ZPG Airship Faces Severe Icing Conditions

 

ZPG Airship Faces Severe Icing Conditions

DECEMBER 4--On one flight of a project set up to evaluate the all-weather capabilities of airships, Lieutenant Commander Charles A. Mills operated a ZPG airship in the vicinity of South Weymouth, Mass., in an ice-accreting experiment unparalleled in lighter-than-air history. In spite of heavy airship icing, propeller icing, severe vibration and flying ice particles, Mills piloted his airship, directed the collection of data, returned to the field under instrument conditions, and made a ground controlled approach landing in a manner that retained a maximum amount of ice on the ship for analysis on the ground. For his achievement on this and other flights during the evaluation, Lieutenant Commander Mills was awarded the 1956 Harmon International Trophy for Aeronauts.

 
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