator, had been constructed of cans which were filled with gasoline. This appendage weighed 1½ tons, and the lower part of it was expected to float upon the sea. In practice it was found that the jarring of this equilibrator, when the sea became rough, disarranged the machinery, so that the propellers would not work, and the balloon was compelled to drift with the wind. Toward evening of the second day a ship was sighted, and the America’s crew were rescued. The airship floated away in the gale, and was soon out of sight.

On October 16, a new Clement-Bayard dirigible, with seven men on board, left Paris at 7.15 o’clock in the morning, and sailed for London. At 1 P. M. it circled St. Paul’s Cathedral, and landed at the hangar at Wormwood Scrubbs a half hour later. The distance of 259 miles (airline) was traversed at the rate of 41 miles per hour, and the journey surpassed in speed any previous journey by any other form of conveyance.

On November 5, 1910, the young Welsh aeronaut, Ernest T. Willows, who sailed his small dirigible from Cardiff to London in August, made a trip from London across the English Channel to Douai, France. This is the third time within a month that the Channel had been crossed by airships.

Toward the close of 1910, 52 dirigibles were in commission or in process of construction. In the United States there were 7; in Belgium, 2; in England, 6; in France, 12; in Germany, 14; in Italy, 5; in Russia, 1; in Spain, 1.

The new Capazza dirigible is a decided departure from all preceding constructions, and may mark a new era in the navigation of the air. Its gas envelope is shaped like a lens, or a lentil, and is arranged to sail flatwise with the horizon, thus partaking of the aeroplane as well as the balloon type. No definite facts concerning its achievements have been published.

Chapter XV.
BALLOONS: HOW TO OPERATE.

Preliminary inspection—Instruments—Accessories—Ballast—Inflating—Attaching the car—The ascension—Controls—Landing—Some things to be considered—After landing—Precautions.

The actual operation of a balloon is always entrusted to an experienced pilot, or “captain” as he is often called, because he is in command, and his authority must be recognized instantly whenever an order is given. Nevertheless, it is often of great importance that every passenger shall understand the details of managing the balloon in case of need; and a well-informed passenger is greatly to be preferred to an ignorant one.

It is ordinarily one of the duties of the captain to inspect the balloon thoroughly; to see that there are no holes in the gas-bag, that the valve is in perfect working order, and particularly that the valve rope and the ripping cord are not tangled. He should also gather the instruments and equipment to be carried.

The instruments are usually an aneroid barometer, and perhaps a mercury barometer, a barograph (recording barometer), a psychrometer (recording thermometer), a clock, a compass, and an outfit of maps of the country over which it is possible that the balloon may float. Telegraph blanks, railroad time tables, etc., may be found of great service. A camera with a supply of plates will be indispensable almost, and the camera should be provided with a yellow screen for photographing clouds or distant objects.

The ballast should be inspected, to be sure that it is of dry sand, free from stones; or if water is used for ballast, it should have the proper admixture of glycerine to prevent freezing.

It is essential that the inflating be properly done, and the captain should be competent to direct this process in detail, if necessary. What is called the “circular method” is the simplest, and is entirely satisfactory unless the balloon is being filled with pure hydrogen for a very high ascent, in which case it will doubtless be in the hands of experts.

When inflating with coal-gas, the supply is usually taken from a large pipe adapted for the purpose. At a convenient distance from the gas-main the ground is made smooth, and the ground cloths are spread out and pegged down to keep them in place.

The folded balloon is laid out on the cloths with the neck opening toward the gas-pipe. The balloon is then unfolded, and so disposed that the valve will be uppermost, and in the centre of a circle embracing the upper half of the sphere of the balloon, the opening of the neck projecting a few inches beyond the rim of the circle. The hose from the gas-main may then be connected with the socket in the neck.