The ship remained
attached to a mast in open country with no protection whatsoever
for six weeks in two of the worst months of the year. During
this period two men only were required to look after the ship,
which experienced gales in which the force of the wind rose to 52
miles per hour, and not the slightest damage was sustained.
Two or three methods of attaching the airship to the mast have
been proposed, but the one which appears to be most practical
is to attach the extreme bow point of the ship to some form of
cap, in which the nose of the ship will fit, and will revolve
round the top of the mast in accordance with the direction of the
wind.
For large airships, employed as passenger and commerce carriers,
we can imagine the mast advanced a stage further, and transformed
into a tower with a revolving head. Incorporated in this tower
will be a lift for passengers and luggage, pipes also will be
led to the summit through which both gas and water can be pumped
into the ship. With the airship rigidly held at the head of such
a structure all the difficulties of changing crews, embarking and
disembarking passengers, shipping and discharging cargo and also
refuelling, vanish at once. Assuming the mooring problem solved
with success, and we feel correct in this assumption, the first
two of our difficulties automatically disappear.
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