Lighter Than Air

by Guy Warner

  Dynamic Lift – from the reaction of airflow over the envelope and control surfaces when under way. This can be altered by trimming the control surfaces, eg nose down if light, or nose up if heavy.

  Gross Lift – is the weight of the airship and all its contents.

  Useful lift – is the weight that can be allocated to fuel, ballast, passengers and cargo.

  Conditions of lift – these vary continually as gas (and the surrounding atmosphere) expands or contracts according to temperature and altitude. Moreover, the weather had a considerable effect, for example, rain falling on the envelope increased its weight, so making the airship loose height. The strength and direction of the wind also had a considerable effect on the airship’s speed and progress through the air.

  Control of lift – in flight this is controlled by regulating the lift, releasing gas to descend and discharging ballast (normally water) to ascend.

  Size – as an airship becomes larger in size its surface area increases as the square of its linear dimensions. If a large airship is three times longer than a small one, it has nine times as much surface area, but twenty-seven times as much volume and lift.

  Mooring – an airship would come in to land nose to wind. The pilot then threw down a rope for the mooring party to grab hold of. It was prudent to let the rope earth itself to the ground first, as too eager a lunge for it would result in an electric shock. When it drew closer to the ground party they could reach up for the guy-ropes attached to the bows and the stern. When it was close enough to the ground, they moved forward tugging on the ropes to ‘walk’ the airship into the shed. Handling on the ground could be a tricky business as an airship presented a sizeable bulk to the wind and was naturally buoyant in this element. When safely in the shed maintenance could be carried out by the riggers and mechanics, with their patches, rubber solution and dope.

  Take-off – the airship would be made positively buoyant so that it could be ‘walked’ out of the shed. Trim would be checked, the engine started, the order to, ‘Let go’ would be given and the craft would rise gently into the wind.

  Good Qualities – airships are economical, quiet and capacious. They can fly long distances without refuelling and are, despite the popular misconception, safe in which to fly. Most of the notorious accidents were due to design faults, the use of hydrogen, or poor weather forecasting. The only paying passengers ever to die in an airship accident were the thirteen souls who were lost in the Hindenburg.

  Bad Points – they are very slow, of very light construction and thereby prone to being flimsy. Large airships of the Zeppelin type are very expensive to construct. They are difficult to handle on the ground and need large hangars in order to protect them from the elements.

  Blimp – there are a number of theories regarding the origin of this word, but it would appear that it is onomatopoeic and can be traced specifically to 5 December 1915, when Lieutenant A.D. Cunningham, RNAS, playfully flicked a finger against the envelope of SS-12 at the Capel air station in Kent and then mimicked aloud the sound it had made. A young midshipman, Victor Goddard, repeated the tale to his fellow officers in the mess hall before lunch the same day. It is believed that by this route the word came into common usage.

  Gamma’s mishap of September 1912 is described on page 149. This contemporary press report captioning the photograph is something of an exaggeration.

  Appendix III

  ‘Air Battles of the Future’

  The following article appeared in the Daily Mail in October 1907 and was copied to other newspapers around the world:

  AIR BATTLES OF THE FUTURE.

  TERRIBLE POSSIBILITIES OF AERIAL WARFARE.

  By Dr Rudolf Martial, a Councillor of the German Government.

  The battle-airships possessed by Great Britain, France and Germany: Great Britain – Nulli Secundus, constructed at Aldershot; travelled on Saturday fifty miles, crossed London, was in the air 3–4 hours, and the highest speed attained in light air was at the rate of forty miles an hour. France – La Patrie; has manoeuvred over Paris, travelled through the air for 6 hours and 15 minutes, and covered forty miles. Her speed against wind was at the rate of eighteen miles an hour, Germany – The Gross and the Parseval, both constructed by German Army officers; each has manoeuvred over Berlin. The Gross is said to carry six men, searchlights, and wireless telegraphy instruments; she remained in the air 3 hours 50 minutes, and went against the wind at a speed equal to 12 miles an hour. Count Zeppelin’s large aluminium airship, which is also reported to have been bought by Germany, can carry thirty persons, and is said to be capable of travelling 528 miles. In the aerial war of the near future man will be staggered, not by the spectacle, but by the slaughter. For the spectator there will be little to see beyond a number of faint grey linear objects, like whetstones silhouetted against the sky. But each of these drab-coloured objects is an airship which can easily carry from ten to fifty torpedoes, weighing from 110lb to 165lb. The havoc wrought by a small fleet of Zeppelin airships would be frightful. It could pursue the fastest battleship and send it to the bottom. The battleship is at a terrible disadvantage: it is easily damaged from above; it has a speed of twenty-five knots, against a speed of nearly thirty knots possessed by its adversary. Pursue the comparison to questions of cost and of crew. La Patrie, costing £12,000, with a crew of three, and Count Zeppelin’s giant airship, costing £25,000, with a crew of six, are each capable of annihilating a battleship, value £2,000,000, with a crew of nearly 1000 men.

  Small flexible motor-airships, of so little bulk that they can be stowed away in a couple of carts, can easily be carried on a battleship and inflated on board with compressed gas from steel bottles. Thus the battle-airship will take its place with the heavy guns and the torpedoes as part of the equipment of a battleship. To a motor-airship, the North Sea or the Mediterranean is no more than a large pond. Count Zeppelin’s aluminium airship can travel 850 kilometres without taking in any benzine. The action of radius of Lebaudy’s Patrie, or of the Parseval motor-airship, both of which have a considerably smaller gas capacity, may be ‘estimated’ at from 225 kilometres to 250 kilometres. At its narrowest point the English Channel only measures 31 kilometres across and the distance from Nordholz to England is about 400 kilometres. With airfleets constructed upon Count Zeppelin’s system it would be possible to drive away from the North Sea all squadrons of the fleet which are not protected by battle-airships. An aerial fleet which, during the day, has helped to decide the issue of a battle near Sedan, can, the same evening or during the night, annihilate a battle-fleet in the English Channel, which is only 200 kilometres distant. The air-fleet which has been beaten in battle on land will be driven to sea by the enemy’s air-fleet. It will be put out of action by being prevented from taking in a fresh supply of benzine. A fleet so pursued would probably be fired upon by the victor, at the same time, from the land and from the sea. The most important principle of strategy and tactics will be – the attacking airship must be directly above its opponent, as, of course, it can only hit the enemy by letting fall torpedoes. According to an accomplished German authority on aeronautics it will never be possible – owing to the danger of an explosion – to use guns from the cars. This question brings us to a consideration of the fight between airship and airship, surely the most thrilling contest in which man could engage. The opposing airships will strive to rip up each other’s envelopes. This coup, bringing instant destruction upon the airship and its occupants, can be effected, of course, by piercing the thin gas-bladder with a sharp missile. There is another weapon. A missile charged with phosphorus solution or carbonic bisulphide would explode the gas-envelope and so destroy the airship. In an aerial battle the Zeppelin airship, with its aluminium envelope, will be a formidable foe. Not only would it be much easier to rip up the gas-bladder of the Patrie, or any other Lebaudy airship, with a sharp object, than it is the aluminium envelope of the Zeppelin airship, but in the event of a collision between the two types, the semi-flexible, or flexible o
ne, would sink on account of the damage done to its air-bladder. An especially important mission of the motor-airship will be the laying of mines near the enemy’s harbours by night, along the enemy’s coast, or directly in the midst of the enemy’s fleet. The Zeppelin motor-airship is even able to descend upon the surface of the water. On account of its large tonnage it is especially adapted for the laying of mines. With a dozen such enormous airships it would be possible to lay mines in a few hours time, and so completely block up the mouth of the Thames or the Elbe.

  (Museum of Army Flying)

  Appendix IV

  The Clément-Bayard Airship

  The War Office Tests:

  1. The balloon to carry a crew of six, together with wireless telegraph apparatus up to 300lb, and petrol and ballast together making up a total weight of not less than one-fourth of the full total lift.

  2. The balloon to have two similar engines, of equal horsepower, all parts of which are interchangeable. Either engine independently or both together to be used at will in working propellers.

  3. The ballonet capacity to be one-fourth of the total capacity of the balloon.

  4. The balloon to be of the non-rigid or semi-rigid type.

  5. The balloon to be portable – ie, to be capable of being taken to pieces easily when deflated and packed on wagons for land transport.

  6. The balloon to have anchor ropes and guiding ropes, and to be capable of being taken in or out of its shed by not more than thirty men.

  7. The balloon to be capable of anchoring in the open for twenty-four hours, in moderate winds, up to 20 miles an hour.

  8. The stability and steering capability of the balloon must be satisfactory.

  9. The balloon not to lose, by leakage, more than one-hundredth part of its capacity for every day of twenty-four hours.

  10. The balloon must be capable of rising 6,000ft. with its full crew and wireless apparatus, and must then have in hand fuel sufficient for three hours’ run at full speed, together with one-fifth of the original complement of ballast.

  11. The balloon must complete a triangular course of 100 miles each side, or 300 miles, in not more than fourteen hours, travelling fully equipped. For four hours of this journey the height above sea level not to be less than 3,000ft. Any suitable day may be chosen.

  12. The speed of the balloon on a measured course of five miles with and against the wind (due allowance being made for the velocity of the wind) shall not be less than thirty-two statute miles an hour.1

  Appendix V

  The Lebaudy Airship of 1910

  MORNING POST NATIONAL FUND AIRSHIP:

  Although it is hoped that the airship will not be out of commission more than a month, it was exceedingly unfortunate that disaster should have fallen upon the Morning Post dirigible after making such a splendid journey from France. We were just able to record in our last issue, very briefly, particulars of this voyage, and we now give them in fuller detail. Carrying eight persons on board, including M Julliot, who was responsible for the design, M Capazza, the chief pilot, M Leon Berthe, second pilot, MM De Brabant, Boutteville and Lucas, engineers, Major Sir Alexander Bannerman, and the representative of the Morning Post, Mr H. Warner Allen, the airship rose from her shed at Moisson at 10 o’clock on Wednesday of last week, and, during the first stage of the journey, followed the course of the Seine to Rouen, where the river was left, and the course continued straight on to St. Valery en Caux on the French coast. This point was passed at 12 o’clock exactly, and with the two 120 hp Panhard engines working steadily, the English coast was soon sighted and the captive balloon at Brighton guided the dirigible on her way. The cross-Channel trip actually occupied two hours eighteen minutes, and an hour and ten minutes later, at 3.28 pm, the airship was over Aldershot. The full journey of 197 miles, from Moisson to Aldershot, having occupied five hours twenty-eight minutes, the speed working out to about 36 miles an hour, which, considering the adverse wind conditions met with during part of the journey, was very satisfactory. When the airship arrived at Aldershot she was at a height of 1,600 feet, and the landing operations were rendered somewhat difficult by a 25 miles per hour wind which was blowing, and she had therefore to tack several times before she was finally got into position. However, this was eventually accomplished and then the work of getting her into the shed was started. Three-quarters of the envelope had already disappeared inside when the stern of the ship was seen to be rising, and, before steps could be taken to rectify matters, a projecting beam caught the fabric and tore a large hole in it. This allowed the gas to escape very rapidly and the fabric fell like a great yellow pall over the car. Several of the men who were handling the dirigible were covered by the fabric, but fortunately no one was injured. It is stated the rent will take about a month to repair. The car was a little strained through falling over on its side when the envelope collapsed and the propeller also was damaged, but this is not a very serious matter. During the journey 528lbs of ballast were used, sometimes in the form of water, sometimes in the form of petrol. During the journey 400 litres of petrol were used by the engines, and on landing there were about 200 litres in the tanks and 990lbs of petrol was still held in reserve as ballast, with 880lbs of water. The highest altitude reached during the trip was 2,120 feet, but during the cross-Channel trip the altitude was 200 feet.1

  The Morning Post Lebaudy departs on 26 October 1910.

  Appendix VI

  The British Army – Early Heavier-than-Air Craft

  On 16 October 1908, British Army Aeroplane No 1, piloted by Samuel Cody, made its first short flight from Farnborough. This was the first officially recognised aeroplane flight in Great Britain. The aircraft was a single engine biplane of fragile aspect. Two pusher propellers were linked to the 50 hp Antoinette power unit by drive chains. The pilot sat with his back to the engine in a triangular canvas pram, manipulating a control wheel of the type normally associated with a tram.

  Despite opposition from some in high quarters, army fixed-wing aviation slowly but steadily began to make its mark, another significant step taking place almost two years later. Two Bristol Boxkites were provided by the British & Colonial Aeroplane Company for use during the army annual manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain. On 21 September 1910, Captain Bertram Dickson, who had recently left the Royal Field Artillery, demonstrated the flying and reconnaissance capabilities of his Bristol Boxkite, No 9. Later the same day he was joined by Lancelot Gibbs, flying his own ‘clipped-wing racing Farman’. Five days later a wireless transmission was made from the air to a portable station on the ground at Larkhill using the other Boxkite, No 8, flown by Robert Loraine.

  Volunteer pilots for the Air Battalion had to learn to fly at their own expense and, if successful, were reimbursed £75 by the government. One officer, Lieutenant R.A. Cammell, RE, even brought his own aircraft, a Blériot XXI monoplane, which was also used in early wireless experiments in June 1911 and was acquired for the Air Battalion in August, being given the serial number B2. Not only officers became pilots, as on 4 June 1912, Corporal Frank Ridd became the first NCO to gain a Royal Aero Club ‘ticket’, as the flying certificate was commonly known.

  Appendix VII

  The Origins of Fixed-wing Aviation in the Royal Navy

  The first official mention of aviation in the Royal Navy goes as far back as July 1908, when it was proposed that the new post of Naval Air Assistant should be established at the Admiralty. This was despite a very brusque dismissal given to the Wright brothers the previous year; ‘Their Lordships are of the opinion that aeroplanes would not be of any practical use to the Naval Service.’ A number of young and ambitious naval officers seized the opportunity to become involved with this new branch. Many served with distinction in the First World War and achieved high rank in the Royal Navy or the Royal Air Force.

  The story of HMA No 1 is told in the main text; meanwhile, heavier-than-air aircraft were making progress. The first Royal Naval officer to learn to fly was Lieutenant G.C. Colmore, who did so at his o
wn expense, gaining his Royal Aero Club Aviator’s Certificate (No 15) at Eastchurch on 21 June 1910, flying a Short biplane. He was followed early in 1911 by the first four naval officers to be selected for flying instruction. The Admiralty had been made a very generous offer by F.K. McClean (who himself qualified for his Royal Aero Club ‘ticket’ No 21 in September 1910) that he would pay for the training at Eastchurch and lend two of his aircraft for the purpose. The instructor, G.B. Cockburn, who held Certificate No 5, also provided his services free of charge. The only fees paid by the Admiralty were £20 per officer paid to Short Brothers for six months’ technical instruction. The four officers were Lieutenants Samson, Longmore, Gregory, (all RN) and Gerrard (RMLI). They were awarded Certificates 71 and 72 (on 25 April), 75 and 76 (on 2 May).

  The Mayfly’s misfortune was soon to be offset by two very important events in the story of British naval aviation; the first (relatively) successful ascent from water by a British seaplane on 18 November 1911 by Commander Oliver Schwann flying an Avro Type D biplane at Barrow-in-Furness. The expenses for this effort were funded by a syndicate comprised of Schwann, Captain Sueter, Commander Masterman, Flight Lieutenant Boothby, Engineer Lieutenant Randall and Mrs Sueter. The second was on 12 January 1912; the first takeoff from the deck of a British warship. This was accomplished by Lieutenant Charles Rumney Samson in a Short S.38. He flew from an improvised platform on the foredeck of HMS Africa, and then anchored in the Medway off Sheerness, landing safely at Eastchurch. A few months later, on 2 May, came the first takeoff from a ship under way, again by Samson with a Short S.38. The ship was HMS Hibernia and the location Weymouth Bay. Both Africa and Hibernia were King Edward Class battleships.

  Further organisational progress was made on 13 May 1912 with the formation of the Royal Flying Corps, which consisted of separate Naval and Military Wings. The Naval Wing was commanded by Samson. In the words of the Military Wing’s CO, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Sykes; ‘Very early, a rift appeared between the Naval and Military wing, which gradually widened until two rival bodies emerged, competing against each other for men and material.’ In September 1912, the Admiralty set up an Air Department to administer the Naval Wing; by the end of that year it comprised sixteen aircraft, of which three were ‘hydro-aeroplanes’. The term seaplane was not introduced until the following year. Progress was swift; by 1913 experiments in bomb dropping, spotting submarines, night flying and wireless telegraphy took place; an aircraft with wings which could be folded for easier stowage on board ship was developed (the Short Folder); naval air stations were established at the Isle of Grain, Calshot, Cromarty, Felixstowe and Great Yarmouth; naval aircraft took part in fleet manoeuvres; on 28 July 1913 the Caudron G.II biplane amphibian, serial No 55, was flown off the temporarily converted cruiser, HMS Hermes, by Flight Lieutenant F.W. Bowhill, the first naval aeroplane to fly from a ship specifically equipped to operate them.