In July 1924, the Airship Guarantee
Company send a detailed proposal to the Secretary of the Australian
Government to improve communications between the UK and Australia.
This was followed up in March 1925
by a more detailed proposal titled the Australian
Airship Scheme. The Airship Guarantee Company was a
subsidiary of the aircraft and submarine manufacturer Vickers,
and had been set up for the British Government to explore the
possibility of using airships for international travel. The company
had been contracted to build the R.100 at a fixed price.
The
Document
The Australian Airship Scheme
document text has been reproduced as follows:
Due to the very extensive researches
which we have been carrying out in connection with the airship
which we are now constructing for the British Government,
certain advances have recently been made which render this
type of vessel even more suitable for both Naval and commercial
purposes than we indicated in our former letter on this
subject.In the original scheme, the airships which are proposed
should be employed on the Australian Route were capable
of flying a non-stop distance of 2,500 miles at a full speed
of 70 miles an hour carrying 120 passengers and 12 tons
of luggage, mail and freight. As was then shown, with a
ship of this performance, the route to Australia had been
divided into the following sections:-
London
- Ismaila
Ismailia
- Bombay
Bombay
- Singapore
Singapore-
Perth
Distance 10,200
miles
Due to improved efficiency which
we have attained as a result of our recent investigations,
the maximum speed of the airship, as determined by wind
tunnel experiments carried out for us by the National Physical
Laboratory is now 90 miles an hour, an advance which has
been made, without any sacrifice of, but rather with an
increase in passenger capacity.
As a result of this improvement longer
non-stop flight can be made with the consequence that the following
more direct route to Australia can now be employed:-
London- Bagdad
Bagdad -
Columbo
Columbo -
Perth
Distance 9,110 miles
thus, not only is the
total distance to be flown reduced, but also the
capital and maintenance costs of one mooring mast
station are eliminated. The improvements which have
made the above a route practical proposition are
in the main two following:-
Reduction of the
number of engine cars from seven to four.
This reduces the head resistance of the ship,
while, by using larger engine units, the total
power is increased to 4,400 H.P.
Placing the Control
Room of the airship in the bow of the vessel.
This eliminates resistance a point where it's
presence would by subjectional.
To appreciate these improvements
at a glance, it is but necessary to examine the
Air Ministry's design for an airship of the same
volume, namely 5,000,000 cubic feet, and then compare
this with our final design.
Fig. 1 shows the Air
Ministry vessel with is seven cars, (three on either
side and one in the centre line aft) and control
and passenger quarters protruding from the streamline
form of the hull;
Fig II is a reproduction
from a drawing illustrating the final form of this
Company's ship; there are but four engine cars,
(two on either side) while the head resistance of
the control and passenger quarters has been entirely
eliminated by and arrangement which can be seen
in greater detail in Fig III.
Interpreted
Possible Routemap from Cardington to Perth (click
to enlarge)
Fig
1 The Air Ministry design of a 5.000.000 cubic foot airship,
showing external passenger and control accommodation
and position of engine cars (7 in all)
Fig
II. The Airship Guarantee Company's design of a 5,000,000
cubic foot airship showing internal passenger and
control accommodation and position of engine cars (4 in
all)
Fig
III The control and passenger accommodation of the Company's
airship
In view of the fact that with two
of the engine, that is to say with one half of the available
power, the air speed of the Company's vessel will be slightly
over 70 miles an hour, it is proposed that since in the commercial
operation of a means of transportation, time tables should be
based on the assumption that the hourly distance is made good,
will be 70 land miles thus, on this basis, the time for the
different section of the proposed route will be :-
London
- Bagdad 37 hours (1.5 days)
Bagdad
- Columbo 41 hours (1.7 days)
Columbo
- Perth 31 hours (1.3 days)
(Total approximate
flying time 4.5 days)
or allowing for gassing, fuelling
etc., at the stopping places less than 7 days for a journey
which now takes about four times as long.
In part the better performance of
the airship is due to an improvement in the type of naval mooring
mast which was described in our previous communication, for
because of the modifications which have been made in this, not
only has the new airship control car position been rendered
possible, but also the actual process of mooring has undergone
further simplification.
In conclusion should there be any
other points either of a technical or financial nature with
regard to which you would like to have further information,
we trust you will be good enough to let us know when we shall
be only too pleased to let you have any further details which,
for fear of making this communication too protracted we have
now omitted.
We have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient Servants,
For AIRSIHP GUARANTEE COMPANY Limited,
Chairman.
Review
What is interesting is that this
proposal shows with the proposed design, improvements made to
the then un-named R100 design, incorporating the passenger accommodation
within the ship, improving the efficiency of the engines, and
thus reducing the number, meant that the Airship Guarantee team
were confident that they could extend the range of the ship.
This would mean the ship would only
require three and not four stops to get to Australia, and reducing
overall costs associated with additional mast sites and re-gassing,
and refuelling facilities.
It is interesting that the original
R101 proposal was shown as a concept with an external passenger
car as similar to the design of the R36 from 1921. In the end,
both the R100 and R101 would evolve their designs incorporate
the passenger accommodation in the hull of the ship to improve
aerodynamics.
Bomb Sight
What is interesting on the proposed
R100 concept is the inclusion of a lower lookout position with
bomb sight. It shows that in 1925 the thought of war was still
on the designers minds with regards to airships.
