The fins were attached on one edge to
the hull structure and wire braced from the other edge to various
positions on the hull. The horizontal fins were of similar design
and attached in a like manner to the hull. Triplane rudders and
biplane elevators of the box type were fitted in accordance with
the German practice of the time. Auxiliary biplane rudders were
fitted originally abaft the after car, but during the first two
trial flights they proved so very unsatisfactory that it was
decided to remove them.
Two cars or gondolas were provided to act as navigating
compartments and a housing for the engines, and in design were
calculated to offer the least amount of head resistance to the
wind. The cars were composed of duralumin girders, which formed
a flooring, a main girder running the full length of the car with
a series of transverse girders spaced in accordance with the main
loads. From each of these transverse girders vertical standards
with a connecting piece on top were taken and the whole exterior
was covered with duralumin plating. The cars were suspended in
the following manner. Two steel tubes fitting into a junction
piece at each end were bolted to brackets at the floor level at
each end of the transverse girders. They met at an apex above
the roof level and were connected to the tubing of the keel.
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