Vintage work crew photos

[Denis G]

According to the article provided by Denis G the tube being at the angle positioned near the prop was to force air into the ballonets the small tube would have been for venting said air.
Kind of an interesting way of controlling altitude plus ascending and descending. Also it would be a delicate balance between slightly compressing the helium by reducing its free volume with the air in the ballonets the air would also become denser under a slightly higher pressure making it negatively buoyant

Here's an "unclassified" manual for flying a K-Type airship if you ever find yourself in the pilot's seat:
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_poli...lot_manual.pdf
Page 22 describes the "Envelope Pressure Control System" and the functions of the fore and aft ballonets.

The previous section contains a detailed tally of the weight of the components in the airship including the machine gun and ammo.
(I don't think that I'd like the job manning the machine gun.)