GB280327A - Improvements in or relating to rigid airships - Google Patents

Abstract

280,327. Airship Guarantee Co., Ltd., Burney, C. D., Wallis, B. N., and Temple, J. E. Sept. 17, 1926. Aerostats; cabins.-In a rigid airship comprising longitudinal girders and polygonal frame mem. bers, in order to provide for the conditions arising when one gasbag is deflated, the radial bulkhead wires are so arranged that some of them are initially taut and connected direct to the frames, while the remainder are initially slack and are connected to catenaries slung from the frames, all of them being connected to an axial restraint member which transmits axial forces to the longitudinal girders. The slack wires G, Figs. 1 and 2, are connected to catenaries H, which together with the taut wires F are connected to the frames A at the points where they cross the longitudinal girders B. The end of a taut wire F and the adjacent catenarv ends mav be located within a socket-piece H<1>, and provided with adjustable turnbuckles. The axial restraint member may be of stranded wire, but is shown as a triangular space frame girder C built up by means of spiders E, Fig. 9 carrying sockets e' to which the tubular members are connected by coupling rings. Each spider supports a shaft e<2> carrying a hub D to which the wires F, G are secured as shown in Fig. 9, and which have bollard-pieces d supporting cables d<1> for fuel tanks, ballast or the like. The gas-bags are axially apertured to receive the girder C. Netting J is interlaced with the bulkhead wiring, and netting I covers the gaps between the catenaries H and the periphery of the gas-bag netting. A connection may be made to the circumferential mesh wiring of the gas-bags at the point where the catenaries join the frame-members which may be by means of a strop or the like as in Specification 281,041. If the centroids of the longitudinal girders and the frame members are coincident, the lift and shear wires may be attached at the centroids as in Specification 282,167. The axial girder may be used for control leads, or as an access passage, and a corridor L, Fig. 1, may be provided. The degree of slackness of the wires G is progressively greater from the bottom to the top of the airship.