Having made clear that the airship is the only means of transatlantic flight on a paying basis, the next point to be considered is the type of dirigible necessary. A discussion at present of the size of the airships that will link Europe and America can be little more substantial than guesswork. The British dirigible _R-34_, which last year made the famous pioneer voyage between England and the United States, is too small for commercial purposes, with its disposable lift of twenty-nine tons and its gas capacity of less than two million cubic feet. Experts have predicted the use of airships of five million and ten million cubic feet capacity, with respective weights of thirty tons and one hundred tons available for passengers and freight. It is probable, however, that such colossi must await birth for many years, and that a beginning will be made with moderate-sized craft of about three million, five hundred thousand cubic feet capacity, similar to those that serve as the basis of the estimates for a service between London and New York. A combination of British interests is planning to send ships of this type all over the world. These can be built immediately, and there are already in existence suitable sheds to house them. Details of their structure and capabilities may be of interest. [Illustration: LUCKY JIM AND TWINKLETOE, THE MASCOTS] [Illustration: THE TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT ENDED WITH A CRASH IN AN IRISH BOG] The projected airship of three million, five hundred thousand cubic feet capacity is capable of carrying a useful load of fifteen tons (passengers and mails) for a distance of forty-eight hundred miles in eighty hours, at the normal cruising speed. The total lifting power is one hundred and five tons, and the disposable lift (available for fuel, oil, stores, crew, passengers and freight) is sixty-eight tons. The maximum engine power is thirty-five hundred h. p., the maximum speed seventy-five miles an hour. The normal flying speed, using a cruising power of two thousand h. p., is sixty miles an hour. The overall length is eight hundred feet, the maximum diameter and width one hundred feet, and the overall height one hundred and five feet. These particulars and performances are based on present design, and on the results attained with ships of two million cubic feet capacity, now in service. The figures are conservative, and it is probable that a disposable lift greater than that of the specifications will be obtained as a result of improved structural efficiency.