{"id":110,"date":"2016-06-21T19:28:02","date_gmt":"2016-06-21T23:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/?page_id=110"},"modified":"2020-10-17T19:21:02","modified_gmt":"2020-10-17T23:21:02","slug":"empire-of-the-air","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/?page_id=110","title":{"rendered":"Empire of the Air"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>The British were early pioneers in LTA, then developed\u00a0anti-sub non-rigids extensively during WWI. Most advanced of these was the <em>North Sea<\/em> type (seen here),<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-111 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/NS-early-Copy-300x177.jpg\" alt=\"NS-early - Copy\" width=\"300\" height=\"177\" srcset=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/NS-early-Copy-300x177.jpg 300w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/NS-early-Copy.jpg 441w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/> carrying depth bombs and wireless. Its envelope housed the engines&#8217; gasoline\u00a0tanks safely in the airless hydrogen, as well as a ladder-equipped tunnel which allowed manning the topside machine gun. Built as a stopgap awaiting rigids, it was a most capable airship on its own right. Actual film of these pioneers is quite rare, but we have included all footage\u00a0we could find\u00a0 in our the 1st chapter of our DVD series,<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"http:\/\/airshiphistory.com\/wp\/125-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;The Early Days.&#8221;<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div>Uneven development of British rigid types meant few saw service against German submarines before the Armistice, but their postwar LTA achievements were the envy of the rigids-wannabees\u00a0in the United States. \u00a0 The successful Atlantic criss-crossing by the British R.34 crew in 1919 (click on video) included two Americans. Zackary Lansdowne of the US Navy, and William Helmsley of the US Army, flew over and back, respectively.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hvup77Zo0Uw?rel=0\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\">After the R34, t<span style=\"display: inline !important; float: none; background-color: #ffffff; color: #191e23; cursor: text; font-family: 'Noto Serif'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;\">he future seemed bright with continued British innovation, including airplane-carrying experiments (photo, bottom).<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>C.P. Hall wrote in The Noon Balloon issue #127:<br \/>\n&#8220;In 1919 the Royal Navy\u2019s in-house design team had completed two copies of 1915 vintage Schutte \u2013 Lanz model airships (R.31, photo, &amp; R.32) <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4020 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC01494-300x202.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"202\" srcset=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC01494-300x202.jpg 300w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC01494-1024x691.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC01494.jpg 1089w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>and two copies of a 1916 vintage Zeppelin (R.33 &amp; R.34) brought down almost intact while raiding London.<\/p>\n<p>All of these were, by 1919 German standards, obsolete. On their drawing board was a catch-up-in-one-magnificent-leap design (R.38) based upon their knowledge \/ experience of submarine design and copying Zeppelin wreckage. The Royal Navy (RN) arranged the nationalization of the Short Bros. construction works, which was renamed the Royal Airship Works (RAW), in which to build the R.38. It was at that moment that the wartime river of money began to shrink into a trickle.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4021 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/20171021_120142-300x264.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/20171021_120142-300x264.jpg 300w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/20171021_120142.jpg 920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><br \/>\nIn 1919, after R.33 &amp; R.34, both of the remaining private airship contractors, building on a cost-plus basis, had their contracts cancelled, and were paid off for work completed. The RAW was allowed to proceed with R.37. The R.38 was also allowed to proceed at RAW after the U. S. Navy agreed to buy it. In 1919, the RAF took over RAW and the Naval design team.<br \/>\nIn 1920, only R.32 and R.33 were operated on various projects.<\/p>\n<p>Vickers R. 80 had been ordered at a fixed price during the war. R.80 was completed, test flown, and damaged. It returned to its builder\u2019s hangar for repair and modification.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4022 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/876961-300x236.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"236\" srcset=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/876961-300x236.jpg 300w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/876961.jpg 470w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In the fourth calendar quarter of 1920, Sir Frederick Sykes, Controller-General of Civil Aviation offered to take the remaining rigid airships into his department rather than see them scrapped. The apparent plan was:<br \/>\n1) Demonstrate the practical, cost-saving utility of operating a commercial airship from a mooring mast.<br \/>\n2) Complete R.36 as a demonstration commercial airship.<br \/>\n3) Sell these proven successful airships to a private operator for whatever they would fetch creating a private rudimentary airship service.<\/p>\n<p>The Pulham Air Station became \u201cCivil Aviation Airship Station, Pulham,\u201d the base of operations. Regrettably, the largest Pulham hangar was occupied by two surrendered German naval zeppelins, L64 &amp; L71, ill-suited for any commercial purpose. The other shed could not house two airships 24 meters in maximum diameter.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4023\" src=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/18-300x232.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"232\" srcset=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/18-300x232.jpg 300w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/18.jpg 849w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Over the winter of 1920, the wartime Vickers experimental mooring mast was fitted with a mooring masthead designed by G. H. Scott. R.33 was fitted with a mooring attachment of his design as well. (photo)<\/p>\n<p>Wm. Beardmore &amp; Co. received plans from the RAW for a passenger\u2019s compartment and a contract to finish R.36 as a commercial airship.<\/p>\n<p>In his autobiography Sir Frederick Sykes says nothing about this attempt at LTA civil aviation, however, under the sub-heading XIII: A LOST OPPORTUNITY, in the middle of a three quarter page long paragraph, he blurts out,<br \/>\n\u201cAt the end of 1920, owing to the inelastic nature of Treasury rules, perhaps necessary in ordinary times, but terribly crippling to the development of new enterprises in emergency, I had to return a considerable sum of money budgeted for civil aviation on the excuse that it had been earmarked for ground aviation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Apparently then the Sykes commercial experimental program began 1921 with less funds available than when it was conceived. R.33 was first to fly. It was brought out and either moored to the Pulham mast, or flying, for more than a month. On April 1, 1921 R.36 made it first flight from Beardmores.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4024 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/R-36-300x98.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"98\" srcset=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/R-36-300x98.jpg 300w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/R-36.jpg 853w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>R.33 was hangered at Pulham and R.36 took its place at the Pulham mast. Soon after R.36 suffered a fin failure in flight and returned to Pulham.\u00a0 R.36 was repaired, undertook further flights, then suffered serious damage while attempting to moor to the mast. R.36 was held on the ground in worsening weather while L64 was dis-assembled and removed from the hangar to make room. R.36 was further damaged entering the hangar and there were no funds for repairs. No private interests came forward. The program was closed down and the ships declared surplus.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4025 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC00351-300x220.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"220\" srcset=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC00351-300x220.jpg 300w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC00351-1024x752.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC00351-1536x1128.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC00351-2048x1504.jpg 2048w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC00351-1200x881.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><br \/>\nShortly thereafter the R.38 (photo) tore itself in two while maneuvering, crashed and burned with heavy loss of life, before it was accepted by the USN. This seemed to be a \u201cdouble tap\u201d to British airship development in the third calendar quarter of 1921.<\/p>\n<p>G. H. Scott and V. C. Richmond were retained as airship experts in the Civil Aviation Department of the Air Ministry. Each man would present a paper to the Royal Aeronautical Society (R. Aero S.) before the end of 1921. Richmond\u2019s topic was a \u201cColonial Airship Service\u201d organization. As for airships specifically, he was favorable toward the Zeppelin type; however, he felt the duralumin-framed SL.23 type was worth looking into. \u201cThe Present State of Airship Development\u201d was Scott\u2019s description of the progress made, and problems solved regarding airship structures, and those remaining to be solved. His specific recommendation was to build a Zeppelin-type ship of 2,500,000 cubic feet capacity which would prove the type and could fly experimentally to Egypt and return. Both men stated that R.38 was a ship specifically designed for extreme performance. A commercial craft would be more robust. Richmond went so far as to say any commercial airship would be more vigorously tested than that which broke R.38 before being allowed to carry passengers. Both papers were applauded; no action was taken.<\/p>\n<p>Early in 1922 Charles Dennistoun Burney, Commander RN (ret.), offered the first draft of his airship service proposal (aka The Burney Scheme) to the Air Ministry. His first fleshed-out airship proposal seems to have been a 5.0 million cubic foot zeppelin-style structure roughed out for him by former Vickers Chief Airship Designer H. B. Pratt. An early Burney Scheme criteria was that the first ship must be an airliner, not a test vessel or prototype.<\/p>\n<p>Following the RN &amp; RAF pro forma inquiries into the R.38 disaster, the Air Ministry formed an Accidents Investigation Sub-Committee in January, 1922. The \u201cReport on the Accident to H. M. Airship R.38 R &amp; M 775 (A.2)\u201d was dated March, 1922. One conclusion was that no meaningful calculation of aerodynamic stress was made for the design of R.38. It was directed that a new panel of \u2018experts\u2019 study the problems and methods of calculating the effects of such stresses in rigid airship structures.<\/p>\n<p>The Panel consisted of two academics without airship experience, Major G. H. Scott, and a token American from the USN Construction Corps who was recalled to the USA &#8211; and not replaced &#8211; before he could contribute. The Panel concluded that the empirically developed zeppelin-type structure, with its alternating \u2018main\u2019 and \u2018intermediate\u2019 frames, both transverse and longitudinal, with a keel of ambiguous strength and purposes, was too complex. Their individual components were judged too weak for strength to be calculated in the face of multiple aerodynamic situations. A simplified, keel-less, symmetrical-in-cross-section was \u2018suggested,\u2019 all of which is found in \u201cReport of the Airship Stressing Panel R &amp; M 800\u201d dated August, 1922. This publication coincided with the Coalition Government concluding that it would further study the Burney Scheme while giving is a \u2018soft thumbs down\u2019 as to any further action.<\/p>\n<p>At year\u2019s end a national election brought a Conservative Party government to power; Dennis Burney was elected to Parliament, and the First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty, decided that the moment had come to attempt to reclaim Naval Aviation from the RAF. The Burney Scheme would receive a more welcome political hearing, however; Burney\u2019s naval background, and the perceived naval value of airships would make for a bone of contention between the services. These related issues were similarly dealt with and thrashed out in the first six months of 1923.<br \/>\nIn June, 1923 an International Air Congress was held in London. The morning of June 29, G. H. Scott presented a paper, \u201cThe Commercial Aspects of Airship Transport.\u201d His primary focus was corporate and physical plant organization, including estimated cost. His comments regarding actual airships were brief; however, he seemed to be advocating Zeppelin-type craft in spite of being a Stressing Panel principal?!<br \/>\nThat afternoon V. C. Richmond presented a paper, \u201cThe Hulls of Rigid Airships.\u201d This paper advocated and embellished the findings and recommendations put forth in the \u201cReport of the Airship Stressing Panel.\u201d The recorded comments amended to the record of this presentation reveals that the airship advocacy establishment was out in force, including Burney and the two academics. All praised the advancements found in Richmond\u2019s paper and the solutions to the problems now addressed. One of the academics offered a back-of-the-hand \u2018compliment\u2019 to Scott and his paper as well.<\/p>\n<p>It is submitted that this is the first revelation of the \u2018point of inflection\u2019 for British airship development. The successful organization for airship development in Britain was Vickers. When the RN tried to displace Vickers, all that came of it were three contractors who could build to order and an RCNC \u2018design\u2019 team that could modify, copy, and extrapolate with, to be generous, minimal success. The next month would reveal that Vickers would be lead private contractor. Its designer would be handicapped with Air Ministry sponsored \u2018academics\u2019 nudging his left hand while a list of dos-and-don\u2019ts weighing as much as a brick was tied to his right. That this list brick had \u2018official,\u2019 if uncodified, status in 1923 was made plain in August, when Richmond and Scott began grinding out joint-patent applications conforming to R &amp; M 800 \u2018suggestions\u2019. This was six months before an election brought the first Labour government into office. It was also months before anyone \u2018socialized\u2019 the project, conceived the designations R.100 &amp; R.101, and carved in stone the R &amp; M 800 criteria in the \u201cReport of the Airworthiness of Airships Panel R &amp; M 970\u201d, October 1924.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>C P Hall concludes, &#8220;As I see it, the problem was that changing administrations and organizations tended to start from wherever the airship program was, and add to it, rather than reviewing what had come before. I submit that the critical point was mid-year 1923, when the Air Ministry felt the need to be the home base if airships were to be developed. The way to make this happen was to sell the politicians on the idea that the study by their experts had found the errors in previous development, which would not be repeated. The issue thus resolved, and subsequent review was not encouraged, as new revelation might not support this basic premise. Thus was R.101 doomed to failure of some sort before it was even a glimmer of an idea in Lord Thomson\u2019s eye. &#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-115 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/eb-na-331-2-0006-Copy-220x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"220\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/eb-na-331-2-0006-Copy-220x300.jpg 220w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/eb-na-331-2-0006-Copy.jpg 448w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 220px) 85vw, 220px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>We fast-forward through Parliament power\u00a0flip-flops that allowed UK\u2019s extensive WWI LTA bases and facilities to first atrophy, then to undertake construction of\u00a0 the largest rigids yet built. Britain\u2019s R-100 had successfully operated to, from and about Canada using a mooring tower erected in Montreal.\u00a0 The \u201cEmpire of the Air\u201d was slowly beginning to\u00a0take shape before the worldwide\u00a0Depression struck. Besides Canada, mooring mast towers similar to the one in Ismailia, Egypt\u00a0(seen\u00a0below courtesy Airship Heritage Trust) could have been erected in Hong Kong, Singapore, Darwin, Wellington and Sydney. The tower in Karachi was supplemented with a large hangar.<\/div>\n<div>British airship newsreel footage is on average much more expensive than what might appear in TV documentaries, but we have assembled about all the known affordable, unedited footage on our silent DVD, <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"http:\/\/airshiphistory.com\/wp\/british-airships\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;British Airships.&#8221;<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-126 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Ismal-mast-251x300.jpg\" alt=\"Ismal mast\" width=\"251\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Ismal-mast-251x300.jpg 251w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Ismal-mast-857x1024.jpg 857w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Ismal-mast-1200x1434.jpg 1200w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Ismal-mast.jpg 1530w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 251px) 85vw, 251px\" \/><\/div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div>With a delayed departure or slightly better weather,\u00a0the R-101 likely could have refueled in Ismailia and delivered Lord Thomson to Karachi in 1930,\u00a0a step toward\u00a0to his possibly\u00a0becoming\u00a0Viceroy of India.\u00a0 Had she returned from her\u00a0first trip, R-101 had many improvements awaiting her. These included hydrogen-consuming engines for her generators (to recover energy from otherwise vented lift) and to compensate for diesel fuel weight that was consumed.\u00a0 R-101\u2019s original construction had fallen short of its target lift, so another bay\u00a0had been\u00a0added (compare before and after, below).<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-128 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/R101-compare-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"R101-compare\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/R101-compare-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/R101-compare-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/R101-compare.jpg 799w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/div>\n<div>\u00a0Eventually one more cell and bay could have been added for optimal lift. As the original railroad-locomotive diesel engines wore out, it is logical to assume more suitable flying-weight diesels would have been substituted in modernized engine cars.\u00a0Her poor outer cover would have been changed, and\u00a0the chafing, leaky cells could have been replaced with the superior gelatine-latex developed by G\/Y-Zep. R-101\u2019s more corrosion-resistant construction would make\u00a0her more likely to have survived for more than ten years.<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div>Captain J. A. Sinclair of the Royal Air Force spoke for the silent minority who still believed in the British rigids when he wrote \u201cAirships \u2013 Their Cost and Vulnerability\u201d for THE AEROPLANE, published days after USS <em>Macon\u2019s<\/em> loss,\u00a0in February 1935:<br \/>\n<em>\u201cLet it never be forgotten that for an average cost of 4s 10d. per mile, British airships gave security to surface vessels at a time when this country was almost beaten to her knees by the submarine. Today our 80,000 miles of trade routes lie unprotected, and yet the submarine has become a more powerful and destructive weapon than she was 17 years ago\u2026 I do not suggest for one moment that the airship cannot be destroyed. Such a craft does not exist. But, as I have already said, much of her vulnerability is mythical. She can be destroyed by gunfire, and she might be bombed. On the other hand, the very, very expensive, and doubtfully efficient aircraft carrier, so necessary to the heavier-than-air machine, can be sunk by gunfire, mined, torpedoed and bombed.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-130 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Brits-Barrage-Copy-300x243.jpg\" alt=\"Brits-Barrage - Copy\" width=\"300\" height=\"243\" srcset=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Brits-Barrage-Copy-300x243.jpg 300w, http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Brits-Barrage-Copy.jpg 414w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div>In 1939, with Cardington\u2019s hydrogen facilities filling only barrage balloons (right) and paratrooper training balloons, more than a few Englishmen sorely missed the ASW airships that had saved the day in the previous war. The 2 NOV 39 issue of the British FLIGHT laments:<\/div>\n<div><em>The same situation has arisen again. One, and probably two, of the German pocket battleships\u2026 are now at large. They have been raiding in the Atlantic and there are surmises that one of them may have rounded the Cape into the Indian Ocean, the scene of the <\/em>Emden\u2019s<em> exploits. If the Navy now possessed rigid airships which could carry aeroplanes, the task of hunting for the raiders ought to be much simpler than it actually is\u2026 From those [mooring mast] bases it would be possible to patrol most of the trade routes in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans with the prospect of speedy success and at much less cost than is involved by the use of carriers. Of course the appropriate warships would have to be brought up to destroy the raiders when found, but the first and most difficult problem is to find them.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/airshiphistory.com\/wp\/the-american-zeppelins\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(Click here for a short video summary of our second DVD chapter.)<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Click on the play icon &gt; for a one-minute video of what might have been\u00a0 -had R-101 just left a half-hour later! (Sound on.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oE5Y8vdOars?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"http:\/\/airshiphistory.com\/wp\/zrs-hardcover-novel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u201cZRS,\u201d<\/a><\/span> the older British dirigibles have been converted into hospital ships, in the manner of some of their older luxury sea going ocean liners. Common enemies have encouraged re-establishment of that airshipmen\u2019s bond from the Great War, the \u201cEmpire of the Air\u201d having undoubtedly interfaced with the Americans. The Australians have a liaison officer sent to serve with the American\u00a0flying carrier\u00a0USS <em>Long Island<\/em>,\u00a0operating from Darwin.<\/p>\n<p>But again, we&#8217;re ahead of ourselves, we&#8217;re not explaining the background of the story. How did the Americans come to fly Zeppelins, let alone\u00a0 build flying aircraft carriers?<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div>Read on \u00a0to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/?page_id=167\"> American Zeppelins\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Purchase the silent DVD <a href=\"http:\/\/airshiphistory.com\/wp\/british-airships\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#8220;British Airships&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Back to<a href=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/?page_id=64\"> Introduction &amp; Background<\/a><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Back to<a href=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\"> Home Page<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The British were early pioneers in LTA, then developed\u00a0anti-sub non-rigids extensively during WWI. Most advanced of these was the North Sea type (seen here), carrying depth bombs and wireless. Its envelope housed the engines&#8217; gasoline\u00a0tanks safely in the airless hydrogen, as well as a ladder-equipped tunnel which allowed manning the topside machine gun. Built as &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/?page_id=110\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Empire of the Air&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-110","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110"}],"version-history":[{"count":65,"href":"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4027,"href":"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110\/revisions\/4027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zrsthemovie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}