Patrol

There are no headstones in the Graveyard of the Sea. Somewhere along this sullen stretch off Sable Island Mrs. Frances Wilson Grayson's airplane Dawn lies, according to belief, buried beside the wrecks of sailing ships. The Dawn might have floated for a little before sinking. Seeking a floating speck, the great dirigible Los Angeles roamed the air above this unmarked waste.

The Los Angeles saw no speck, wheeled for home. She lives at Lakehurst, N. J., where she was housed after 1200 nautical miles cruising, 700 of them at sea. Newspapers detailed her movements calmly. It did not occur to many readers that December dangers which had drowned the Dawn threatened the dirigible. She was too big, too safe to shrink from weather which might kill a heavier-than-air machine. Some few were perplexed. If dirigibles are so dependable, they wondered, why all this bother about airplanes. Why not build dirigibles instead?

Lieut. Commander Charles E. Rosendahl, lord of the Los Angeles, answered: "Auxiliaries." He pointed out that huge hangars; great ground crews; and extraordinarily expensive terminal equipment are requisite for dirigibles. In the U. S. there are only two hangars; Lakehurst and Scott Field, Belleville, Ill. Dirigibles cannot, like ariplanes, be landed on any flat run of ground and wheeled into a convenient shed. They must have home life.

There are several mooring masts in U. S. where the Los Angeles may tie up for the night. But should a high wind rise she must let go, or tear her nose off. She can, in emergencies, be brought down on large flat stretches. There must be crowds on hand to hold her. She can be temporarily "anchored" at sea by means of a huge canvas bucket dragged in the water on a 200 foot cable. On absolutely still lakes she can be angled down, to rest with her nose in the water. These are all temporary measures. Dirigibles are too expensive to be left lying around.

Safety. Hurricanes, electric storms, sudden ground squalls are their enemies. Commander Rosendahl, survivor the Shenandoah smash (TIME, Sept. 14, 1925) believes that the Los Angeles, once in the air, can survive far heavier storms than he permits her to rush. Perhaps, when dirigibles are enlarged, perfected, they will swim the heaviest storms that winds can blow. Helium gas, which fills the bag, will not burn, cannot explode.

Performance. The Los Angeles came from Germany, where she was built (Zeppelin ZR-3), in 80 hours, a non-stop flight of 5,060 miles (TIME, Oct. 20, Oct. 27, 1924). Her top speed is 70 m. p. h. She has visited Bermuda, Porto Rico, flown many training flights at sea; voyaged 50,370 nautical miles since her arrival in 1924. Her usual cruising crew is about 45. She will carry 100 passengers who can stroll her length (656 feet) in "cat walks" built inside the bag.

Future. Congress has authorized two new U. S. dirigibles; appropriation complications, commonly called red tape, have thus far hindered building. The British will have two dirigibles ready within a year, twice as big as the Los Angeles. In Germany one, also twice as big, will be ready even sooner. The Spanish Government plans to run it regularly between Spain and the Argentine. At present cargoes of freight and mail only are proposed. With its reliability tested passenger service will probably be added. From this beginning aviation experts confidently forecast transatlantic dirigible services which will set Manhattan less than 40 hours from London.