. Discovery. Science. nis(:ovi:HY 95. RIGID AIRSHIP R23 LliAVIXG SHED I'OR TRIAL IXIGHT. It is conceivable that, if the shed at Howden had been equipped with similar rails, Rj4 might have been housed without accident. The difficulties attendant on taking airships in and out of sheds in any but favourable weather conditions are so great as to render this type of aircraft practically useless for commercial purposes, where a reasonable regularity of flying is essential, unless some means of overcoming them is assured. The solution of this problem is undoubtedly mooring in the open. Since the earh
. Discovery. Science. nis(:ovi:HY 95. RIGID AIRSHIP R23 LliAVIXG SHED I'OR TRIAL IXIGHT. It is conceivable that, if the shed at Howden had been equipped with similar rails, Rj4 might have been housed without accident. The difficulties attendant on taking airships in and out of sheds in any but favourable weather conditions are so great as to render this type of aircraft practically useless for commercial purposes, where a reasonable regularity of flying is essential, unless some means of overcoming them is assured. The solution of this problem is undoubtedly mooring in the open. Since the earh' days of airship history, experiments have been conducted in mooring out as an emergency method in the event of mechanical breakdown pre- venting an airship from returning to her base. These have throughout followed two lines of thought—(i) mooring by means of cables ; (2) mooring to a mast. With regard to the former of these two methods, in the early days trials were made in mooring to a drogue by a single cable over water. The dragging motion of the drogue through the water was found to check to a great extent any tendency of the bow of the ship to move in a lateral direction. When moored, however, to a single point on land, it was found almost impossible to keep the airship head to wind. To correct this tendency to surge, the method was amplified by introducing three cables, which were led to the mooring-point of the ship. This system, known in its earlier stages as the " Usborne Method," from the name of its originator, has been developed into the present-day three-wire system, which was utilised with unfortunate results in the case of R34. In this system three bollards are spaced at a con- siderable distance apart, and form in plan an equilateral triangle. To these are attached the three mooring cables taken up by the lift of the ship, which floats in the air at the apex of the pyramid so formed. When trimmed up by the bow, the airship will be fou
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