The cost of a shed capable of housing two rigid airships,
even at the present time, should not greatly exceed L500,000.
This sum, though considerable, is but a small item compared with
the cost of constructing docks to accommodate the Atlantic liner,
and when once completed the cost of maintenance is small when
weighed against the amount annually expended in dredging and
making good the wear and tear of a dock.
Apart from these occasional visits to a shed, the airship, in the
ordinary way at the end of a voyage, will pick up its moorings as
does the big steamer, and land its passengers and cargo, at the
same time replenishing its supplies of fuel, gas, provisions,
etc., while minor repairs to the machinery can be carried out as
she rides in the air.
A completely satisfactory solution of the mooring problem for the
rigid airship has yet to reach its consummation. We saw in the
previous chapter how, in the case of small non-rigids, they were
sheltered in berths cut into woods or belts of trees, but for the
rigid airship something more secure and less at the mercy of the
elements is required.
At the present moment three systems of mooring are in an
experimental stage: one, known as "the single-wire system," is
now practically acknowledged to fall short of perfection; the
second, "the three-wire system," and the third, "mooring to a
mast," both have their champions, but it is probable that the
last will be the one finally chosen, and when thoroughly tried
out with its imperfections eliminated will satisfy the most
exacting critics.
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