The artist Gary M James has kindly provided this revealing image of the control car of NS3 during its modification by Flight Commander J. S. Wheelwright and station engineering officer Lieutenant Commander A. S. Abell at East Fortune, Scotland. Their scheme to improve the initial design configuration of the NS-Class was to combine the control and engine cars into one long enclosed car which allowed the control car section to be slung closer to the envelope. NS4 was similarly modified, with the remaining airships using a two-car ‘Kingsnorth’ design.
It is also known that due to the problems with the complicated drive shafts required for the Rolls Royce engines, these were replaced with 240hp FIAT engines. The engines in this view have yet to be identified but they don’t appear to be 240hp FIATs such as the A12.
Gary has undertaken extensive research of NS-Class airships for his series of paintings A Voyage to the Interior, a fantasy journey of a North Sea airship over Africa. We will be taking a look at Gary’s work in an upcoming feature on this site, but in the meantime visit www.voyageart.co.uk
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