Building the last great airship.

It is in 1930's propaganda style German, but there are some great images and film of construction details.

 

Released a year after the Hindenburg disaster, this film documents the construction process of the next zeppelin, the LZ 130. At this stage seen in the film, she was to have been nearly identical to the LZ 129 (Hindenburg), with only a small number of minor improvements (notably, her tail fins were 60 centimeters shorter in addition to some slight changes elsewhere). Later redesigned with new passenger decks and tractor-type engine cars designed for helium, the LZ 130, named the Graf Zeppelin (II), would ultimately be the last zeppelin ever flown.

 

Enjoy
Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced. 

KJ

 

An aerial view of a portion of the Grand Fleet at anchor in the Firth of Forth looking at the iconic rail bridge, taken from the British Airship R.9.

Secrets of the L49

Found this fascinating description of the interior of the downed German airship L49.

Enjoy
Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

From the ‘Nottingham Evening Post,’ 1st November 1917.


In the early hours of 20th October 1917, disorientated, suffering from airsickness, with only two engines working and attacked by Nieuports of Escadrille N.152, Zeppelin L49 came down in France.

It was examined in great detail by the British and French and an account of an inspection by an American “air expert” was published on 1st November 1917.

SECRETS OF THE L49.

FINDINGS OF AN AMERICAN EXPERT.

FROZEN WATER BALLAST.

An air expert of the Chicago Daily News, who visited the wrecked Zeppelin at Bourbonne-les-Bains, has communicated the following account of his impressions to the Press Association’s correspondent.

“Having just visited Zeppelin L49, which fell five kilometres from here, I have been struck by a number of facts. In the tanks there was still a large amount of petrol. The alcoholised water used for fluid ballast was frozen in the reservoirs, and in the 19 balloons of goldbeaters’ skin there was a great lack of gas. The only conclusion to be drawn from these facts was that the Zeppelin’s descent was caused by want of gas, and the impossibility of dropping ballast owing to the freezing of the water.

“Two meteorological authorities have informed me that the Zeppelin’s commander was, in all probability, deceived by the heavy wind like a mistral, which was more violent at the higher than at the lower altitudes. The highest altitude shown by the instruments was 7,000 metres, and rising to this height no doubt resulted in loss of hydrogen, and caused the liquid ballast to freeze. After descending to a lower altitude the commander was unable to reduce his ballast but went on in the hope of reaching Germany. French fighting machines, however, forced him to land. Hoping to set his machine on fire, the commander fired his pistol at the Zeppelin until stopped by a French sentinel. Fortunately he did not succeed. His only remark was ‘As you please, but I thought I had the right to destroy my machine when I surrendered.’

“COMFORTLESS CONVEYANCE.

“I went all over the captured airship from the turret platform to the cars. In the wireless telegraphy compartment I found some dry biscuits marked ‘Hanover,’ but was afraid to taste them for fear of poison.

“After all I had heard of Zeppelin comfort, I was surprised not to find much. On the contrary, I should not care to pass a night in one, even for the pleasure of bombing Berlin. The means of communication in the interior of the envelope consisted of an aluminium bridge 4½ inches wide of very fragile construction made of small pieces of aluminium and thin wood, with wire here and there to assist the passenger in keeping his balance. The sides of the bridge were merely waterproofed cloth – nothing else between the passenger and the ground beneath, but all, perhaps, that was necessary. But, still, I confess to being somewhat surprised at the makeshift appearance of the construction and workmanship, of which any English or French workman would have been ashamed.

“One notable exception, however, was the wireless room and installation, which closely resembled that of a transatlantic line of the latest type. According to a French expert who was sent to examine the apparatus, it included several new features of some importance. He assured me that in spite of the operator’s attempt to destroy the machinery before abandoning the ship, it would be possible to reconstruct the apparatus completely,

“Forward of the wireless room, the roomy bridge on the control station was furnished with a fibre mat, and with thick glass wind-shields on all sides. On the right and in the centre were two wheels for the elevating and directing rudders respectively, like those on a small motor yacht. A chart table stood on the right. Square stools, with rounded corners, made of thin wood, were used here elsewhere. They were so lightly made that when a French officer stood on one in order to reach the envelope it collapsed.

“IN THE ENGINE-ROOM.

“Aft of the wireless room stands the engine-room, where the largest of the five motors actuates the direct drive propeller. This is reached by a ladder which leads to a narrow path, 500 or 600 feet long, within the envelope. On the engine-room floor there was a folded parachute, which looked as though the engineer wore it attached to his shoulders until the moment when the commander decided to surrender.

“From this main motor-room, where the engine is twice the power of the others, I walked inside the envelope along a frail, narrow path of little sticks mounted on aluminium to a point where two diverging paths led to the nacelles.


“On the way I passed a tube of balloon cloth, enclosing an extremely light aluminium ladder, with rungs as far apart as possible, and leading to this was a wooden ladder reminiscent of those used for toy dog performances, but probably much less strong. I climbed uncertainly some 40 rungs to the top of the envelope, where was a small gun platform for two men and machine guns. I noticed here that the top of the envelope was almost white, shading gradually into black towards the lowest part.

“The aft nacelles, one on each side, were reached by ladders about eight feet long leading down from the interior of the envelope. Each of these contain two motors driving a single propeller – two motors being employed so that only one may be used on each side if it is desired to economise fuel.

“Inside the envelope are 19 balloons of goldbeaters’ skin, with smaller balloons built into them for the purpose of taking any overflow of gas, or if required they can be inflated by means of valves which are controlled from the navigation bridge forward.

“The envelope also contains water tanks of canvas, with a capacity of two hundred litres each, evenly distributed. This water ballast can also be controlled from the bridge. There are besides 16 petrol tanks of very solid construction, so arranged that any motor can be fed from any one tank. The rest of the contents include some spare parts, hammocks for the crew, which were probably not much used this last journey, and the aluminium framework that gives the envelope its shape.”
 
Image: 'The Sphere,' 3rd November 1917.

Fill 'er up!

This photo shows the partially inflated gas bags of the British R33.

 From FB user Rick Zitarosa: "Gas lines at Lakehurst could provide 100,000 cubic feet per hour at 1-inch of pressure. Weather was a factor on working conditions and while the wartime-size ships could be inflated in a day or two Harold Dick advises that the inflation of the LZ129 commenced in mid January and took over 2 weeks. A critical juncture in the birth/life of a ship because in addition to having the riggers moving about attending to snags/folds/possible tears it was also necessary to ensure even inflation of adjacent cells and the proper addition and movement of sandbags, ballast, etc as the ship became buoyant."

Of course our ship, the HMAS Velvet Brush is inflated with steam, so while it wouldn't be quite so dangerous it would have been very hot!

The picture was posted on the awesome FB group Airships, Dirigibles and Zeppelins
There is an amazing collection of photos and expertise in that group.
Highly recommended is you are looking for an almost daily hit of Airship Wonderfulness.

Thanks for reading.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced.
KJ

Splendid she must be!

"How time flies when you are having fun."
Or conversely...
"Life is what happens when you have other plans."

This is the final post in my Practical Airship Design series, which I started way back in November of 2012, 5 years ago!

You can read that initial post and start the series here.

According to the "Contents and Prospectus" this post should have been:

"In conclusion, our Captain has ordered that she must, in addition to being one of the most technologically advanced airships of the age, be one of the most "Splendid"(tm) and this post will attempt to grant his wishes to the best of this poor flight engineer's ability."

Alas, I never got around to writing that post and cannot at the moment remember what I had intended to cover...

However, I think this series does need a formal conclusion, so if you have landed here please stay with me for a bit.

Like any good fictional tale, the action does not take place in isolation from the world around it.  Fictional tales always have a framework that supports the story. For speculative fiction like Steampunk, that framework/world may or may not bear much of a resemblance to the real one. The world of our Role Play group, "The Airship's Mess Deck", is no exception. The world in which we traveled, on the experimental airship the Velvet Brush which is the subject of this series, was similar to the real world physically but its technical and political history was slightly different.

As I mentioned in the first post we tried to limit the fantastical to keep the world realistic, with only a few key changes to make it interesting. Authors are allowed to create any kind of world they like in which to place their tales, but in the case of our Role Playing, we consciously decided to make our shared world a parallel one only slightly different. Physics still works like normal, and even the most fantastical elements are still "believable" in context.  The awesomely powerful core of the Velvet Brush herself being a good example.   

In our world the Velvet Brush was truly a technical marvel, the finest ship in the Royal Airship Navy. No other airship in the world could match her. Being experimental, and therefore fantastically expensive, she was never equaled or copied. During the course of our role play, she survived storms, sabotage, intrigues, and political machinations. Those of us who flew with her across the skies of the world always had her as a solid base for our adventures.

The crew and passengers have moved on to new adventures, however the shared world we created still exists in the imaginations of those who played in the Airship's Mess Deck (see more below). Like the crew of any "happy ship" in the real world, lasting friendships have resulted.

As the Engineering Officer, and eventually the Commander, of our ship, I see her in my minds eye still, an enormous silver and polished brass ship,  moving through the clouds, steam rising from her twin funnels, signal flags hanging from her rails. The Velvet Brush is truly as "Splendid" as she was intended to be. 

Thanks for following along as I tried to do some Practical Airship Design.

I hope you have enjoyed the journey.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced.
KJ

==================================

Epilogue

My character's adventures, along with some of the crew, are posted as Serial Tales on this blog:
"Frozen Sky"
"Lost at Sea"
"Ice and Clockwork"

One of the passengers on our ship has her own adventures chronicled in the brilliant Maddie Hatter stories written by Jayne Barnard
Maddie Hatter and the Deadly Diamond
Maddie Hatter and the Gilded Gauge
Maddie Hatter and the Timely Taffeta
And more coming soon.

Oh, and Parasol Duelling is now a formal sport played all over the world!

Thanks for reading.
KJ

Experimental airship like mine!

If you read my Practical Airship Design series the design might seem a bit familiar!

The airship described in this NASA paper uses hydrogen as a lift gas rather than steam but it is powered by a real equivalent of our core. Of course using hydrogen on Titan is really safe because there is no free oxygen anywhere to cause problems.


Fascinating.


"Radioisotope Stirling Engine Powered Airship for Atmospheric and Surface Exploration of Titan"

Author and Affiliation:   
Colozza, Anthony J.    (Vantage Partners, LLC, Brook Park, OH, United States);   
Cataldo, Robert L.    (NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH United States)
   
Abstract:
    The feasibility of an advanced Stirling radioisotope generator (ASRG) powered airship for the near surface exploration of Titan was evaluated. The analysis did not consider the complete mission only the operation of the airship within the atmosphere of Titan. The baseline airship utilized two ASRG systems with a total of four general-purpose heat source (GPHS) blocks. Hydrogen gas was used to provide lift. The ASRG systems, airship electronics and controls and the science payload were contained in a payload enclosure. This enclosure was separated into two sections, one for the ASRG systems and the other for the electronics and payload. Each section operated at atmospheric pressure but at different temperatures. The propulsion system consisted of an electric motor driving a propeller. An analysis was set up to size the airship that could operate near the surface of Titan based on the available power from the ASRGs. The atmospheric conditions on Titan were modeled and used in the analysis. The analysis was an iterative process between sizing the airship to carry a specified payload and the power required to operate the electronics, payload and cooling system as well as provide power to the propulsion system to overcome the drag on the airship. A baseline configuration was determined that could meet the power requirements and operate near the Titan surface. From this baseline design additional trades were made to see how other factors affected the design such as the flight altitude and payload mass and volume.

Publication Date:     Jul 01, 2014

Keep your sightglass filled, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced.
KJ

A Video full of Airships!

A wonderful video of  post WWI Airship development, triumphs, and tragedies.
Lots of video from the time.
Enjoy

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Wrapped and delivered with care...


Here is the next, and last part of the first serialized tale from our role play group "The Messdeck".
You can start from the beginning here.

Previously Lt Cmdr(E) Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe and his crew in the aged airship HMAS Doris have been enjoying the hospitality of their shipmate Doctor Christine Pearse, who is also the Duchess of Argylle. As the evening progressed in companionable warmth and fellowship after their cold journey north in the winter skies of Northern England and Scotland, they discover that they have been tracked by small mechanical automatons. The bugs are controlled by a nearby cloaked Royal Navy airship.

The crew succeed in disabling the devices and Sgt Fraser warns the cloaked airship off with a flare rocket from his Sgt Major's private stash of exotic weapons.  As the airship leaves it drops a package.

Frozen Sky

A serial story from The Messdeck.

Part IX

Collected and edited by Kevin Jepson 

======
What follows is a slightly edited transcript of the role playing we did for our visit to the Manor at Davaar.

=====

Max calls up to Watkins, "Find anything aboard?"

"No Sir, all shipshape."

"You checked in the cabin?"

"Aye Sir, were nothing Sir. Unless they are in the gas bags it looks clean."

"Very good get down and go back inside with Simpson and see if you an Cooke can make out what these things are!"

"Aye aye Sir!"

Miss BB standing in her grey bloomers, with her heavy skirt in a heap by her feet, says, "Did you check in the box of warm clothes? I hope they are not in there."

*Iveta checks her holster and its pistol and then heads for the gate.*

*Beyond the walls of the Manor Sgt Fraser slowly moves around the trees near the edge of the property, his rifle ready as he scans the area for what fell from the airship as it left. It is full dark now but the snow on the ground seems abnormally bright, as often happens during a winter night in these latitudes.*

*The shadows of the trees are like black holes against the snow.*

"Blasted thing was around here somewhere..."

He chuckles to himself, "Can't believe I had to use the flare round already." He turns a small bend on the trail and sees the package sitting in the middle of the trail up ahead. It is a wooden crate precariously balanced on one corner in the snow.

"OVER HERE!" He yells.

Miss BB says, "Darn, now I have to run. Coming!"

Iveta turns around and smiles at BB. "Without that skirt, you may even find it fun!"

*The two officers jog briskly through the gate following the sound of Sgt Fraser's voice at the edge of the treeline.*

*After a last check of the outside of the control car Max heads back into the Manor to join Watkins, Simpson, Cooke, and the Doctor in the parlour.*

"It's a frosty clear night and no mistake." Max shivers. "Was almost getting used to being warm again too."

"Well Commander if that ship has moved off perhaps we can return to being warm."

"I apologize for the turmoil Ma'am."

"So far nobody has punched any holes in my walls so we are way ahead of last time." She says with a rueful grin.

Cpl Cooke is munching on a meat pie while looking over one of the captured bugs.

"Well Cpl, these things all down now?"

Cooke swallows and sits up straighter. "Aye sir! I'll leave my gear on as long as we are here just in case though."

"Well done Cpl, let Watkins and Simpson take a look at one of them things."

Cooke holds one up. "Here you go lads."

*Simpson gingerly takes the critter and moves over to the side table under the fancy electric lamp and soon he and Watkins are looking at it through their pocket magnifiers and muttering quietly to themselves.*

Max watches for a second then shakes his head with a smile. "That'll keep em busy for a bit."

As Iveta and Miss BB move across the open space surrounding the manor they see the dark bulk of Sgt Fraser waving from the edge of the trees. Coming up to him Miss BB says, "Good shooting". She smooths her bloomers and asks "What have you found?"

Fraser nods at the two lady airship officers and then points to the crate lying further along the trail. "That's what it dropped Ma'am, but I wouldn't touch it yet. Maybe the doctor has a cart we can borrow to bring it back?"

Iveta eyes the crate, and the size of the depression it made in the snow as it landed, trying to guess its weight. "I'll go see if there is anything at the house. Shall I bring a few more hands?"

Fraser nods. "Yes Ma'am. If you please, maybe that Mr'Gears fellow?"

Nodding, Iveta takes off toward the house at a nimble run.

BB yells, "Pony, bring the pony! Everyone loves a pony."

Miss BB and Sgt Fraser stand watching the crate. Miss BB, hands on her hips says, "It's a box. Can we lift it ourselves?"

Fraser looks to BB. "Best not to touch it yet Ma.am, don't know what it is."

"Can I kick it?" she asks.

Fraser starts. "NO! What if it's an explosive?"

"Hmpf. Maybe the pony will kick it." says Miss BB.

Basic Rules for Aerostatics

These Aerostatic Rules are taken from an Australian Government Document for getting ones "Airship Endorsement" on their pilot's license. Published in 2004 much of the document concerns the specific information an Airship pilot needs that the pilot of a heavier than air craft doesn't. One interesting point is that the rules are written for both hydrogen and helium airships! 

Enjoy

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced.
KJ

Recall the following basic rules for aerostatics and how to use them to calculate airship performance: 

  (a)  Rule 1
    Lift of an airship varies with the volume if all other conditions affecting lift remain constant.

  (b)  Rule 2
    Lift of a given volume of gas increases if barometric pressure increases and lift decreases if pressure  decreases.

  (c)  Rule 3
    Lift of a given volume of gas will decrease if atmospheric temperature increases and will increase if temperature decreases.

  (d)  Rule 4
    The higher the atmospheric humidity the less the lift.

  (e)  Rule 5
    There is no change in equilibrium due to a change in barometric pressure when the gas is free to expand.

  (f)  Rule 6
    Where air and gas temperature change an equal amount there is no change in equilibrium if the gas is free to expand.

  (g)  Rule 7
    An airship in equilibrium at any altitude will be in equilibrium at sea level, providing no weight is lost or gained and the superheat value is not changed in descending.

  (h)  Rule 8
    An airship rising from the ground in equilibrium will be in equilibrium at any altitude below pressure height if no weight is lost or gained and the superheat value does not change.

  (i)  Rule 9
    Barometric pressure will decrease approximately 1 inch Hg for every 1 000 feet of ascent in the lower atmosphere.

  (j)  Rule 10
    Atmospheric temperature will decrease approximately 2°C for every 1 000 feet ascent.

  (k)  Rule 11
    Gas volume is changed 1% for every 2.75°C change in gas temperature.

  (l)  Rule 12
    Gas density is changed 1% for every 2.75°C change in gas temperature.

  (m)  Rule 13
    1%  change in gas density or specific gravity for helium changes the lift 0.2% when at pressure height.

  (n)  Rule 14
    Lift is changed 1% for every 2.75°C change in superheat in flight as the gas is free to expand.

  (o)  Rule 15
    At pressure height (where gas is  not free to expand) the lift will change only 1% for 11°C superheat with helium and 1% for every 25°C superheat with hydrogen. This shows the danger in going from maximum daytime superheat conditions to zero superheat value at night if not properly understood and counteracted.

  (p)  Rule 16
        (i)  2.75°C superheat will lower the pressure height 360 feet at altitudes below 7 000 feet.
        (ii)  2.75°C superheat will lower the pressure height 400 feet at altitudes above 7 000 feet.

  (q)  Rule 17
    In ascending under average atmospheric conditions the volume will increase 1% for every 360 feet of  ascent in rising to 7 000 feet and increase 1% for every 400 feet above 7 000 feet.

  (r)  Rule 18
    In going above pressure height, lift is reduced 1% for every 360 feet below 7 000 feet and 1% for every 400 feet when above 7000 feet.

  (s)  Rule 19
    1% of the original mass of gas is lost if going 360 feet over pressure height when below 7 000 feet and 1% is lost for every 400 feet ascent above 7 000 feet altitude.

  (t)  Rule 20
    If, when full of gas, a weight equivalent to 1% of the lift is thrown over as ballast, equilibrium will be reached when 1% of the gas has been ‘valved’.

Slip Sticks for the Black gang!

Previously I posted about Nomography, i.e. the use of graphical tools for solving equations.

I have found a perfect example in the Internet Archives!
This article AN AIRSHIP SLIDE RULE By E. R. Weaver and S. F. Pickering, details the calculations and construction of a slide rule for working out problems concerning buoyancy, volumes, temperatures, lifting capability, and altitudes. Specifically for Airship crews this simple device is perfect for the analysis that any Flight Engineer would need to do as part of his duties.

The pamphlet contains the mathematical derivations for the scales and lots of sample problems that can be worked out using the slide rule.

Here is a picture of the slide rule:

And here is a page with some examples of the kinds of problems that could be worked out:

A very useful tool indeed.

Since this pamphlet includes the formulas for how the scales used on the slide rule are laid out, it should be possible to build one!

I think my Flight Engineer needs one, but adjusted for Steam as the lifting gas.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Commissioned by the Province of Alberta!


This is a fascinating document that I found on the Internet Archives.
The Alberta Modern Airship Study was prepared for the Alberta Ministry of Transportation by the Goodyear Aerospace Corporation.

The study examines the realistic feasibility of using modern airships for transportation in Alberta. We had then, and still have today, large areas of the province that have narrow road access if they have access at all.

This study is packed with analyses, graphs, charts, and the technical feasibility of using airships.


Amazingly the study concluded that such use actually made sense!



Here is the conclusion (Spoiler Warning!)

STUDY CONCLUSIONS
The survey and ensuing economic case studies indicate that there are a large number of economically attractive applications for airships in the study area. It is apparent from the surveys and economic case studies that an airship operating company [rental service] is both necessary and economically viable.

The operation of airships within Canada is operationally a viable concept. Environmental factors, while severe in terms of cold, will not appreciably affect airship operations any differently than existing aircraft operating in Canada
.
The technology is available to successfully provide vehicles in the near term. Final definition of the vehicles can proceed immediately. Demonstration vehicles are needed to illustrate:
1) A lack of technical and operational risk to users
2) Economic viability
3) Regulatory agency compliance; and
4) To develop user awareness and confidence it is conservatively estimated that the following vehicle configurations and quantities could be supported by the study area :
Modern Conventional [Non-Rigid]       8 Vehicles
Modern Conventional [Rigid]               2 Vehicles
Heavy Lift                                            6 Vehicles

The earliest operational availability for the configurations considered during the study is:
Modern Conventional [Non-Rigid]       3 Years
Modern Conventional [Rigid]               8 Years
Heavy Lift Airship                                5 Years   

As in the case of the modern conventional non-rigid airships there appear to be two sizes of HLA vehicles having near-term applicability. An HLA with a useful load of 45,372 kg [50 tons] would find primary application in some remote construction activities, power line transmission tower erection, and the forest industry. The largest market in the study area for the HLA is probably in the 90,744 kg [100-ton] useful load range. The device would be used primarily in supporting large remote construction projects.

An excellent read and even though Goodyear obviously had a vested interest in selling Airships (they were the only ones making them in the 70s) they still covered all the bases.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

A package arrives.

Here is the next part of the serialized tale from our role play group "The Messdeck".

You can start from the beginning here.
Previously Lt Cmdr Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe (Max) and his crew aboard the aged HMAS Doris have arrived at Davaar, the manor of their shipmate Doctor Christine Pearse, the Duchess of Argylle. They are on their way to the remote Naval Airship base at Scapa Flow in the dead of Winter. After their icy flight Max and the crew were enjoying the warm hospitality of the good Doctor when they discover they are being tracked by small mechanical spy bugs.

After scrambling to catch as many of the bugs as they can, Corporal Cooke has succeeded in blocking the bug's transmissions and has disabled them with his signals gear. He has determined that the controller for the bugs cannot be very far away in the darkening Winter sky.

Frozen Sky

A serial story from The Messdeck.

Part VIII

Collected and edited by Kevin Jepson 

======
What follows is a slightly edited transcript of the role playing we did for our visit to the Manor at Davaar.

===== 

Christine Pearse, Duchess of Argylle,  is watching as Cooke and Miss BB examine the still forms of the mechanical bugs. She asks Max, "Who, pray tell, is Barbesley? I'd like to pay a call and leave him a little something to remember me by, since he was so kind as to invade my home."

Max says, "He were an old mate of mine actually. Works for Admiral Chicheley now and just happened to be at York when we was. To much of a coincidence that is!"

Christine's eyes narrow. "I agree, but not above the Admiral, it seems just like her style. And they've got a bloody lot of nerve even thinking of coming here after what happened last time!"

Max calls to Iveta who is looking along the edge of the book case for any bugs that might have settled there, "Lt Baleva, go and see if you can spot anything nearby."

"Aye Sir." As Iveta goes outside she sees Fraser walking around the airship, rifle ready. She stops and scans the sky. With eyes accustomed to reading shifting horizons, she hopes she can spot any anomalies on the ground or in the air. There is a faint buzzing sound in the cold darkness.

Simpson checking the underside of the cargo car stops and listens. "Eer! I know that sound!" and he sprints off towards the manor door.

Sgt Fraser sees Iveta as he comes around the Doris' control car. "I can hear something Ma'am but can't see anything, we all good inside?"

"They've disabled all the bugs but the spies are still waiting for us." Iveta says still watching the sky. "They're here somewhere, and close, likely aloft."

Simpson runs up to the Marine and Iveta. Touching his cap to the Lt he says, "You're unlikely to see anything Ma'am that be a Navy cloaked ship by its sound."

"Navy ship?" asks Iveta.

Simpson looking up into the sky at the faint sound says, "Aye Ma'am. I recognize it, only heard it twice before, at the EAD and here during the Battle!"

Fraser stiffens and says, "A cloaked ship? Blast! Need something special for this!" He heads over to the trunk he and Cooke left by the door.

Miss BB has opened the parlour window and is watching the sky intently when she suddenly points over the dark mass of the Doris. "Look, over there. It's one of those weird cloud things that we saw before."

Iveta follows where Miss BB is pointing and spots the faint shimmer in the darkness. "Ah, good work Miss BB. I believe you're right, Simpson."

*Miss BB turns back from the window.*

"What did you see Lt?" asks Max.

Miss BB says, "A cloud ship... Sir, like we saw last time."

"Doctor, do you have a ray gun? I would shoot it if you have one." she asks Christine hopefully.

"I'm afraid I don't Miss BB or I'd be using it to probe a certain Mr. Barbesley as we speak." says Christine with a growl.

Miss BB says, "Ya, that would be a good use for a probe."

Christine turns to Max and says, "Do we have another battle on our hands, Commander?"

Max says "I bloody well hope not Ma'am. The problem is these fellows are supposedly on our side!"

*They join the rest of the crew in the courtyard.*

Simpson touches his cap to Max. "Cloaked Navy Ship Sir, moving slowly from the sound of it."

Miss BB mutters, "Maybe they are bad guys who stole a navy ship?"

Iveta says "The ship is moving slowly North East by East Sir, maybe 100' altitude no more, just lost sight of it over the other wall."

Fraser comes back from the trunk holding what looks like a chunk of pipe. "This will give them something to think about Sir. Will need to get outside the gate to get a clear shot"

"Carry on Sgt." says Max.

"Aye Sir." Sgt Fraser with his Pipe heads out the Courtyard gate followed by Miss BB.

Christine says, "Ladies and gentlemen, for what it's worth, Davaar does have suitable armaments for you, should you require them. After our last uninvited guests, I thought it would be a suitable precaution to take."

Aboard the creeping cloaked Airship Lt. Barbesley orders, "Release cargo." A crate, heather-painted to match its landing site, drifts to the earth beneath a small parachute no more visible than a wisp of fog.

Below looking at the shimmering spot from just outside the gate Miss BB says, "They are dropping something!"

"I see it Ma'am" and Sgt Fraser raises the tube to his shoulder.

Fraser fires the "Pipe" and with a whoosh a small rocket takes off towards where the ship is, when it gets close it explodes into a bright ball, a miniature sun at night.

Miss BB claps her hands with delight. "Ray gun! Yay!", then blinking in the flash says, "Bright ray gun, must remember not to look next time."

----
As the intense brightness in the control car fades enough for them to see again, Lt Barbesly orders "Helm forward 1/4 speed. Cargo pod, prepare second release." Creeping along closer to the ground, ever further from the bounds of Davaar, a second tiny package drifts down. The airship, quickly speeds up, rising over a low hill, and is lost to view.
----

*Fraser drops the empty pipe and grabs his rifle.  He and Miss BB head back in through the gate.*

"It dropped something Sir.  That flare shot was only meant to scare it off, don't want to get hung for shooting down one of our own eh?"

Max laughs "Ha! Serve them right to run afoul of one of Briggs' toys!"[1]

"I'd like to go see if I can find the thing they dropped Sir."

"Carry on Sgt. but be damn careful with anything you find!" says Max.

"Aye Aye Sir! Briggs would have me head if I went and did something stupid now." says Fraser with a laugh.

Miss BB says "I'll go."

"I shall join you as well." says Iveta. "Where are the weapons, Doctor? I'd like to go prepared. One takes a different sort of weapon to tea than on a scouting mission."

Christine says "They are in the Library...follow me."

As Miss BB starts to follow the Navigator and the Doctor back into the Manor, Fraser points to the open trunk, "There is a rifle or pistol in there you can use Ma'am."

BB grabs what looks like a shotgun. "Ah, this should do."

Cpl Cooke looks out the window. "Sir, I'll stay here and keep monitoring for anything else."

"Thank you Corporal." Max says.

"Do you think we will have to run Sgt?" asks Miss BB. "If we have to run then I have to take off my skirt. That should be OK right? It's a horrible heavy warm skirt. I hate it."

"I don't know Ma'am." says Fraser, suppressing a smile, "but it is best to be prepared just in case."

*Shouldering his rifle the Marine Sgt heads out the gate.*

"OK" says Miss BB and neatly steps out of her horrible heavy hateful hot skirt. Her bloomers are grey wool, and quite ugly.

The Doctor returning to the courtyard with Iveta spots Miss BB standing in her bloomers. "We really need to see about getting Mr. Worth to design some uniforms." she says with a smile.

----
The airship, having risen into a low cloud bank, keeps moving, but its cloaking begins to flicker, revealing the black underneath. "Good thing we got clear when we did, sir," says the cloaking tech. "That idiot's flare singed our whiskers something fierce. I'll have to swap out some resistors in flight, if you can keep us out of line of sight long enough."

"Very well. Helm, course for Carlyle base," orders the Lt. "We'll set down there for the night and pick them up when they move on."

Part IX is here.
===========
[1] Sgt Major Briggs has a fondness for experimental weapons.

Bugs!

Here is the next part of the serialized tale from our role play group "The Messdeck".

You can start from the beginning here.

 Previously Max and his crew aboard the aged HMAS Doris have arrived at Davaar, the manor of Doctor Christine Pearse, the Duchess of Argylle. They are on their way to the remote Naval Airship base at Scapa Flow. Christine was the the medical officer aboard their previous ship, the experimental HMAS Velvet Brush. The journey north in the dead of Winter has been exceedingly cold and Max and his crew are enjoying the cozy hospitality of their shipmate.

The evening has been progressing with much laughter and good cheer.

All is not as quiet as it appears however...

Frozen Sky

A serial story from The Messdeck.

Part VII

Collected and edited by Kevin Jepson 

======
What follows is a slightly edited transcript of the role playing we did for our visit to the Manor at Davaar.

===== 

Max and his crew are relaxing in the spacious parlor of the manor. The good food, good companionship, and excellent hospitality of the good Doctor has been a welcome respite from the cold of their journey North.


Christine laughs. "Well, I suppose this new rule of "ankling" in parasol duels might bring about some prettier shoes, boots and stockings."

Sgt Fraser is now going a bit red faced. "Hmmm... maybe I need something more then tea..." he says and pulls out a flask.

Miss BB suddenly pauses in her attempt to add some shortbread cookies to the stack of food in her bag. "Do you hear that? Scratching sound? Do you? Huh?"

Max takes another drink of tea "No Lieutenant, I don't hear anything but my ears ain't anything like yours!"

Everyone stops talking and starts to listen intently. Miss BB, as the communications officer, has an acute sense of hearing so everybody takes her seriously.

"Turn on the listening device. Turn it on, on, on." says Miss BB reaching past the food into her bag and pulling out a large hardbound book.

In the silence, Iveta closes her eyes to better get a reading on the sound, turning her head slightly. "You said the rats were effectively gone, Doctor. But something is scratching. Something smaller than a rat."

Christine nods. "Yes, there haven't been any sign of the rats since we left. This must be something else. It has to be new as well, it's been as quiet as a tomb until now."

*Cooke and Fraser stop eating and listen.*

Sgt Fraser puts down his flask. "Cooke, get your gear going lad."

Cooke grabs his bag. "Aye aye Sarge."

Miss BB looks at Cooke and says, "Is it on? Do you hear? I can hear."

Cooke looks up. "I don't hear anything Ma'am, I'll know more in a minute."

Miss BB having pulled her book and a pillowcase out of her bag, scattering cookies across the rug in the process, says, "I'm going out there. Cover me."

Sgt Fraser stands and looks across at Max who standing as well says, "Carry on Sergeant go and check it out!"

Miss BB already at the door to the hallway turns and says, "Come on you sissies. Don't make me go out alone?"

Sgt Fraser half smiling says, "Aye Aye Ma'am!" and draws his side arm and heads into the hallway.

Cooke takes out a gauntlet that contains his short range signalling gear and starts to power it on.

Watkins and Simpson, watching the Marines and Miss BB, look over at Max. "What's all this Sir?"

Max says, "Seems somebody is checking up on us, best get up on the ship and make sure nothing is untoward. Keep yer eyes and ears open."

"Aye aye Sir" and they follow the big marine and Miss BB into the hallway.

Max turns to Christine. "I hope we haven't brought along more trouble to your home Ma'am. It does seem to follow us though."

"As long as it's not that wolf creature Commander, I'm sure we'll be fine." Christine rings for Mr. Gears and when he appears whispers to him directions regarding the children. He disappears, heading to the schoolroom.

Miss BB standing just outside the hallway door mumbles, "Rats, smaller than rats. scratchy things."

Looking around, Iveta spots a few flying insects, and points. "Have you seen these before? I'm sure not many insects are comfortable in this climate?"

Christine says, "It's not the right time of year for flies or moths."

Miss BB thumps her book against the wall. "Ha! Got one."

Cooke looks to where Iveta is pointing. "Bugs!? Not again!"

Miss BB picks up something from the floor and brings it to the corporal. "What do you make of this Mr. Cooke?"

"Looks like some kind of little automaton."

Sgt Fraser calls out form the hall, "All clear here sir! Going to take a peek outside."

Max trying to spot the little machines says, "Might be like them spiders in the ship while we were in Africa. Blasted spies!"

----
In the hovering cloaked airship, a technician mumbles, "One down, sir. They've rumbled us."
----

Cooke looks at the smashed bug, then sweeps his gauntlet over it. "Similar, but... different..."

"Is it dead? Did I kill it?" asks Miss BB.

"What do you make of it Corporal any signals?"

*Christine moves over to the draperies and gives them a good shake.*

Cooke picks up what's left of the little machine. "It's dead, I need to get my gear from the ship, this gauntlet is only good for a few feet."

*Miss BB takes aim at another bug, being careful not to kill it she bangs the wall with a thump and quickly grabs the bug and stuffs it in her pillowcase.*

Miss BB says "Don't go out there alone. The bugs will get you. They will go into your ears. I just know it. Cover your ears!"

Miss BB says to herself, "When he comes back we should check his ears. Then, if he is OK we should see if we can track the signals back from this not dead one."

*Outside in the courtyard Cpl Cooke scrambles aboard the Doris and grabs his backpack while Sgt Fraser goes to the trunk they had unloaded before and unlocks it, grabbing a pair of rifles.*

Miss BB looks out the window and sees the guns. "I wonder if they brought the ray gun. Maybe they will let me shoot it this time."

When Watkins and Simpson get near the ship Fraser calls out, "Over here lads!" He holds up a rifle. "Best to arm yourselves."

Watkins snickers, "That's a bit big for these critters don't ya think Sarge?"

Sgt Fraser smiles. "It's not the bugs I'm worried about, it's the ones controlling them."

Remember those chickens I mentioned?

Here is the next part of the serialized tale from our role play group "The Messdeck".

You can start from the beginning here.

Previously, Lt Cmdr Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe (Max), and his crew aboard the aged HMAS Doris, had arrived at the remote manor of their shipmate Doctor Christine Pearse. The good doctor, in addition to her duties as Ships Doctor aboard the experimental airship the HMAS Velvet Brush, is also the Duchess of Argylle.

The journey north in the old Doris in the dead of winter was icy cold, so Max and the crew are happy indeed to spend the evening enjoying the hospitality of the good Doctor.

Frozen Sky

A serial story from The Messdeck.

Part VI

Collected and edited by Kevin Jepson 

======
What follows is a slightly edited transcript of the role playing we did for our visit to the Manor at Davaar.

===== 

The crew settles onto the couches and chairs in the elegant parlour, enjoying the warmth and the food which the servants bring steaming hot from the kitchen.

Christine says, smiling broadly, "Since the Doris doesn't have a 'Bubble Bath Room' I'm sure you'll enjoy the bathroom adjoining your room Miss BB...the tub is very relaxing."

Miss BB overhearing Max's comment about counting chickens says, "There's chickens? I don't see any chickens?" then turning to Christine she asks, "Doctor, are you sure that all those rats and things are gone gone gone?"

Iveta smiles, "If need be, we can find some books for the rats."

Christine sips her tea and nods. "Yes, we've not seen a trace of them. The tunnels have been sealed off and with the improvements and upgrades to the Manor, I think it's safe to say that the rats are gone."

BB smiles back at Iveta and pats her bag on her lap. "Oh, I brought my book. I sure did."

Cpl Cooke moves to meat pie #3. "I have my jamming equipment with me too if it is needed."

Sgt Fraser looks to Cooke and laughs. "Slow down lad or you won't be able to get back on board!"

Max looks around the parlour and says, "Ma'am, it seems everything got put back together pretty well, it were a shame we had to make such a mess."

"Ah Commander, that's what happens when you are set upon by villains. I have to say, it was a blessing in disguise really. Much needed improvements were able to be made during the repairs, so it wasn't such a bad thing after all I suppose."

"Glad to hear it Ma'am." Max stretches his bad leg and says, "Oooh it is lovely and warm in here."

Fraser looks up from a sandwich. "Sorry about the front gate Ma'am, did they ever manage to get it fixed?"

"So much has happened since then..." Christine is momentarily lost in thought and then comes back to the room at Fraser's question. "Oh, yes, the gate has been fixed with some new technology. It's quite impressive, if you want to go out and take a look later, feel free."

Fraser nods. "Thank you Ma'am, I will do a walk around later when Cooke and I do our ship check."

Miss BB reaching for another slice of steaming meat pie says, "Doctor, you know what we did? We went to a Parasol Duel. It was wonderful. They had all kinds of outfits and parasols. Did you ever go?"

Christine raises her eyebrows, "Parasol dueling? My word! I've not been to London since before Christmas, so I'm afraid I'm terribly out of step with the new fashions. Might I assume that you've participated?"

"Oh I wanted to. But Madame wouldn't let me. She said I needed training. Hmmm. There was lots and lots of ladies."

Iveta winks at BB. "In time I think you'll be quite a natural."[1]

Christine smiles at BB and says, "I would imagine so. Very sensible sport, parasol dueling. Combines fashion and defense nicely."

"And you have the best parasols, anyway." says Iveta, grinning at Miss BB.

"Oh I hope so. It is just ever such a wonderful thing to see." says BB as she starts in on her meat pie.

Max says, "It is quite the thing now Ma'am, the clerk at the Officer's hostel his mum is a judge. Heard all about it, seems fascinating. I'm going to read up on it in me spare time."

"And when we were there, I saw a Lady who we knew, and when I yelled, she just kept walking like she didn't even hear me. But I yelled real loud." says BB.

Fraser takes out a small pipe. "I heard that even Private Mitchell was looking into it."[2]

Looking at her half empty tea cup Miss BB whispers to Iveta, "Just tea. no medicine yet."

Overhearing, Christine smiles and says, "If you think your tea might need some fortification in order to thaw the marrow of your bones, that could be arranged."

Iveta turning to the Doctor says "The small parasols are what intrigue me most. They are held in twin holsters at the hips. Fascinating!"

"Oh? There are different classes of parasol? How very interesting! What is the reasoning behind that?"

*Cooke moves on to the pastries.*

Iveta says, "The small ones were used for, something called street dueling I think."

Miss BB nods. "Ya, street duels are the best thing ever. You can even do them at pokooor games."

Fraser raises an eyebrow and chuckles. "Street duels? Yep Mitchell is going to love that."

"Oh my!" says Christine. "That sounds so very wild west! How exciting! The Metropolitan Police have turned a blind eye to this? I'm surprised Parliament hasn't passed a bill outlawing this new sport. They'll think that such behaviour will cause the women to think they should vote next." she says grinning broadly.

"Oh, they don't let you poke anyones eye out. So the police just watch." says BB.

Iveta says, "I'm interested in studying the craft, myself. Who knows? It may prove useful sometime."

Miss BB looks thoughtful and then nods. "Vote? yes we should vote. That is a great idea."

Carefully pouring another cup of tea for Iveta, Christine says, "Well, I must say, that any sort of self defense a lady can have is a good one. Especially one that uses such a lovely accessory as a parasol."

Fraser pipes up, "Wait. There's no contact I thought."

"No" says Miss BB, "They say it is too dangerous. Can you imagine that? Bah. Sometimes though, you can show your ankles."

Christine nearly chokes on her tea, trying not to laugh. "Good gracious!"

Cooke looks up from a pastry and says to Fraser "Mitchell won't like that."

"Mitchell has nice ankles." says Miss BB.

Max chokes on his tea. "Er sorry, wrong pipe."

Christine laughs. "And how would you know Miss BB?"

"Bubble bath room." says BB, "That's all I will say."

Watkins looks over at Simpson who is blushing and grins at him "Eer Simpson steady on."

Christine smothers a laugh and tries to compose her face, eyes twinkling.

Iveta grins. "I'm sure the British don't know what to do with me, as I show mine all the time. I think it's a perfect way to disguise a warrior's skill, even if they have to wear dresses."

Miss BB carefully puts a spare meat pie in her bag.

Fraser chokes again and nudges Cooke. Who, trying not to laugh, goes back to eating.

The crew and their hostess continue in their pleasantries enjoying the warmth, good food and companionship.

While out in the cloakroom, by the great front doors, several tiny metal insects crawl from under the bands of the crew's hats. They unfold wings and begin to rise. Spreading far to the outer walls of the vast foyer, they keep near the edges of paneling joins and tapestries, all but invisible against the dark wood, with only the rarest, briefest glints of light on metal to betray their whereabouts. They spread room to room, seeking the sound of human voices, sending their tiny beacon signals to the cloaked airship hovering not far away in the grey icy winter skies.

Part VII is here.
======== 

[1] Miss BB, known in real life as Karen Siemens, was in fact the very first Parasol Duelling Word Champion of modern times.
[2] Private Camile Mitchell is the only female member of the Royal Marine detachment aboard the HMAS Velvet Brush.

Her Majesty's Airship Corp Huzzah!


Lots of images of real and movie airships plus a very catchy tune.
Even though in our Roleplay the Airships are part of the Royal Navy I think Max and his crew would approve of this message!



Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

An Airship Technical Gold Mine

Previously I reviewed one of the only books ever published on real airship design.
The author Charles P. Burgess worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the NACA.

During the heyday of the great rigid airships, in the first third of the 20th century, the NACA commissioned and collected a series of technical studies, papers and technological reviews of airship design. These papers show just how seriously rigid airships were taken as the future of heavy lift and long distance aircraft.

Recently NASA (the direct descendant of the NACA) has made scans of these reports and analyses available through the Internet Archive.

If you are curious check out this simple search:

Airship Technical Gold Mine 

Here you will find yellowed type written reports, with hand drawn graphs, diagrams, plans, and old photographs, documenting in detailed analyses the state of the art in Airship design in 20's and 30's.

The files are available in many formats including plain text, colour PDFs, html, epub and other ebook formats.

The titles alone make this old Flight Engineer drool!

Here are some examples to "wet yer whistle":

THE PRESENT STATUS OF AIRSHIP CONSTRUCTION, ESPECIALLY OF AIRSHIP FRAMING CONSTRUCTION
By Hans Ebner
1938





FULL-SCALE TURNING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE U.S.S. LOS ANGELES
By F. L. THOMPSON

CONTRIBUTION TO THE TECHNIQUE OF LANDING LARGE AIRSHIPS
By 0. Krell
PART I
Part II is here
From Zei'tschrift f'.r FLigteohnik und. Motorluftschiffahrt
September 28, 1928

RECENT RESEARCHES IN AIRSHIP CONSTRUCTION I
Forces of Flow on a Moving Airship and the Effect of he Control Surfaces
By H. Naatz
1928

Many of these reports are translations of German reports. The Germans were the acknowledged world leaders in Airship design at the time. The first report listed includes a German paper written in 1933 while the Hindenburg was under construction and before the loss of the Akron, which is noted in a footnote. The full report was not translated and acquired by the NACA till 1938.

Since these reports were typewritten they often contain typos, to me these little errors bring these fairly dry technical reports alive. In a way they show them as being human made. Prepared to record important information not just display elegant formatting.

For anyone interested in the technical details of real airship designs these reports are truly a gold mine of information.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Here are some sample pages of the kinds of details included in these reports:

 

 

A visit to Davaar Manor

Here is the next part of the serialized tale from our role play group "The Messdeck".

You can start from the beginning here.

Previously Lt Cmdr Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe and the crew of the aged cargo airship HMAS Doris are on their way to the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow in the dead of winter. During a very cold night tied up to a docking tower at York, Max is visited by an old acquaintance, a Lt Barbesly, who tells Max about the events surrounding the precipitous departure of the HMAS Velvet Brush from Esquimalt two years before. Lt Barbesly now works for the formidable head of the Royal Navy's Intelligence service Fleet Admiral Avis Chicheley. Continuing on their journey North Max takes the Doris on an un-authorised side trip to visit the home of the Velvet Brush's  medical officer Christine Pearse the Duchess of Argylle.

Frozen Sky

A serial story from The Messdeck.

Part V

Collected and edited by Kevin Jepson

*It is late in a bright but frigid winter afternoon and The HMAS Doris is approaching Davaar Manor, the home of Dr Christine Pearse, and her husband the missing scientist and inventor the Duke of Argylle.*

Max at the wheel keeps his eyes fixed on the looming Manor. "Hold her elevation steady at 200' I'll get a feel for the surface winds as we pass"

"Aye Sir." Sgt Fraser is at the elevator controls beside him watches the angle and the elevation closely.

"Hmmm, no sign of any winds, none of the chimney smoke is moving, should be good to go. We will do a pass then line up on the courtyard. It will be a tight fit."

"Aye aye Sir!"

*As the old airship slowly passes over Davaar, Max eyes the courtyard looking for anything that might cause problems with landing.*

"Looks a lot different than the last time we was here eh Sgt?"[1]

"Aye Sir it do indeed."

*The Navigator and Miss BB come out of their cabin and watch the manor passing below.*

"My compliments Lt Belava, your navigation was superb."

"Thank you Sir!"

"Any messages from the manor Lt?" Max asks Miss BB as she stretches out over the window sill to look down into the courtyard.

"Oooh looks nice, much better without all that smoke! Um, yes Sir, The Doctor says 'Welcome back exclamation point' Sir."

"Thank you Lt. Right, let us go down and see how the good Doctor is faring shall we?"

"Aye aye Sir!"

*Max sets the telegraph to engine stop and begins to vent hydrogen slowly to let the airships settle. As the Doris lowly begins to drop towards the courtyard of the Manor Max can see the Duchess and her mechanical butler Mr Gears waiting by the doorway.*

I hope we don't scratch up all that nice new paint!

Fraser calls out the elevation "40 feet, 30 feet, 20 feet, 10 feet". The old Doris inches lower, the roof of the Manor rising beneath them until it is even with the airship's envelope. "Contact Sir!"

*Max sets the telegraph to finished with engine and the Doris settles down with a slight creaking nestled neatly in the courtyard.*

"And that is that! Secure from flight stations and let us go ashore."

"Secure from flight stations aye Sir!"

Any landing you can walk away from Max me lad, any landing...

(Continued below the break)

======
[1] After a sabotage attempt on the HMAS Velvet Brush while in the airdock at Portsmouth, Doctor Pearse returned to her Manor at Davaar. The manor was attacked by a band of mechanically enhanced mercenaries attempting to acquire the secret research of the Doctor's husband the Duke. Max took the ship's Marines and other members of the crew North on a "private" rescue mission. The ensuing battle, while successful in repelling the mercenaries, left the manor severely damaged.

Hindenburg Disaster

On this day in 1937 the German rigid Airship LZ129, the Hindenburg, was destroyed by fire as she approached the mooring tower at the Naval Air Station near Lakehurst, New Jersey.

There is still much debate concerning the causes of the fire.  You can read  a good summary of the details here at Wikipedia.

There is also good discussion by Harold Dick in his "The Golden Age of the Great Passenger Airships" that I reviewed here.  Dick had flown on the Hindenburg as well as the Graf Zeppelin and had access to many German files and the employees of the Zeppelin Company itself.  His conclusion was that the fire was the result of a hydrogen leak caused by a broken stress wire near the stern frames holding the fins.

Whatever the cause the result of the fire was much bigger than simply the loss of  13 passengers and 22 crew, and the destruction of the most advanced airship ever built. The press coverage essentially destroyed the public's confidence in rigid airships. The technological advances in the capability of heavier than air aircraft brought on by WWII doomed any further commercial uses.

The safety record of the big German airships was impeccable prior to this disaster. The loss of all the big US built rigid airships was mostly a problem with structural strength. Every one was lost in bad weather. This has been attributed more to their being based on the extreme design of the German military's high altitude bombing airships from WWI. It is interesting to note that the USS Los Angeles, which was built by Zeppelin Company and turned over to the USA, as both war reparations and in the hope of future commercial deals, never had any structural issues despite being used in stress testing.

The disaster at Lakehurst changed the direction of civil commercial aviation for ever, but it was not because of technical limitations or safety problems but public perception.

A true "If only" moment in history.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced.
KJ

A presentation!

My character in our role playing game was ordered to make a public presentation about some of the technological advancements embodied in our Airship. Basically the Government wanted to share these advancements with the Civilian companies as a way to boost the Empire's commercial competitiveness.

Just for fun I decided to actually give the presentation as part of an ongoing series of Absinthe Cafes here in Calgary.

I presented it in character and in costume, and it was a lot of fun.

Lt Cmdr(E) Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe
Photo by Lewis King

The information presented here is based on my Practical Airship Design series.

Here is the text of my speech.
Enjoy

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

 --------

A January evening in the latter years of the 19th century.

Madame and Mr Chairman, My Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good evening.

I have been asked, by the Experimental Airship Division of the Royal Navy, also known as the the EAD, to present some of the technical details of one of the marvels of our age!
 
It is the hope of Her Majesty's Government that by releasing this, hitherto classified, information to the British business and manufacturing community, that the further development of these exotic and ground breaking technologies will help to maintain our Empire's lead in global commercial and military affairs.

Many of you have probably seen or heard the reports concerning the latest experimental airship of Her Majesty's Navy. You may also have seen the speculation concerning many of the developments and mechanisms that she has on board.

I have the honour to have been, and continue to be, her Chief Engineer.

And, Ladies and Gentlemen, as much as I would like to confirm that she is powered by exotic Indian demons and lifted by some remarkable gaseous material never seen before, and even that she can fly in the vast reaches of space, I must assure you that everything we will discuss this evening is in fact the product of the investigations into Natural Philosophy conducted over many years by brilliant men and women just like yourselves.

Nothing of what I will be showing this evening is in the province of the Metaphysical realm.

Having, alas, thus ruined your excitement concerning the information I am about to present to you, I hope that you will find the real information just as intriguing.

And so, to begin…


Here is the object of our discussion this evening.

Her Majesty's Air Ship The Velvet Brush!

She is truly a marvelous vessel, the largest self mobile object ever built by human beings!
Her dimensions are enormous,

• Her Length is 245 m or 800 ft, longer than the largest ocean liner.
• The Diameter of her hull is 42 m or 137 ft
• She contains a Gas Volume of 231,000 cubic meters or 8 million cubic ft
• She weighs uninflated 150 tons
• When in flight trim she can carry a cargo load of 28 tonnes
• Her propulsion system can move her at a steady cruising speed of almost 120 km/hour or  65 knots, thus making her one of the fastest ships in the Airship Navy.
• Her maximum speed is still classified as is her maximum altitude, however; I can say that she has maintained that 120km/h value at elevations in excess of 1800m or 6,000 ft above sea level on numerous occasions. Her operational pressure height is 1200m or 4,000 ft under normal load conditions.
• Her maximum cruising range is currently unknown!

I will say that on her very first flight she flew non-stop from the Royal Navy Airdock in Esquimalt British Columbia across the breadth of British North America, and the North Atlantic, to Portsmouth a distance of some 9000 Km or 5500 miles. This trip was accomplished in the dead of winter no less.

Ladies and Gentleman the Velvet Brush is a truly amazing ship, and despite the controversies and scandals attending her construction, she will be a model for future large Aerial Vehicles.

So to the technological developments that allowed the Royal Navy to construct such a stupendous vessel.

There are three developments that I will discuss this evening.

The first is the intellectual development that permitted her to be designed,

The second concerns the key material used in her construction,

And the third is the novel form of her lift generating system.

Many of you I am sure are aware of the advances in mechanical computation that have attended the construction of the Lovelace-Babbage engines in use at Oxford and Cambridge. The Difference Engine, designed by Charles Babbage under contract to the Royal Navy to produce navigational tables, was completed in 1849. Babbage completed the design for his more advanced Analytical Engine but it had not been constructed by the time of his death in 1871.

However his associate Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, continued working on the design, again under contract to the Royal Navy and the new machine was produced and first began calculations in 1880. Along with the physical design of the machine, the countess was instrumental in composing the grammar for the lists of instructions that the machine uses. Her treatise on "Simulation of mechanical processes by computation", published when she was in her 60s in 1875, earned her a worthy place in the Royal Academy.

One of the first applications of the Lovelace-Babbage machine was the analysis of stress and strength in the metal components of ships hulls. It was also used in the computations to design the first Naval scouting Airships and the first Cunnard Passenger Airships that followed soon thereafter.

The design of such a magnificent vessel as the Velvet Brush would not be possible without the speed of computation, and the elegance of the Countess's Analytical Engine Grammar.

As part of the technology transfer program of her Majesty's Government, two new Lovelace Babbage machines, of the latest design, will be available for public use starting later in the year. One will be in London the other in Liverpool.

Now, as to the construction of the Velvet Brush herself.

More Domestic Tranquility Systems

In Part 6 I described some of the crew spaces and layout of our airship.

This post is a document I produced for our RP group, to give the other players a mental map of the spaces in which we conduct our role play. It references some of the adventures we have had too.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

The table of contents for the whole Practical Airship Design series is HERE.

You can find all my Airship posts by clicking on the tag "Flight Engineer".

Interior layout HMAS Velvet Brush

Since some of our adventures are centered around the physical aspects of our fine ship, I thought it might be useful to have a mental map of how the ship is laid out.

I'm a lousy graphics guy so my attempt at doing a diagram was a miserable failure. Although I could draw one on paper. I might do that and scan it to include here if this description isn't good enough.

Probably the biggest thing to keep in mind is that even though our ship is enormous all the interesting stuff is along the bottom of the hull. If we exclude the lifting part we are a long narrow set of spaces connected by the keelwalk.

What I find fascinating is how the design of our ship has evolved over the last year. There have been some interesting changes that have resulted simply from the need to have identified places in which episodes of our story could take place. A good example is the position of the Captain's cabin. Originally we didn't have one, because we didn't really have a Captain Once Captain Hodgson arrived we needed a place for him to hang out.  Another example is the "viewing platform" that Madame flew her bird off of while flying from Esquimalt.  We were never specific about where that was on the ship, it had to be close to her cabin though because she could get there easily. Having it used by the British Consul in Venice means it must be fairly large and accessible from the accommodations.

At the risk of being arbitrary then, the following is the layout as it seems to be at the moment. We can change some parts if needed as long as they don't get in the way of what we already have. We can also do a refit at an Air Dock sometime too, to add extra spaces if needed.
 When thinking about the cabins remember that this is essentially the first floor of a two story block. So far (as of May 20) the upper floor is not populated with named spaces, with the exception of the Captain's cabin right at the front above the Flight-deck and possibly the cabin that First Officer MacLeod was in when the KAR* exploded in Portsmouth.

The Keelwalk is a triangular passageway integral with the base of the ship's hull, inside the circular cross section. This walkway runs the entire length of the ship, some 700 feet, from the Captain's Cabin in the bow all the way to the lower fin at the stern. Note that this walkway is above the cabins in the diagram. It is reached by a ladder outside the Bubble Bath Room aka "Secured Storage" as well as a ladder in the Flight-deck that goes directly into the Captain's Cabin.

Personally I view this passageway as being a corridor like the one that runs through the accommodations with a couple of (as yet undefined) cabins on either side.  Once you head aft of the accommodations however, the keelwalk becomes a simple triangular girder framed walkway, like that in the Hindenburg.

Just aft of the accommodations there is a ladder that runs all the way up to the top of the hull. This ladder reaches an observation platform in font of the bases of the funnels.  Climbing this ladder is quite a process and very hot as it is between two of the lift bags which are filled with steam of course.

The "Last Step" is the main access to the ship and is on the Starboard (right) side just aft of the galley as you can see on the diagram.

Engineering is located nearly 300' aft of the accommodations! This is another space similar in shape to the accommodations and also below the hull. It is reached by a ladder down from the keelwalk.  I've described the layout of engineering on my blog if you are interested.  There are no windows in Engineering except perhaps one over Max's desk and one in the break room for the off watch. Above Engineering on either side of the keelwalk is all the steam and condensate piping. the Tesla power transmission system extends from Engineering right up to the center of the hull which is 50' above. The keelwalk is offset as it passes this device.

There are two cargo holds in our ship. Originally I had them attached to Engineering but not extending all the way to the forward accommodations, but that doesn't work given the ships behaviour, and the movement of loose bits of cargo, in the storm over the Baltic. Also the ease in which people seem to be able to get into and out of it means it needs to be closer to the main accommodations up forward.  Placing the forward cargo hold as an extension of the accommodations makes a lot of sense and also provides a perfect place to put the viewing platform.

This is my proposed layout of the forward hold. From the diagram of the accommodations you can see that the Bubble Bath room is right at the end of the central corridor. I propose that the cargo hold is immediately aft of that space and extending maybe another 60' or so. The forward part of that hold, right up against the aft wall of the bubble bath room, is now walled off with the "secret" machinery installed by the company workman sealed inside. Briggs' armoury and weapons storage is against the wall of the secret compartment.

Access to the cargo hold is just aft of the end of the accommodations and is by a hatch with a ladder down from the keelwalk which runs over the top of the hold.  There is an outside access to the cargo hold in the form of a large cargo door in the side of the hold. This is not normally opened while in flight of course. The hold has no windows or other accesses.

The "aft viewing platform" is a broad platform built around the outside of the forward cargo hold. It is reached from a doorway in the accommodations just outside the Bubble Bath Room. This platform has  a railing is the perfect place to observe fireworks and the passing world below.

The aft cargo hold is a similar extension of Engineering. It is reached by a ladder and hatch from the keelwalk. It also has a large outside cargo door that is sealed while in flight.

The general crew bunk in spaces above the forward hold on either side of the keelwalk and the Black Gang bunk in similar spaces over the aft cargo hold.

Things to keep in mind from an RP perspective is that it takes time to get from Engineering to the Flight-deck, especially for Max who has to use a cane.

With the exception of the Captain's Cabin, and the crew and Black Gang's bunks, everything is BELOW the keelwalk. That means having to climb a ladder to get to the keelwalk to move forward or aft in the ship.

I hope this will be of some help in keeping track of what's where in our fine ship.

Part 7 is here.

*KAR Kamikaze Automaton Rat. An automoton shaped like a large rat and loaded with explosives.