This was in order
that the empty vessels might be thrown overboard when it was
necessary to lighten the balloon.
The other sections of the car were each 8 feet long and decreasing
in height from 6 feet next the cabin to 5 feet at the end of the
car. In the two sections just forward of the cabin and in the two
just aft provision had been made for attaching the eight liquid
hydrogen casks--four at each end. As this liquid was reconverted
into gas the light sheet-iron casings might likewise be cast
overboard to lighten the balloon. As needed, the liquid hydrogen
jars, coated with mercury, were to be taken from their casings and
carried to the bridge where the reconverter was located.
Aft of the engine cabin was the store room for water and provisions.
The grooves and rods for the counterweights and equilibrium adjuster
ran in the middle of the upper footway and the propeller shaft
rested on the bottom of the forward section of the car.
At ten o'clock that evening all the work on the car was finished
except the buckling on of the aluminum silk sides and the hanging of
the propeller, the rudder and the aeroplane sides.
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