Abstract
THE Prime Minister's announcement in Parliament upon the future policy of airship development gave little cause for surprise, and must presumably be received in the spirit of half a loaf being better than none. The Government was faced with three courses of action: (1) To continue on a programme of new ships, carrying on the development as experience dictates; (2) to cease entirely, disposing of R100, turning the Cardington works to other uses, and terminating our responsibilities to the authorities who erected the various colonial mooring masts as best we can; (3) to recondition the existing airship, and find sufficient money to allow a limited experimentation to proceed along lines that the Simon inquiry and the Aeronautical Research Committee have suggested. The Government has chosen the last course, stating that it hopes that the use of the ship will serve to supplement the model experiments already made, will keep together a small nucleus of trained men, and will add its quota to the relieving of the local unemployment problem. It is estimated that sums of £120,000, £130,000, and £140,000 should be sufficient for this during the next three financial years. It is hoped that the various Governments concerned will agree to maintain their own airship stations where in existence.
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News and Views. Nature 127, 788–794 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/127788c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/127788c0