Show MAST FOR NAVY BLIMPS IS NEW INVENTION will revolutionize handling of big airship and do away with big ground crews new bork A mobile mooring mast mounted on heavy caterpillar tractors which la expected to revolutionize handling big airships and do away with large ground crews to get such craft in and out ot their hangars Is under construction for the united states navy and will be delivered early this summer at the lakehurst N J naval air base for bets the dirigible los angeles it Is a three legged stub affair only CO feet in height being similar to the stub mast successfully used in panama on the los angeles recent caribbean cruise except that the lat ter was stationary the movable mast will be used both tor mooring out purposes on the field and for docking and andack f au to IM st ing the airship in the huge shed that houses her the procedure will be to moor the dirigible to the mast which will then haul her tug like into the hangar included in the stub Is a large pneumatic tired wheel to which the stern of the airship Is at tacked it acts as a caster allowing the ships ahll to swing with the wind but keeping it from moving either up or down to protect the airship against sudden side gusts of wind thui might crush her against the hanga lines will be attached to her sides m points of vantage and secured to trac tors running on rails leading into the hangar not only Is the stub mast far cheaper than the towering structures heretofore utilized at the ford airport in detroit and elsewhere bat it Is said by rear admiral william A moffett chief of the navy bureau of aeronautics and other experts to be more satisfactory because it aill keep the dirigible oear the ground where air currents are less treacherous than at an altitude of feet or more if the movable mast proves a success it will solve one of the greatest problems which has baffled lighter than air experts in establishing airship travel on a commercial basis ground handling heretofore baring been an almost prohibitive factor for private operation |