§ The SECRETARY of STATE for AIR (Sir Samuel Hoare)As the answer contains a number of figures I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate ii. in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the, answer:
§ In answer to the first part of the question R.101 is the Cardington airship, and I presume the hon. Member intends to refer to the two new airships, R.100 and R.101. The contract price for R.100 is £300,000, and in addition a contribution of £50,000 has been made towards the capital expenditure incurred by the contractors. The estimated cost of construction of R.101 at Cardington is £200,000 in direct charges, not including overheads, which cannot at present be estimated with any degree of exactitude. The answers to the. second, third and fourth parts are £95,000, £46,000 and £235,000, these figures being all approximate and the last especially tentative. The Egyptian mast-is to be at Ismailia, not Cairo
§ Sir S. HOAREIt is proposed to use hydrogen gas for the experimental flights to Egypt and the East without any admixture of helium, as helium has only been produced commercially in the United States, and its export from that country has been prohibited. The cost of hydrogen gas produced at the Royal Airship Works by the water-gas process is about 10s. per 1,000 cubic feet. If produced by a silicol plant such as is installed at Pulham, the cost is about 30s. per 1,000 cubic feet. Silicol plants are being installed in Egypt and India, as their capital cost is much less than that of water-gas plants. It is impossible until further experience has been acquired to give any reliable estimate of the cost of hydrogen gas in Egypt and India.