Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume III

DIRIGIBLE through steel cables by irreversible tillers. To diminish vibration, and to enable the instruments in the car to be read more easily, the engine is mounted on a system of springs. The Ville de Bordeaux and Colonel Renard have the same general features as the Clement- Bayard I. The Clément-Bayard II., built for trial in England, is the largest Clement- c n ■ - , . , . T, „ . „ or all non-rigid airships. It Bayard II. ® r measures 300 feet from stem to stern, and has a volume of 6,300 cubic metres. The bag has a blunt nose and a long conical body and tail. In place of the sta- bilizing ballonets of Clement-Bayard I., she carries a vertical plane under the tail. Close to this is the vertical rudder for lateral steer- ing. To distribute the weight of the engines, passengers, etc., a car 140 feet long is slung from the gas chamber. About one-third of it is available for the engines and living freight. BALLOONS. 59 The Clément-Bayard II. is engined with two 220 horse-power motors set amidships to drive a couple of two-bladed wooden propellers, 20 feet in diameter, mounted on either side of the car, and revolving in opposite directions. The lifting power of the airship is sufficient to raise twenty-five passengers and enough petrol for a six or seven hundred-mile journey. It is expected that a speed of at least 35 miles an hour will be attained. This airship will be the great rival of the Zeppelins ; her car- rying power, speed, and radius of action should prove as great, and she may show herself superior as regards alighting and manoeuvring. In Germany it is recognized that, though the Zeppelin type may have decided advan- tages for long trips, smaller dirigibles with collapsible gas chambers are more suitable for military purposes. The first non-rigid GERMAN NON-RIGID “ PARSEVAL II.” FLYING OVER THE TEGELER GROUNDS. (Photo, Topical.) Note the hemispherical prow and conical stern. This balloon has two internal ballonets, and a pump for transferring air from one to the other to regulate the longitudinal trim. Length, 58 metres; greatest diameter, 9’5 metres; volume, 3,800 metres; horse-power of motor, 114.