Apart from these occasional visits to a shed, the airship, in the
ordinary way at the end of a voyage, will pick up its moorings as
does the big steamer, and land its passengers and cargo, at the
same time replenishing its supplies of fuel, gas, provisions,
etc., while minor repairs to the machinery can be carried out as
she rides in the air.

A completely satisfactory solution of the mooring problem for the
rigid airship has yet to reach its consummation. We saw in the
previous chapter how, in the case of small non-rigids, they were
sheltered in berths cut into woods or belts of trees, but for the
rigid airship something more secure and less at the mercy of the
elements is required.

At the present moment three systems of mooring are in an
experimental stage: one, known as "the single-wire system," is
now practically acknowledged to fall short of perfection; the
second, "the three-wire system," and the third, "mooring to a
mast," both have their champions, but it is probable that the
last will be the one finally chosen, and when thoroughly tried
out with its imperfections eliminated will satisfy the most
exacting critics.

The single-wire system is at the same time the simplest and most
obvious method which suggests itself, and means that the ship is
secured by a wire cable attached to a suitable point in the ship
and led to some fixed point on the ground. It has been found
that an airship secured in this way requires constant attention,
and that steering is always necessary to render her steady in the
air. Considerable improvement is obtained if a dragging weight