The Latest Rigid Airship

Abstract

STRUCTURALLY the Akron (Z.R.S 4) may be said to constitute a compromise between standard Zeppelin practice and the innovations introduced by Colonel Richmond in R.101. The self‐supporting “space” type of main transverse frame has been adopted, but intermediate frames between have been incorporated. There are also a much larger number of longitudinal members—36 along the greater part of the length of the hull, as compared with only 14 in R.101. These features together result in a considerable reduction in the unsupported areas of outer cover, the largest of these being about 25 ft. by 12 ft., which has made attachment a more simple, and presumably more satisfactory, matter than was the case in R.100 or R.101. To complete the comparison with recent British practice, it may be recalled that R.100 has only 16 main longitudinal, with no intermediate, members, and 15 transverse frames—the same number as R.101—also without intermediate frames, but of the braced type. A return to Zeppelin methods in the use of intermediate transverse frames and longitudinal members therefore characterises the Akron in comparison with both British airships.