that trials should be
carried out in the Vauxhall Gardens in London, but these proved
fruitless.

BARTON'S AIRSHIP

In the closing years of the nineteenth century appeared the forerunners
of airships as they are to-day, and interest was aroused in this
country by the performances of the ships designed by Santos-Dumont and
Count Zeppelin. From now onwards we find various British firms turning
their attention to the conquest of the air.

In 1903 Dr. Barton commenced the construction of a large non-rigid
airship. The envelope was 176 feet long with a height of 43 feet and a
capacity of 235,000 cubic feet; it was cylindrical in shape, tapering
to a point at each end. Beneath the whole length of the cylindrical
portion was suspended a bamboo framework which served as a car for the
crew, and a housing for the motors supplying the motive power of the
ship. This framework was suspended from the envelope by means of steel
cables. Installed in the car were two 50 horse-power Buchet engines
which were mounted at the forward and after ends of the framework. The
propellers in themselves were of singular design, as they consisted of
three pairs of blades mounted one behind the other. The were situated
on each side of the car, two forward and two aft. The drive also
include large friction clutches, and each engine was under separate
control.

To enable the ship to be trimmed horizontally, water tanks were fitted
at either end of the framework, the water being transferred from one to
the other as was found necessary.

A series of planes was mounted at intervals along the framework to
control the elevation of the ship.

This ship was completed in 1905 and was tried at the Alexandra Palace
in the July of that year. She, unfortunately, did not come up to
expectations, owing to the difficulty in controlling her, and during
the trial flight she drifted away and was destroyed in landing.

WILLOWS No. 1

From the year 1905 until the outbreak of war Messrs. Willows & Co. were
engaged on the construction of airships of a small type, and
considerable success attended their efforts. Each succeeding ship was
an improvement on its predecessor, and flights were made which, in
their day, created a considerable amount of interest.

In 1905 their first ship was completed. This was a very small
non-rigid of only 12,500 cubic feet capacity. The envelope was made of
Japanese silk, cylindrical in shape, with rather blunt conical