The single-wire system is at the same time the simplest and most
obvious method which suggests itself, and means that the ship is
secured by a wire cable attached to a suitable point in the ship
and led to some fixed point on the ground. It has been found
that an airship secured in this way requires constant attention,
and that steering is always necessary to render her steady in the
air. Considerable improvement is obtained if a dragging weight
is added to the wire, as it tends to check to a considerable
extent lateral motion of the bow of the ship.
The three-wire system is an adaptation and an improvement on the
one previously mentioned. In this case the mooring point of the
ship is attached to three long wire cables, which, when raised in
the air, form a pyramid to the head of which the ship is
attached. These wires are led to bollards which form in plan an
equilateral triangle. The lift of the ship raises these wires
off the ground, and if the ship is trimmed up by the bows she
will be found to resist the action of the wind. A rigid airship
moored out by this method remained in the open for a considerable
time and rendered the future of this experiment most hopeful. It
was resolved to continue these experiments by adding a subsidiary
system of wires with running blocks, the whole wiring to form a
polygon revolving round a fixed centre.
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