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Goodyear RS-1
The Goodyear RS-1 was the first semi-rigid airship built in the United States. The dirigible was designed by chief aeronautical engineer and inventor, Herman Theodore Kraft of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for the United States Army Air Service in the late 1920s. Goodyear built only one airship of this type. Design and developmentThe construction contract for the RS-1 was awarded to the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation by the US Army at a cost of $475,000. Main components of the RS-1 were assembled in 1924 at the Goodyear hangar at Wingfoot Lake in Suffield, Ohio. The airship was designed by Goodyear engineer and inventor, Herman Theodore Kraft who consulted with noted Italian semi-rigid airship designer, Colonel Umberto Nobile. Components for the dirigible were shipped to Scott Field, Illinois for assembly in the base's 810 foot airship hangar in early 1925.[1] The initial flight of the RS-1 was postponed due to an error made by a rigger during assembly. On January 8, 1926, the airship's first flight was made with a crew of eight men and lasted just over an hour. The RS-1 was 282 feet (85.9 m) long and had a gas volume of 720,000 cu ft (20,388,130 L) and was initially powered by four 300 horsepower, 12 cylinder Liberty engines. In 1927, the Liberty engines were replaced with weight-saving 500 horsepower, 2A-1500 Packard engines. [1] A 35 ft (10.7 m) enclosed control car was suspended from the keel at the nose. The control car included a radio compartment, sleeping accommodations and a small galley. Equipment included a bombing cockpit and the ability to carry 3,500 lb (1,588 kg) of bombs, as well as machine gun mounts on each side at the forward end of the car. The primary purpose of the RS-1 was for the Army to study and evaluate the performance and capabilities of the semi-rigid type of airship. Following its maiden flight in January 1926, The RS-1 made several more flights until November 1928, when it was ordered grounded after an inspection revealed deterioration of the envelope. Due to the poor economic conditions on the cusp of the Great Depression, a replacement envelope was ultimately never ordered and the RS-1 never flew again. For over a year, the dirigible remained in the hanger at Scott Field and was eventually dismantled. Components of the RS-1, including the control car, keel, engine gondolas, control surfaces, cables and various parts were sold to a scrap dealer for $900.[1] However, when Air Corps personnel inspected the Goodyear plant in early May 1930, a complete spare envelope for the RS-1 was discovered, along with large quantities of sheet and tubular duralumin, forms, jigs, patterns and dies left over from the airship's original purchase contract, No.562. The Army had provided for Goodyear to retain these materials for three years after the experimental airship's delivery. It was recommended that most of the materials be returned to Wright Field, the envelope, and cardboard ballonet and cantonary templates being recommended for destruction.[2] OperatorsSpecificationsData from [1]Flight 25 March 1926 General characteristics
Performance
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References
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