Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Balloons and Airships, 1783-197
Balloons and Airships, 1783-197
Lennart Ege
fl"
. III.:mJlrrJ
Lennart Ege
BALLOONS AND
AIRSHIPS
1783- 1973
by
LENNA RT E GE
Editor of the English edition
KENNETH MUNSON
from translation prepared by
ER I K H I LDESHE I M
Illustrated by
OTTO FRELLO
BLA
LO DON
DFO RD PR ESS
RrfWUtltd '974
English text
'973 Hlandford Press Ltd
167 High Holbom, London WCI V 6PII
World Copyright C '973
Politikens Forlag A / S
Copenhagen
ISB~
0 "37
o~
E C UNTY UnRARY
01201181
PREFACE
I
l
---- ford-aste of the strange contraptions that will carry coming generations into outer space.
In our search for something of any substance, we came across
a French source which tells of 1\ missionary who once found, in
:lrchives in Peking, a report of the way the civilised nations of the
east IOlved the problem of aerial navigation by means ofballoons,
centuries before the Europeans. And herewith we approach the
.ubstance of the problem: there never has been a true fl)'ing
human being and there will never be one. Man is defeated by
the fact that the weight of the human body is out of proportion
to its muscular strength. However ingenious the flying machine
schemes may be, they all have one defect in common: their lack of
a mechanical power source. Down through the yean many
designs have been tried out. With .orne of these contraptions
jumps have been made from roofs and towers; they usually
ended disaJtrowly.
Man's first idea was to copy the flight of birds, the 'heavierthan-air' principle. It had lo be abandoned for a while and at
the ~inning of the seventeenth century a new conception came
about: air trowel had to be tackJed on the 'Iighter-than-air' basis.
nle French author J e..m-Savinien Cyrano de Bcrgerac (16191655) was one of the first to realise this possibility. Around 1650
he wrote some fiction novels about travels to the moon and the
sun. This prophetic Frenchman worked out these trips by means
of a girdle lo which were fastened bottles filled with dew. ~ the
sunbeams he;!.ted the bottles their content became lighter, 10 the
wearer of the girdle climbed skywards. Adjustment of the altitude
was very simple: one bottle - or more - was simply smashed.
This method worked, in theory at least, because he was on the
right track even though he failed fuUy to realise the scope of his
idea: the finding of a substance lighter than air. For argument's
sake he even mentioned some lightweight tanks that climbed
when smoke was produced inside them. If the author had carried
his thought a bit further, and had provided a hole in the bottom
of his tanh, right then and there we sbould have had our first
conception of the hot-air balloon.
The Italian scientist Galileo ('564-1642) had already proved,
ea rly in the ICvcnteenth cen tury, that air has weight. J fe first
weighed some air-fLlled bottles, tllen the $.1.me ones again after
the air had been evacuated from them.
6
10
Rlaid linhip
7.
8.
9.
10.
t I.
i,m:r."
14. 8rl Ie
IS. Sulrw2y to airshi p hull
16. Water lullut release
25.
26.
27.
t ion
20. Water
ballast
28.
(for emer,ency
relHH)
"
said to have been built in 1852, but if so itJ power.plant and fate
arc unknown. However, the rcsultJ aebieved with the Jullien
airship model proved an inspiration to the French engineer
Henri Giffard, who did succeed in producing a small and light
steam engine and thereby truly inaugurated the airship era.
The varied story of the development of the balloon and
the airship, with itJ abundant triumphs and failures, is told
in the type descriptions in the tat that follow and is also illustrated in the colour plates. It becomes evident that no balloon
ascent was ever a routine matter, nor ever will be. And every
time an airship climbs skywards, be it in times of war or peace,
the reigning atmosphere on board is akin to that of the pioneering
daY'.
The balloon has not become an anachronism; indeed it is still
'going strong' today. At first, balloons were used as an exhibition
stunt at public displays. Later, they served scientists as research
vehicles; were employed as instrumcnu of war; and, more
happily, have become the attractive mountJ of keen sportsmen.
By an odd chain of development ballooning, which began with
the hot-air type, has now traversed the full circle until today a
modern version of the same type is used alongside the gas- filled
variety.
The future course of the airship is slightly more complicated
to plot. Admittedly, small non-rigid airships, mainly of Goodyear
manufacture, are still to be seen used for advertising in the skies
of Europe and America; and as rttently as Mareh 1972 a
192.5 ft (S87m) long Goodyear advertising and TV airship
named Europa was built in the historical Cardington airship shed
in Bcdfordshire. However, no really large passenger airship of
the rigid type has now been built for more than thirty years. It
is also a fact that the term 'Zeppelin' has become synonymous
with tlle concept of all large airships, and from as long ago as
World War 1 some still associate these giant air monsters with a
n~w ~nd terrible form of warfare or with massive disasters. Iflarge
airships are ever to stage a comeback-and they still have their
advocates as well ;u their antagonists-it will most likely be as
pure cargo carriers.
Some of the present advocates of airship revival include voices
from out of the past, so to speak. They number, among others,
lhe former American airship commander, Admiral Charles E.
air voyage.
To deal with the unavoidable drawbacks as well (wlrich can
never be entirely eliminated from passenger accommodation or
cargo facilities), it must be pointed out that the modern airship
must necessarily be of large dimensions; lengths of about 1,475 ft
"
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9. HoIdln, cable
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1 The MOlltsol.fl.er brother. - bt_ ..to ... or the man -arrybaa: botd .. balIOOll
The brothers Joteph and 1'.tienne
Montgolfu:r came from Vidalon.le._
Annonay, near Lyow, a ,mall town in
"",them )o"rance. Jooeph (1740=1810)
_
the rlrlt 10 become interetkd in
aeronautical matten. ThiI led 10 his
mIOkilll" lOme small paruhulel and he
alto pondered how 10 produce an '.ir
machine' to be lilled wilh a gas lighter
than amx:.pheric air. H.iI brother
ttienne ('74S 1799) tnUn<:<! .. an
.rch.iled in pan., and was then ..ked
by hil fathet 10 -eIUe in Vidalon 10 take
over and manage, joinlly with his
brolller, the paper mill owned by the
family. JOlCph'. idelll lOOn attracted
him and ~ther the brothcn began
10 carry out a number of e:xperimen ..
with omall balloon. made of ~per,
which they lillcd with IIeam; ror from
obletvation of eloud formatio<u they
had concluded that these provided
TTleanli of producing lifting power.
ilowever, they soon. dropped the idea
of pNiiwding along these linea linoe
Ihe balIooru coIlapecd almost immediately.
The two Monlgolfiu brothcn had
read the ClAy of the Engliah phyaic:ilt
JQKPh Prie.t1ey containing hio obtervalM>ns abou t various gases. particularly hydrogen (or, .. it _ then called,
'inllammable air'). By ot.erving the
rising 1IDOk.e and .pub from a lireplaoe, however, the Montgolfien were
0( the opinion that then: mIDt be an
easier way of making a balloon rise.
They auumed that in the plC- _. of
burning IOIlIC lOr! of gal was produced
which ........,honally became visible ..
anok.e, but thil wu an eilOhCOUS deduction. What actually tlk.. place it
th.t aire:xpanda .. it iI heated, whereby
iu lpeeilic gravity iI IOW1:red. Though
the brothera WeI not realise why the
heated air .cted .. it WeI they oontin\Kd
"~
sum,
"
"'loon _
The fillilll _
completed in Ie. than leD minulCl,
which _
very Cut compucd to Ihe
blc time raz~ to ptoduce cou..
puable quantity 01 bycIrosen.. Mer
the lut 01 throe cannoQ ebob had b E-1'1
fired (they ,",ae to t"I'''t a tnodition
at Ihe balloon 'IWlI. 01 that puOod)
the balloon rcae majeJtieal.Iy .nd
bud away, "(companied by many
chccn. It must have been Cantan ic
licht, with tbc &boond'nlly embellbbed
ballooo. the picturaque dI :, 01 the
apec:t.aton and, not leu!, the beautiful
ca'tle in ill wondedullCttiD(. AItroacF
men preICIlt with !heir teJe.oopc:o ,",ae
able to "poi t that the .. 110m had
diD1bcd to an altitude 01 diJhtly lDOIe
that 1,640ft (soam) Won il 'and I
c:iabt minutct taler in the V.utI" COIl
gO
''0"'"
01
.pec:l.&ton
Wse
_..ta.
II
I0Il'>(;
J. A.
ltIOie
opu.t;"" with
rwo
,killed
.!on,.
99
.,....,1
G....
'0'
u"
."
,""*"
'''+
..,
ma~ 10
"'"The""'balloon
. lCCuon fully lived up
10
1 A..
J.
'0,
,.,
"'.
F
ill still on file in the Public Record
Office. In iI, in DiLllish, are printed
ilUll'UCliolU 'To the Finder' from
Colding, repeating King Fredcrik',
command of 8 May 1808 from the
Danish headquaners in Copc:ntagen
informing everybody of 'our lII0I1
gr.u::iow will that Candidate Colding
carry OUI or:na.in KrOItatie expetimc:nu
at the Great Belt, making il incumbent
on all our public laVantJ or who ebc
;1 be not 10 binder him in any way,
bUI to IiUppon bill wk to the best ~
their ability and band in the letten
10 the ncuut telegraph olfu:e for
.pecdy transmission, Ihowing this Royal
Order and, upon demand, be paid
tuitable rev..ard'. They are to add an
endonemenl about the location where
the air machine wu found.
When Ihortly afterward. King Gustar
III of Sweden wlU avaninated, one of
those involved fled to Denmark and,
convinced that bill native country
would be best off by joining the Q)Il1.bined rulenhip of the kin!, of Oenl1Ull'k
and Norway in a united Scandinavia,
printed a pamphlet to penuade the
Swedes to switch their allegiance to the
Danish king. Frederik VI seized the
oppurtunity and loll no time in having
a large quantity 0( thtIC pamphleU
ICDt to Colding with inlltr\J.etiom to
despatch the copies to Sweden by
balloon when the wind wu favourable.
In those rqionll the westerly winds
predominate, and m in the ahadow ~
the ghost of Hamlet thill aeronaut reo
le"S-d a MHoon allMlt daily, each
carrying So pamphleu from his
quarten at the Kronbort castle in
Elsinore. They could generally be
obllcrved to daccnd on the other lide
in Scania. The guardI 011 coastal duty
had orden to tum in their c&l1S0Ci to
the local go'VentOI' for dotrueticm, but
in the beginning they were reluctant
to approach thtIC 'trange aerial
visiton. When in time a tpCCimcn wu
'"
or
or
Gttn'" IV &JaJ
ar
or
..so
'"
or Henri Curard
the French engineer Henri
(1825-1882) is gencrnlly credited with the distinction of producing
the world'. fint lruly dirigible (steerable) ainhip. Already at an early age
Giffard made a fortune from his
various inventions fOl' the improvement
ofJocomoti~'C: steam engines. He gained
his first aeronaulical c:s:pericncc from
the building of giant balloons fOl'
exhibition purposes. Thull he designed
a large captive balloon for the World'.
Fair in Paris in 1867 which provided
the public with a bird's eye view of the
fairgrounds. This was Giffard', largest
captive balloon and became a popular
fcalun:; a IOtal of 35,000 people
received their 'air baptism' in this way.
Another of his captive balloons, named
Q,P!j~, saw serviee in London in 186g
and WIU later converted into the free
balloon u PdJ, Nord. It was wcd by
the well-known Frencb actOoaut Guton
Tillandier 10 coIleet money for the
pola r explorer Guslave Lambert.
After his fint lUCent in a free balloon
Giffard decided to try his hand as an
a[iShip designer. His fint attcrnpt was
a 144 ft (44 m) long non-rigid aiiShip
with a diameter of 39'4 ft (12 m) and
a volume of 88,287 cu.ft (2,500 cu.rn).
The envelope was tapered al both
ends and coverai completely with a nel
to which a 66 ft (20 rn) long pole was
attached, with a triangulaT sail-Iikc
rudder affixed to the rear end. A sm.1I
gondola could just bold the aeronaul
and the Iteam. engine. The latter was
of Giffard's own design, weighed only
99'11 Ib (4~ kg) and was able 10
develop 3 hp. yet the total weight,
indudiog boiler, fin: tray, water and
fuel, amounled to oo1y 551 Ib (250 kg).
The three-bladed propeller bad a
diameter of about 108 ft (sgo m).
This .mall ainhip left the ground
(or Ihe lint time at the Hippodrom.
'"
u,
"'loon _
"-.
Lowe'.
"*
j<.
Jow:pb Henry, a n!CoI"iled
Kieoltilt 01 the SMithtoni'n InIlitution
in Wath.in(ton. D.C., who had aIIo
acted u adviler 10 Wile, lUiiated
now that Lowe abo Woo,1d m.altc a
IonS en :tlUntry t.l1oon trip before
he attempted apilllO 00. the Atlantic
by ap.. Lowe (0110"" I this advice and
kI\ immediately lOr Cincinnati with
hit balloon
01 ~.,o cu.n
(~70 cu.m) which be IIICd lOrahibition
purP1' 1elMer wailinf 10""( tilnc for
air wealhcr be finally let OUI in April
1861 on alonrtrip sao. V.rginia and,
when 6n.ally landw, in South Carolina,
he had w.aed a dittance 0I..ne Wo
mila (.,000 bn). Unexpa::ttd IIrIOn(
winds bIowi"! (rom the north had
(orced hiM down at Pea Ridge ncar
lhe lown 01 Unionville (now Union).
During Lowe'. balloon MCenI the Civil
Wu betWCU"l the Northern and Con
Itdaate Slata had lUrted, and he WIll
Pro(,
..
e.",,.u.
...
ana
June,
year. in
I W.....,_
...... ._._.......-v...........
...:.,
,
I
T,_
M_,-.
rounc
. ...
uoa.
PI....
.,
yean.
I~
_fr_
"*
a ...,,1(
tWIHtcwq'
IIUQUIlICt
wpe
cotta.e.
,,'
"1
or
rrom,
or
<s,,"
,,'
-2fi-c.
an ampk
marp.
II ,. 7'
Doe of the stranpt chapten in the
history of 1.llooniDc. AI well AI in the
".
:r
'"
'"
at
W_',
p<4ocL
la
'"
Ui
~_tJy
M""
' '3
race
rt
.Ia_'
rum.
Thb partkular ainhip projec;t was
bul lOme
valuable ape! ieilCC had been gaiDcd
rrom it; fint lhat a inhi .. could he con
Jidcrcd dirigible to lOme Ottenl and,
I\!condiy, that (urther exploitation of
thiI ~bility caUed for a really power(ul CIIIine thai could driV'C an ainbip
forward al a greater Ipeed than any
rmvailing wind.
not ckvclopcd any rurther,
'"
......
<Iou".
,,.
.u
kmfltr)
The Britiab Army baDooIUI
The Brit4h Army introduced ballooru
among ill equipment in 1878 when the
Woolwich Anocnal in London began to
build balloons under the direction 01
Captains R. P. Lee andJ. 1... B. Tem~
Id". This new dC\"Clopmcnl proved
to promising that in 1879 a ..:parate
~1100n IeCtion for obIervation balloom
wu formed. PiMCW, of I 0,000 cu.n (liB!
cu.m). hca.me ill fint hydeosen balloon, and made ill fint uccnt 00 113
August 1878. By 18811 the Balloon
Equipment Store, at the Ketion wu
known, had gained general'OCOChition,
and in October of IIlat year was Iran.rared to Cbatha.m, Kent. when: it was
_!TIed to the School of Military
Engineering.
The anaIl Balloon btablishmen t...
it waf I'I>named a rea r lata, was very
activt: during the Ilext few year., and
!IO
"7
or
or
or
,,'
'"
wise unhanned, whereas the little airahip which had COlt 10 much en~ to
build relCmbled nothing so much M a
huge, comprcacd ball of silver-paper
on the ground.
Yet the bold pioneering enlcrprix of
David Schwartz and his collaboraton
had not been completely in vain, for it
bad been proved that a metal ainhip
was capable of leaving the gtoWld, and
later alrabip des1gnen were to benefit
from the cxpcric:nca gained from the
construction of the Schwam ainhip.
'13 The Saltto..Da.m.ont series of
atr.hiJd
Alberto Santos-Dumont, the small
Brazilian dandy, was without any
doubt one of the mOln colourful IigumI
in the long gallery of aeronautical
pionccn. Hill family wealth sprang from
South American coffee plantations, but
he hinuclflived and worked most of the
lime in and around Paris. He footed the
bill for more than a dozen small airship', most of which were his own
creations. All of them .w:n:: powered by
petrol engines.
Santos-Dumont was born in 18g1
and left hill native country at the age of
18, heading for an education in the
French capital where the new-fangled
automobila and baUooning caught hU
fancy. Following bis lint ascent, in a
balloon belonging to the French aer0naut Akxis Machuron, he built one for
his pcnona1 usc. It was of 3,990 cu.rt
( 113 cu.m) capacity and named B'II~il.
but his interest inclined towards the
elongated ainhip variety and he hit
upon the sensible idea of picking ooe
of the light and efficient de Dion
Bouton automobile engines M his power
plant. The outcome was SanIOl
Dumont', 'No. I', which ....'111 B~ n (~5
m) long, with a maximum diameter of
11'5 ft (3'5 m), and had a gas content
of 6,360 cu.n ( ISo cu.m). It made illl
lint trial run on 18 September 18gB,
'3'
'3'
but then it mUll in faim_ be remembered too thai he nevtt receiva:l any
govcmmeflt aupport. He alway. remained an individualist. In thc: book
that Santol-Dumont wrote. entitled
M~ AirmifU, he exp.. ~d dun.igbted
viewt; about two af the technical wonden af his day, the ainbip and the
IUbmarine. when be stated that under
hoItile condilioru they could be deadly
ad\'cnario, with the former a natural
oppc -;"' of the laUer, if confronted.
Two world wan wue later to prove
bow right he-.
Around 1905 Santo.-Oumontloit his
inluut in ainhiptl and bepn to devote
hia attention to beavicr-thanair eraft
instead, and although be abo made
80mC piOgh:W in that fidd (ICC Pi_
Ajrtnft 1903- 1914- in this JCrics). be ill
remembered bu:t for hill early aploita-
Ea,le'
Chid' enginccr Salomon AUfUlt An_
dree, who headed the Swedilb patent
off.oe, was born in 1 8~ and beume
Sweden'. lint active balloon pilot.
Aodr6e became inlU'tlted in ba]1oon_
ing during hit .tay in America in 1876,
where he met the pioncc:r aeronaut
John Wile and _
to have gone up
with him. Wile had by then given up
hill own plans of c::ro.ing the Atlantic
by balloon, butllill held extended balloon tripilO be feasible.
Andm: participated as an engineer
.'
."
.tart-
wee'"
rroot of the
bal.
loon in the direc:tion of the wind, but
one of the connection u ' 'II had aeci
dentally disuC'Iw', 'T'bey ..CiC unable
10 .e>:ilOtdy thiI and ,,"ac hi&hly "hll' icd,
at they knew how much lton: the _
nautl .a by thac drat!: linea. Suon 71w
&Ill dilappcarat be10w the horizon
and W&I neh. to be Ken again. 11le
oruy news ~iva:! from Andrtc in the
days that followed W&I a m 'ge despatthed by earner pigeon whkh on
1,5 July wa. .hot and picked up at IICIo
by a NlX"fit,ian wbaling boat. It read
'AlI'1 well on board. This iI OW' thin::!
eatricr picton despatch'. Two limilar
mc.acu driIKd athore with buoys in
had been laid out in
tricbm.o.a.
".,546
ran
3O,*n
"' ....
26 Zeppdia LZ
,..,
'S<
."X.
u.
aae
'3'
Spedfication of LZ 1
Volume : 399,054 cu.n ( 11,500 cu.m)
kwlllt: <f!IO ft (lilS m)
~:39'4fi ( tl '7m)
Opn-rJliolllll "iIi"1
(tll!~'Oretical):
3,1I7n(950m)
ZeppeUn LZ 7 ' Deuumland'
(Germany)
A decade after Count Zeppelin rose:: for
the fint lime from Lake Constance ill
his LZ 1 he "'u beginning to achieo.'e
lOme considerable IV:..., hut had
also luffered lOme aevere ICtbacks, nOI
to mention an occuional financial
crisis. In the peniltc:nt punuit of his
airship goal most his personal meatU
hw bcco spenl. Right from the ltan
the Zeppelin ainhips were planned aa
fonnidable wcapons for a future ....-ar, 10,
greal patriot that he was, Count Zeppelin grieved that the military authori
tiel had withheld money for their
il7
or
' 37
sa
"s
Huao
tome
WCN'lr.mcn.
jured.
A. a rcpla.ccrncnt ainhip, DELAG
rcecivcd on 30 Much ' 91 ' Erkl~
DnlIsdiItuuJ or DnasdrJimd II, which had
been built quickly, to lIOffie ew:tcnt from.
salVAfCd. parU of LZ 7, but i~ career
wu brief 100. After only three Rights
this airship was b.dly damaged while
bcin, hauled out 01 its shed.
The engines iru..IWI in the Zeppc1in ainhi~ bcfon: WOI'ld War 1 were
DOt very po"'Clful, 10 the craft lacked
the speed fOl' maintaining rqular
lIchedulcd tcrvic:a; C\fCil . " a number
01 German cities built .inhip Ihcds
from. which the DELAG Ikct of airshi~ made almoIt daily auitcs or
iICClal boon' duration. I n this manner
a great number of vcntmuomc people
rcech'Cd their air baptism .nd ~
Wle of future .ir travel, and hac it
mighl be mentioned that the big Ger.
man steamship COI'I1pany H.rnburgAmerilr.a Line wu a financial partner
in DE.l.t\G and acted as its liclr.ct
agcnu. It it.J.) worth mentioning that
C\fCil the ubiquitous iJMHtT did not
mill the 'airbo.at'. I n several of these
,8
1+.99 ' Ib
(6,800 kg)
Mo:ri_ JpnJ, 37'3 m.p.h. (60
km/hr)
OpntJIitwuJi crilint: 6.560 ft (il,ooo rn)
Mo.n- 'PI': about ',243 mila
(2,000
Jr.m)
' 59
I
The Rl/*bIiqw ainhip w.u a typical
exponent of tbe Lebaudy-Julliot deligm. It made ill maiden voyage from
the yard in MoQIon, some thirty mila
(,50 bn) outlide Paris, on 24June 1908,
and wu accepted by the Fren<:h Army
shortly afierwarna. On 6 Septemocr
that year it completed a non-,Iop
flight of 6, haun' duration tova'ing
124 milts (200 km) at an average lpeed
d 1~2 m.p.h. (30-35 kmfhr). Mler
several other IUo..' ful flighll Rif*/lfique, uoou the command of Captain3
Bois and Fleuri, participated in the
military mana:uvCC!! in Bourbonnais in
central France, which began on 3 September 19o9. When on iJ5 September
the ainhip left La Paliue, north-cast
of Vichy. to return to ill base at
Chalais-Meudon, one of the propcllen
broke and p~aeed the balloon envelope.
RI/Nhliqw plunga:! to the ground from
an altitude of 6sG n (200 m) and wu
completely wrecked, and two officen
were killed.
I n t915 Julliot emigrated to America
where he occame head of Goodrich'.
aircrafi division and daigned lOme
small blimp. and varioo,q obtervation
balloons..
....
V~Il1lIt;
wt
'..
'.'
.'
'<'
SpedfleuloD or PL 27
VDlum.t; 1,IOS,3+1- cu.ft (31,300
cu.m)
Ln!&1h: ~IS'I n ( IS7 m)
Dianu:tn; /4S fl ( 19'6 m)
nKiNl: Two Jl40 h.p. Maybach
CTllitilIl JpmJ: 56 m.p.h. (go kmfhr)
O~f1ljOtllll uWng; 14,76S ft (4,500
m)
"
'.,
S.
Sp~d6cation
of'NWli Secundu.s'
YolulM: 56,000 cu.n (I ,~ cu.m)
l.c!g/Jt: 1110 ft (S6-6 m)
Dil11NUr.- 116 n (7'9 m )
&gitu: One 50 h.p. Antoinette
MlJJIimum spud: 16 m.p.h. (~6
km/h<)
'..
.. .
"
'"
or
.,'
..,
..
,"
I
I
,,...
km/hr)
C" w: II men
34 The WWo_ alnhip.
meat Thompson Willows ( 1886-1936)
was the lOll ofa Cardiff dentist, but airlhipl were his main interest, and today
he is remembered as the only true
British airship pioneer. Already in '905,
at the age of ninetcc:n, he completed hu
fint ainhip, of 12,000 CU.ft. (S40 eu.m)
capacity. In November 1909 thc:rc. followed Ihe fint flight of hu Wil/oWJ Il,
of 2
ClI.ft (595 cu.m) capacity,
which aJso carried only one penon. The
envdope cover "'"as really balloon
',000
with a Wile lending it&elf to mechanical propuWon. Its wpe was main_
tained by mtanI of a ,58 ft. ( I 7"7 m)
long bamboo and steel tube bar IUSpended from a lirong canvas band
sewn round the bottom part of the
envelope along ita full length. The
envelope also was kept fully inflated by
means of an interior ballonet, tile cubic
capacity ofwhich was 10 per cen t of tile
main mvelopc, A triangular steel cage,
ruspc:nded by cabla below the boom,
carried the engine and a _t for the
pilot. A balanaxl rudder wilh fIXed
horizontal stabilising lUna ..... was at_
tached at the rc:&l end of the boom. The
ruddcr had no area of 56 sq.n (5'2
sq,m). There WaJ no elevator, but the
airship would climb or d: 1:end when
the two counter-rotating Handley Page
propeI1cn were moved up....ards and
downwards to alter their angle ofthrulll.
This wu a novel and original idea,
introduced by Willows and laler
adopted for lOme of the British Army
ainhipa built at the Balloon Faetory at
Farnborough, If a eustomer had come
forward who wished to order an airship
of bigger aize than Wil/owr JJ he couki
easily have bec:n accommodated in this
mpect, but the main concc:rn of the
airship deaigner was to prove hu layout
a pnetical one. When v."ed for military
purposa it WIlt an additional advantage that the Willow, ainhip .... as easy
10 dismantle and trampor! on a honedrawn carriage.
At 6-45 in the morning of .. JUlIe
1910 WilloWI ascended from his work$hop on East Moon, outside Cardiff,
and ItVm minuta later landed close
by the Town HalJ. Thirty minuta later
he lOOk off again and returned 10 hu
workshop where he stored the ainhip
in its small Ihed. He JpCnt the night
himsdf in a little hut on lop of the roof
of the Ihed 10 guard his ainhip against
' 49
!he evening
or
balkct, with Willows and four pal1CIlgtn, plunged to the ground. All
wen: It.iUcd. A tragie fale indeed, that
the only troc British ainhip pioneer
would end his aeronautical career 1.1
an itinerant lIhowman operating a cal"
tive balloon.
~loI
or
'5'
'5'
.a5
rl
36 Zeppelin LZ 18 (L!,I)
With LZ 18, LuftlCbifTbau Zeppelin
reached a new devdopment I~ that
repH:seu led .eYen.1 Pl'O!l"eliSive Iter- in
the lidd of airship coillltruclian. It was
the lirst lpecimen of a senl':S of ten airships which were to form the bas;' of
the new building programme of lang
range airshir- for which the Minister
of Naval Affain, Grand Admiral Alfred
von Tirpil%, had heeD granted approval
in Janu&i'}' 1915. ru early as 1910 the
German Navy had JeIlt one of its mOil
IkiIled Ihip desighw., FeliI PieI%Ur.
to the worla on Lake Cowlance, 10
keep in dote touch with the devclopment of the Zeppelin ainhips. LZ 18
WlUI deaigned to incorporate Pieuker'l
ideas of bow to improve these a ircrafl,
although the engineen at the Zeppelin
worla had certain rcscrvations about
several of these reatures. The Gennan
Admimlty had, as ill minimum de
mand, Itipulated that the new ainhips
be able to teach the IOUtbern coast of
England carrying a certain load cl
bombs. This called for a sizeable incnuc: in the cubic capacity of the
ainhip comparai with previous Zcp-
.>.
.,........ion
=da
On beb;o lf of the Zeppelin worlu, Dr
Eckencr DOW aa::taCd the German Admin.lty in public of not heeding the
warninp of the experienced airship
designers against the 'improvemmll'
which Pietzkcc had inlisted upon. It
wu .ub5equenlly estahliUled that the
disaJta was cawed by the large windIICreenJ which encased the fron t of the
engine gondolas at Pietzl\er'. reqUClt.
They created a form of vacuum in the
gondola u a result ofwhich the engines
were ....bjected to an explosive mixture
of Nrplua hydrogen and air from the
in terior pa.ssageway.
When the victims of the L 2 di"Ua
"'U'e being buried there WU II. bitter
a;IO tention between Coun t von Zep-
Iom/h<)
O/Jmlli(JlllduiJi"l: 9,200 n (11,800 m)
CniiJi1l1 rang': 652 milCi ( 1,050 !un)
.,.
37
1nJuly IgoB a propoal by the Admiralty 10 buik! a large ainhip wu approved. With the increasing German
predilection fOr .uch airaaft the Royal
Navy WIll abo interelted in investiga.
ting whether thiI new type eould be
turned to good aecoUilt. The order for
the British naval airship HMA No. I
( R I) w~ placed with Vicken at Barrow-in-Furnc:a., where 11. joint NavyVickers team Wil.$ formed for thil.pccial
task. Thil team drew mainly on its
experiWlce in building .ubmarines, as
the airship experience of the design
staff Wlll limited 10 a fay Righll which
lOme of ill lIIemben had made in Getman ainhips, which Will no IOlid
foundation for the wack in hand. At the
pme time .. the deaign drawinp wtte
' 53
"*
I
\
,><
' 55
L,
39 ZeptMcu. LZ Sf ( L s)
Bcint:.tnletup,.o1LI(LZ I4),exccpt
ror iu !DOh powtlrul ~ the .....-.1
a.inbip L S ol the Zeppelin M-type.
made ita maiden VO)'aF on I I May
1914. It lata made an endurance Bigh t
ot no Ie. than
aDd .na-warcb waF .pPrOYI and .ceeptecl by
the German N.vy and 1Ila1~ in the
Fublab<lud ainhip obecI near Hambura:. IIdon: the outl:reak ol war it bad
participated in number ollleet mana:uvres aDd _
the only uval Zeppdin .vailable when bo.tilitico bqan.
It wu, ofcounr:, an impl -ble taP 10
patrol both the North So and tbc:
Baltic excllllivdy with L ,. 'The rmted
obecI in Fubbbiiud wu ...... the only
available ODe on the North Sea CONI.
becal.lX althout:h the tbcd.t Nordboh:,
ne.r Cuxhafcn, had bern Iw-ted, il
W&J oot yet completed. 'The Gcnnan
Nary had already mablished an airahip Itttion under Commanda Pcttt
Stntt:l, bul for _Ie H IOn the Gc:rman AdmiraIly did DOt,. im"1""1iatdy
upon the outbreak of wu, bring pes~ to btu on the Zeppelin works to
belild Iatrtt and better a.inbip t}lI
But thiE aIIort.1Cdnca on the put
'S noun.
.,.
a.
ruo..-e
ror
(!Oft",.
banI-,.-
' IV , _ ' , br -e
wIw> _
"
'k. . .........
r.n:,hoohL .,.dL,.br+
w. .
wt ......
rp'
I:
~.-
Di w:0t8-7ft( 14-8)m)
&tiNs: Three lIOO b.p. Maybz dl
ex IU-eylindcr
UsifW /.oM ..
~2S21b (9,200
kt:)
40 7 Pl*'l'n L7 fO (L 1_)
The Gennan Admiralty bad prcdictcd
in November 1914 that the lint larrc
ainhipo ol lhc Zeppelin P_type, with
a PI tlI:mlenl oft,,05!MtO a,U\ ()o,ooo
' 57
..,.
!be ahipy.rd al J &i IOW and 10 a chemical p lant al Willingion. NOI once on
thiI raid wu the ainhip caugh t by the
~ighu: which were dreaded 10
much.
L 10 made a total of twenly-cighl
milirary f1igbts, five of whtc:h 'Ime air
n.idl over England. The final aooml
was made in ordtt to reconnoill'C at IClI
on the aftCnlOQ."l of, Seplember 19 1.5Shonly bd"ore making ready 10 land at
Nordholz, the ainhip IIc:w through a
thundemorm and wu hit by liplt
ning. It wu lhen valving bydrogen in
preparation for the de. :en l and a
violent expk:moa raulted. The ainhip
plunged 10 the ground and the wreck
burned for R!' ea al houn in a.halIow
walera jutl off the Neuwttk Uland.
Hinch and his caew of nineleCi1. men
".,....,.
Sp ! d6 ... tlon ot LZ 40 ( L 10)
VIIhmw: 1 ,1\16,~ 3w.ft (3 ' ,goo
w.m)
1Aw11t: 5S6-4n (163'5 m)
Di_IIr: 61'4 n ( 18'7 m)
&,i/IU: Four 210 h.p. Maybach
Iir.-cylindtt
Uufid fH4 : '.5,7 1 ~ Ib ( 1 6,~ kg)
M4rimum lpud: 59 m.p.b. (95
ex
km/lul
ml
Cnrisilll mil' :
kml
4"
1,,36
,,.
or
,,.
behind the rront. The .'rench antiairaaft gunnen anade out tl,e shapes
of tbe ain/lips clearly in the monnlight,
and hit LZ 77 with an incendiary Ibell
amidships. Engulfed in Dama, it
plunged to the ground at Brabant-IeRoi' another ainhip, LZ 95 (works
ex
,60
so
or
.,,_L
rrom Spich,
,6,
."
-=-
nwnet'OUJ
throuahlOtheai,..wp,andi.thl.llbqan
Africa.
iu ton.a mum trip IOJambnli., when: i.
From Jambnli, Boc=khoh made t_ arrived on. i2S November after an un_
unto ... ' ... attcmpu 10, ch A1iica,
intenupted lltay in the air I,i....
wbue the Cc:rman iC"Olillial fooca
ninety-five bou.rs. Under exbemdy
nwhile wue in dapc:rate"";tt.
difficult and II)'iu( mnditiom the .i....
They could no 10...e _and lhcir .&b.!P had wvered a diJlance oC 40"40
ground .,IUut .he Britiab, wbo had
rnik:s (60500 kin), and all Iwenly.l_
nx:ei~ information oC Ihe impending
manbcn of the ae ..' wen: ulterly
arrival oC L 59. On 121 November the nb.UJled. Cran..ed that L 59 did not
ainhip made. thinlallempl .1 aeuina _ ~b what it lei OUI 10 'ccom.
throua;h 10 the African
at_ plitb, IhlI trip yet rem'i.. one oC the
arms, unaware of von Lenow., Vorbeck'J proudest Mes in the annals oC the peat
IurTmdc:r the day bd'ore. The po"oful ainhip acb;.c..mocnu, and it remaiN
rae;OO 1t'anJm.i1tc:r in N.IM:D, near
only 10 add thai upon the return of
Berlin, tried 10 rcal! L.59. but in
the ainhip 10 Jambol.i Ihae _
Ilill
vain. The .inhip meanwhile Qi cd Il1fficien.I fuel Idt in the tann for
Turkey and. al 6 p.m. wu c:n.ing the another m.y.four boon' Bight.
eastern lip of Crete, where thunderThere now folkJweci an iIllC!Ve
IlonJ1 wu brewin( and ~ rae;OO
debate, in which even the German
u:ception impo-ible. Early nexl mot .. _pCiOi became inwolval, rqardinf
inc L S9 reached the WUI oC North how 10 IIIe L S9 to belt advantace
Africa ncar M_ M'lrub. The b.a "'" ..... I:nrth. The chief of the ainhip
.tJttCb of banen Libyan deltrt f.crd tcetioo of the German Navy, Captain
the .inhip; the bumina SUD 100II Peter Stra I I, wanted the .inhip
heated the PI cdb 10 that the valvet recaUcd lOr lecoMa' I nCI: me, but,
iD each Ihm aUlOmatkaUy relemd
by-paMin, hit rupc:rion, Rockholt ad,
hydroJen. The hull became u dry u
dr :d blmidf 10 the N.vy naff
a bone ....d ~heavy II lhe ainhip,
directly, ~ thai L.59 remain
roIlillJ and pitching in the beal waVEl,
.. , I.t Jarnboli 10 altack. from eben::
c:ontinucd JOUthwani. At S.'" p.m. .......l1Iy "'aeb in Italy and the Jr.tiddle
L59 peucd over the IIaUrianI palm.
F.ul. I n Jaouary '918, the Caman
tree ilOues of the o.kbjl,b "'iI, with empCiOi finally dujc'..d in Cavour of
everythina aboard ...iIl ainhip ,hpe. 8ockbc.lt'. propuilion, aflO" the ainbip
An hour laler one of the five msines had been rebuilt lOr that pWJI''IC .t
broke down; il wu the OtIc: drivi .... the worb in Cc:rmany.
ae ....... lor ror the radio Innt.miuer and
L 59 wu back in Jamboli on
wuldnot berepaircd..Thitmeanlthai II February 1918, and on 10 M.rch
the rem.ining qines had 10 be .u.cPvd Naples from an .hilude of
Duncd in tum. AI 10 p.m. the ainhip
11,800 n (S,600 m). On Ihit '"TaPon
al pi the Nile al Wadi Halra, ~
atotalofI4,ooolb(6,S50ka) ofbomt.
m
brae"", ..
."
...
over the Dogger Bank an:a. Simultantoualy, a British naval fora: a.mpr"ing light c:ruUcn and denroycn
Jeft Harwich. It was L ~ ( LZ lOS),
the ItIOIt westbound of the three
ainhips, which, through holo in the
preny solid banks of doucU:, detccud
and reported thc Brii.Uh fleet unita,
bUI olherwise kept ill distance. L 70
on Ihe other hand, imrn<:diatcly upon
picking up this ICpm I, hcadet.l for the
position and von LossnilUf" managul
to light the enemy. Daringly, and WI'
disturbed by thc heavy anti-airerafl
fin: from the wanhips, he ordered ten
700 kg bombs to be dropped, hut could
not oblerve the result. He ICnt a radio
report home about the engagement,
then oontinued his disrupted patrol
work. ThiI determined air altack had
taken the BritDh by surprise, and they
rcgletted bitterly that they had not
stOf"Cd a O)Uple of figbter ainnfi on
one of the cruisen before heading out
to lIta.
Although the Germam were then
alteady in light of lOlling Ihe war, their
naval ainhip lICction launched one
final air raid agaiNt the Brilish main_
land. It WIll carried out on lhe evening
of ::; AUgult by an ainbip lleet composed ofL 55 (LZ 100), L 56 (LZ lOS),
L 63 (LZ 110), L 65 (LZ" I) and
L 70 (LZ (12 ). Captain Peler Strasser,
the chief of the Gennan naval airship
divilion and ill driving force through_
out the war yean, was in penonal
charge and ltayed aboard the L 70,
his latat ainhip. Von IAlISnitur 11m
commanded L 70, which on this raid
lIored eight bombs of each of th~
siu;s: SO, 700 and soo kg.
This airahip force flew to the attaek
in V.fOnTIation and planned to CrolS
the Brilish COlISt al an altitude of
76,400 ft (~,ooo m), but w&J obterved
before it had grown completely dark,
IUId a number of British aeroplana
immediately look olf to engage the
Peter SU"aIICZ".
This is a fitting place for a review of
their influence 00 the war of t914- t8.
The real damage caused by the bombl
dropped on British telTitory by the
German ainllips WI.7I not lublitantiat,
but British war production was a10wecl
up to IOmc extent by their actual or
repocted appearance in British .kia
and the airahips lied down anti-aircraft
Wlill and aeroplanes to fight them on
the home front that otherwise could
have been Itnt, along with the penon.
nel manning them, to the battle tine.
of the actual thcatr~ of war. 'The
Zeppelins' also made the British people
very 'air-COlUCious', .... they drove home
to the populalion that its Wand isola_
tion no longer afforded any effective
protection. Could the Loodonen and
othcn in the United Kingdom then
have gazed inlO the future, these few
aiO$hips would have been found 10 be
harbingers of intCfllive developments
on Ii. much largtT seale a quarter of
a cenlury [ater.
When World War I ended, a
total of one hundred and fIfteen
Zeppelin ainhips had been buill. A
oompilation of their fat~ reads at
follows ; 22 oblolcte and broken up
.6,
.66
'"
7 '
Thu
ex
46
.68
47
s......Ce
W~.
4B
."
or
""""-
ssz
Sp ~ d 6 _ doe of the
type
Vote.-: 7O,OOOW.n (l,gB2 CIl.m)
LmtIA: 143 n (43-6 m)
~: S2 n (9'75 m)
EtvW: One 75 h.p. Rolls-Royce
Hawk
wnac::c \'
.hip..
The ICOUUn, British .inbipa joined
in battling the Gcrm.an submarina in
the "'.nMI and in the Bay of Bilcay.
They alJo ICfVCd at convoy CiCOi ta and
th .... rck. ' d a IarJc number of lighl
cruiscn .nd dcltroycn. that could be
ill spam:!. for such duty. Bad weather
,,.,
U.Ju1
wnac::c
'7'
".,...
One hundred .nd three of thac
'Blimpa' IoaW service during the war.
They puformed their lut !Uk on ~ I
November 1916, On thisdatc lhe Britilh
Reet
tile Firth. of Forth Cor a rmdczO\UI with the Gcnn.n n.vaI Coree. thM
len
were to IUl'Rnder to the Allies in ac:conianee with the terms of the Arminice. The cruiKr Cmdilf, with RearAdmirnl SincIait on board, _ the flagwip of the aixth light cruiser squadron
whi ch htld the tuk of atablilhing the
lint contact with the German naval
forca, comp..wng sixty-nille large and
lIllall VI ell. Overhead wuCtmlijf',own
captive balloon, with NS 7 on guard
to starboard. In addition, NS 8 Wa:5
po.itioned above the centre of the
British main force, and this dramatic
eru:ounter pa":d without any untoward incidents.
It may finally be recorded that airlhips of the 'NS' clll$ll on teveral occasiOlll made particularly long-lasting
individual flights. NS II at the beginning of 1919 set an endurance
..::cord of one hundred and one boun
SO minutcl, covering a distanec of more
than S,ooo miles (4,828 km). I n July
of the .ame year this ainhip WIll lost
and its crew perished when it was hit
by lightning and plunged into the lea
off SalthoUJe, on the eatt CO&lIt, while
out looking for mines.
Sptdfic:a.tJOD gf tloe 'NS' du.
VQZuw: 360,000 w.ft ( to, 194 cu.m)
ullllh: ~62 fl (79'9 m)
Width: 56 ft 9 in ( 17'!! m)
Enginu: T wo We h.p. Fiat A. 12
lix-cylindu
Ustfullood: 8,400 Ib <3,BIO kg)
Maxi_ ~pnd: 57-6 m.p.h.
(g2'7 km/hr)
(hi.tilll spud: <j.!l6 m.p.h.
(68'6 km,thr)
50 ~3 aDd 23X cia.. rlsid a1rt:bJpe:
of the Royal Navy
Even though the British non.rigid air_
ships were w......mul in World Wat I,
and in spite of the failure with the naval
No. I MlflfiJ, the idea of building rigid
airships had DOt bo:en abandoned in
."
'n
1
bale in YorDhin: on 16 August Ig18.
Thill aocidcnt was caused by a anall
non-rigid ainhip. SSZ 23, which was
being packed in !he &ame shed for &hipment to the United States (Ie(. No. 48)
Its American crew was cleaning the
nu.
'!I
'14
ainhip
'75
,,.
loile" and a g;illcy. The crew comprded four offieen and thirty1Our
other ranb. Their quartU'S were inside
the bull. jusl aheM: the gondola. The
crew of the R 36 worked in watcha, as
on large paacngcr &hips.
On 5 April 1921, R36 wu almOit
involved in dUailer. The ainhip waa
on a cout-to-coa:st trip and, when off
Bristol, the top ltabilising surface and
the ltarboard ICCtion of the tail surface
suddenly fokicd up. Contrary to the
practice on the R 33 ehn, for illitance,
thes: componenll were not IUpported
by ltay wira. The ainhip divu:l quiek.ly
from an altilude of6,SOOft (I,980m)
to 3,000 (t (9 14 m). The wellknown
Major Scott was in command of the
ainbip on thil OCCP'ion, as he had been
on the two lr:aDl-Atiantie trips with the
R 34. He had all engina stopped at
ooce and onIcrcd the whole crew an,
which rcIItoccd the equilibrium. Then
the R 36 managed to return slowly to
ill ba$e with the engine! operating at
low r.p.m. This mishap made a Itrong
imprellion on vanOUl naif memherl of
the Air Miniltry, who participated in
this f1igbt and \hUllcamed at m.1 hand
we risks run with airships. The R g6
was not really used 10 any great dcglt:t:,
and the uncenainty prevailing about
how to UIC IUch a large ainhip 10 good
advantage is perhaps iIlwlr:ated bett
by melltioning tllat, on 14 June 192 I,
it W&l filled with newspaper rcportcn
and then SOlt IIloft to help the police
d~t lraffie to and (rom the Ascot
racet. The newsmen were pcrhar- unimp" -n, but eommUltcd favourably
on the "eady and quiet ride 01 the
a.inhip. They all however had one
complaint in common: the lack
a
lift in the 120 (I (36'6 m) tall mOOTing
mast, by which means all pa!ICngen
boarded the lIinhip.
This very mooring mast caused much
damage to R 36 on 17 June. During a
landing manoeuvre the mooring cable
SF ~d6cadoD of R :J6
Yohmu: 2,100,000 cu.fI.
(59.465 cu.m)
ImgtA: 663ft (202 t m)
Diamdu: 80 fI. (114'4 m)
Enginu: Two 260 h.p. Maybaeh
Mb IVa- lix-eylindcr in Ihe
forward gondola, and three
350 h.p. Sunbc:am twelvecylinder in the rear gondola
Uuftd liNuJ: 36.3& Ib (16,500 kg)
Mazinumt lpud; 65 m.p.b.
(t05 km/hr)
Cn.wng spud: 51 m.p.h.
(8~ km/hr)
n .......,io.. _r~ from L l' {LZ ",)
which w .. ac:qI.Lircd .. war buo'y.
or
___
d~.
t 77
gun and (or two Lewis machinc-guaa.
Two more Lewia machinc-gww were
mouDted in the Item tip and ...
additional number of rnachinc-gunl
in the varioUI gondo.... Provl.ion was
made 10 carry eight ~:JO Ih bonti:. in
sa
........
or
M...._spud: 6, m.p.h.
(105 km/hr)
CMri"llpud: ,)0 m.p.h.
(80-, km/hr)
Ctil~:
16,..ooft (.s.ooom)
M.n-
( Io.soo km)
airship,)'d. it _
fast, even tboua:h
the fabrie co.caing OD the hull wu DOt
tight. UnfonW\&tcIy for the d~
both the military <d civilian authori
tiel ahowed a lack cl interett, not
knowing how to employ this airship.
It KCilIl to have been tluatmed with
tbe fale ol being broken up a1mOIt
from the ltart, but this lillJe.uxd airwp cnjo)c:d a brief respite when
placed. at the dispO"] of the pc....,ood
,,.
&om the U.s. Navy who had p!'eviouIly trained with the R,~ which
_
then bem, relind, and wbo were
waiting to aoccpt the ill.aled R 3a
(_ No. ,~).
1bc R 80 made iu lalt brief flight,
from Howden in York&hire to Pu11wn
in Nonolk, on 20 September I~I, and
had then only been in the air (or a
total of 7' houri. The ainhip wu
finaUy tx-oken up in 19.z40 hut pam of
the hull wac kept intact to ... iO'C u
uhibiu in the invutigationl of the
R,a d~ter.
rigid ainhip type that wu both relatively fut and capable of earrying
a profitable payload, thcIc DCW Zcppeli1u wae much smaller than their
(oruunncn. The hull arnidlhiPl was
oflarJe diameter, but wu welllt=lined. I n the beginning there WCi'e lOme
problcatu of atability and control 10
oo.UCQtlle, but thCIc silter ainhip. IIOOCl
establiahc:d thcma:lvu u a vcry sue
( ful d .gn.
The LZ I lK) Bpd, ... made io maiden
voy:tC1: at Fricdrichahafcn on 20 August
19 19. It bqan regular opcrationl
be tween the two Zeppelin works at
FricdriemhaCcn ....d Staakcn, ncar
Berlin, on ~4 AU(UIt, coverin, the
,)'6 mile (60s km) journey bctWeul
the Swill border and the Grnnan
capital during one day and makiDg the
retum trip the nelI t day. /Jodnuu had
a Kating capacity fOf twenty pasICIlfa'I ....d by I December, when
opcaations C'QIld for that 1Ca0!Vf due
10 lack of fuel, a lotal of 4.050 pasa:ngcn and aew had been arril on
103 triP'- The mmpany had not
expected to 6.11 every leal, but the
German railways were in a deplorable
state and the lcrVicc _
poor in the
aftermath from the war, 10 thea: long.
dillancc air tickctl were in great
demand by European travcUen on the
Continent, and oftcn one IUppicmcnt
ary teal. Of" more, was proYidcd in the
fonn of an extra wicker dlllir. Thil
was no pat problem during the
autwnn and winler montha with the
grc&ter carrying capacity f'O"ible in
the maier air, but for the foUowint
year Be iMN _
10 be Icnathcncd
with one ,~8 ft (10 m) ICCtion, and
more lift was provided by the addition
tt..... cin of an additional gas cell of
90,0,)0 cu.ft h,5,)O cu.m) capac:ity. Thil
would brin, ~ into line with i ..
new liaterairshipN~su", which, ba,ed
upon the opelational expcrimoe pined
with &dnu, wu right from the ltart
'79
Spe-ls... ti... of
LZ 1Il10
'Boden.n'
VIII.".,: 7'lS,?I! cu.ft
('lO,5S0 cu.m)
LAlli!: 4'l9' ft (. 30S In)
Di-m; 6 1"3Sft ( IS7m)
&,i_ .. Four 'l6o h.p. M.yb.c h
Mb I V .u:..cylinder
U.folloU: 11,0451b (.0,000 q )
CnM", spnJ: 81 m.p.b.
(ISO 1r.mfbr)
O/JmllillVl "iJi"l: 6.s60 ft
('l,OOO m)
RiIttt.: .ppIOX. .,143 milet
('l,OOO 1r.m)
~
,80
,S,
Dix-twJt.
No other trace of the kill ainhip was
ever found and many C'Oftioc:tuJU wae
ad\-.nctd about the outcome of thit
di"lter. One, a higbly unrealistic one,
...... th.1 only the ODf\trol gondola bad
dropped into tbe _, while the JUt of
the ainhip with the remaining trew
drified MkIlhwarda toward. the wide
African dClcrt rqionl. where lUtVivon
might lliU be fouoo.
More IOber reHcx:tion led to the con
clusion that after this diluter I'ranee
had beller .bandon any rurthet ide:u of
large rigid ainhipt:, and both LZ I 13
(LZ Ss), and Ml4i/n'rtJ1lltU (the former
LZ lIt JlmiJlmI, ICC No. s.) IOc.e
bro1r.a1 up.
'The ipClCification of LZ 114 [)i...Jf
56
'""',.
forca used them extensively and actively. T hese .hips made a total of 650
wartime Rights of .:t,2OO houn' duration
adding up 10 a collective distance of
86,990 miles (140,000 kID). On .:tsS 01'
thelle cruises +10.9110 [b (2OO,ooo kg) of
bombl were dropped. The main targel3
attacked included the Austrian- Hun
garian naval base at Pob. the St Ma n::o
docko, railway junctiOtlll and other im_
portant in.tallations behind the AlIStrian lina. It was imperative lhat the
Italian ainhips should be able to
attain high ceilings because they v.ere
JUbjocted to very inleme Auslrian anti.
aircntft lire, whereas in their cue speed
and endurance ranked a.I qualities of
[ess importance. becallilt they seldom
had to cover long distances on their war
trips. Yet M_.:t, M-j. M-4, M-8, M-I j
and P_IO were all [ost due to enemy air
aUac&', while M-5 crashed a.I a nsult
of mechanical failure.
In 1918the BritishAdmiraltyordered
an lIinhip of the M class from l ta!y.
It was Rown to England on .:t6 October
that year, and there designated SR!.
TIlis ainhip became part of the rather
costly and much criticised experimental
ptOglamme condueled by the Royal
Navy with small non-rigid airships, the
.o-called 'Blimps'.
.8,
.8,
u.s.
s.v-.
V-'_:
II,II~,OOO
cu.ft
(59,890 cu.m)
vrifilUlf ImttA: 680 n (1107'3 m)
Du.-tn: 79 ft (114'1 m)
Hri,M: 93'5 ft (118'5 m)
&tUtu: Six ,00 h.p. Packard
Afai_l#JId: 60 m.p.h.
(96-/) km/hr)
.......
I~
of the
58
a.inhip company.
It it to the credil of the Ccnn...n
,.,
1':l6
Ib~
SI-_, *
,8,
'9:19.
AocdH'
V4_:
~,47~,000
eu.n
(70,000 eu.m)
l.tJfl1A: Gs8 n (~m)
DUmtdn .. 90'5 n (':17'6 m)
&,iMs: Fivc400 h.p. Maybach VL
I twdve-eylinda wata'-alOled
UStJui '-': 101,4'5 Ib (46,000 kg)
i1ftuti_ J/lN4: ']6 m.p.h.
( 12~ kmjhr)
CntUi", J/I4: 7D m.p.h.
(liS bnjhr)
Rmcp: 7>770 milea ( 1 ~,500 bn)
rew
,86
'"
'iron,
of N 1 'Norce'
Volumt: 670,980 cu.t
(19,000 cu.m)
Unllh: 347.8 n (,060 m)
Dimmltr: 64 It (19.s m)
Enginu .. Three 245 h.p. Maybaeh
Mb I Va lix-cylinder
Ugfid lld .. 18,2431b (6,275 ka")
Maxirrumt JJwd: 70 m.p.h.
(1 13 m / hr)
,sa
3'
,,.
s.o.s
"ram"
""ked
",wi"
,go
m.n.,.
July, by
Itra.nrc JOOd Iud;
d to _tm
A~ and Zappi rom othe:rwix
CU"Wn death, wbu!. the ...... opI.ne
carried on board wu launc:bcd to ICOIII
01" them and obterved the two wandcr.
ing on the icc. They bad, unfortunately,
had to leave the dying Dr M.J.mven
behind. than, .nd his body was 1lC'o'(;l"
the
011
III
,.......
.na
Atisfaction.
'.'
uu.
2'
an
' 9'
A~"
<rip.
There bad been no plans for exploring the Arctic regions with the Gr~!
ZtfllXlin while thiI ainhip was being
built. Dr Etkmer had certain IUCiva
tionI abool the tile of ainhips in the
."
.a. . . '
et-qf
b.d.
r..,b-,,:
'Graf
Zeppcllio.
",08,040 cu.1i
(IO~,ooo
lnIltA:
Iii '
cu.m)
7762~ Ii (1136.6 m)
bnfbr)
Cr.isi"l'J-l: 68 m.p.h.
( 110 bn{hr)
MIIXimMIII r"r (with only four
engin... running all the time):
7t4$fi mil ... ( 12,000 km)
62--63
."
eompariaon wilh the Gcnn.an Zeppelina; abo. their paMICJlfCi" ICCtionI wac
illWipontted inside their hul .... Bulany
similarity bet...een than .aIIo mded
there, ror right &om !he ltan the R 10 1
turned out 10 be a eomplete Cailun:.
III maiden voyqe on 14 October 1929
clearly revealed thai the ainhip _
dans:erously over-..-c:ight and underpow~, Mer the ainhip had made
tUl 8ighll il wu deci<kd to Ieng:then it
by n (14(12 m) and 10 rebuild
(though DOt to lighten) the engin ....
The rebuildillf w:u completed by
Il~ September, by wbkh time the RIo.
had CCltI the Britiah tu:paya- more than
1,000,000, and Mill the md was DOt
in siehl.
The altentionl WCi"C a qualified 1110CCII, but lOOn new probIUI1I elDaged,
The c:ovcring had a tendency to tear !he lame thing: ....... 10 happen l.ater
with the R 100 - and lhe elevatof1
OCC'Ilionaily t:.au.ed tome Ullurplained
and dangaOUI control eomplicatioru.
Meanwhile the privaldy-built R 100
had demotUtBted ill s:ood ainhip
qualitieJ. On 16 Dec;:.ember 1929 it _
cautiously takm oullide ililhed by four
hundred IDIdien, and made ill maiden
voyage Cor which it had already been
trimmed beforehand. It proved \'eI)'
Ii&ht and everything ...enl well. The
ainhip completed ill trial rum and
there ...111 little that n-ecded to be
eh.anged.. Then, on 29 July Igso, the
."
IclI. Itl
btU-. pi'
moorina:
rnut a t Quo..
WIlII\OG and, with ae ... of 42 rom
and with
~ on baud, llet
counc lOr Monuul wxla the com.-nd of Sqn Ldt R. S. Booth. The
ainhip meW Mootrcal on , ..... upM
and the oat}< 1&.... .,..,.111 of peril occutn:d
wbile the R 100 _
r 7,i nl -\on( thc
51 La" i ~ river and ran into
vioknt local thundentorm. 1bc Ilinbip
pi.ciwd and mlkd creal deal. 50011)(
'<.tt' wut 10m m...., ca'UUlIUIcm.,
ot:.c rw ;'- I.bc ainhip -"'ined no raJ
dama&e. thanks CO iu .tronc aJntUvO.
tion. Dutq i .. .tay in Canada ,M
R 100 Bc:w to Otta_ and TorOPto; ;.
then a e i .1 the Niapra Fait. and
Dew __ the .... tc of New York. 'The
ainhip _
t.dr; in Eqland on .6
-,
Aup. af\cr Ye:Y .... .w tnp.
While the weabound trip had luted 78
bows 51 minutes, the return trip _
w:complishcd in )6 boun SO rnmulca,
with the _Istance of tailwind.
Aftc:r lh_ tWO -mp olthe Atlantic
the ainhip had wdl-dCO(; , .cd rat in
its Ihcd a t Canlil'llton and then _
tborou3bIy overhauled in prt...,..tion
R
I DO
I,
...-
,.
.......
other
.wp.
r...
tested at rull
DOC' linda unfaY'OUl'&hk_ther
"' __til__ n.e airthip _
due 10
d-pnn lOr Ismailia and Kanchi on Sat.
urday October 1931, but lint a trial
run _
lIl.ucucd in hebe that date.
ThiI ought 10 have been ol at Ic:ut
... boun' duratioa but. C\oU ,body
R 101
Ipt c:I,
had
ne.a
~ b
ij
II.,.,.
.,.
","Oll ied,
acreement
Sp~-I6
Vol
tloa of
R,.
5olIOO,ooo eu.fi
(t,n,2-+B eu.m )
u.,tA ; 709 ft (216-1 m )
p; 4,,"; 133 ft (40 ~ m )
&,;...- Si.K 670 b.p. RcXb-RO)'Ct
II ;
ec.w.. Il IB twclvo-eylindcr
U.fol 1Nt: 160,000 Ib ( 72,)70 q )
including payioMl of ss.ooo Jb
(2+.948 q )
Man- slt'.- 81 m .p.h.
(I,o km/ht)
n..,.: ,,600-50000 mile;
f5,19~-8,o)ll1tm)
(........1
M.w if ' :
ss.ooo
74~ m .p.b.
( t 20 Itmjhr)
Pcn..,41I:
All the
6+
,.~
~tlal"
i.,...
Id d ZM<A
The ZMC.2 (a:rial number t\8t82 )
_
built by the MElaleiad Ainhip
."
l\,...
t OO
,
diritible at all. ,..:t the rlmi,nOi had
tho. problem well under control by
...... "' 01 eilht bed
""-'"ted 10m(:
way IOrwanI on the Ilem part 01 the
modal mvdopc:o RuddO'l"ae altached
to four of than and elevaton 10 lhe
otben, all eighl movable AJn"CCI bein,
01 the balanced type.
TIle ZMC-2'1 performance _ ned
kilt th""'lhout ill 'P"" 01 len yean of
op.... ation, and it wore out ill ori(in.l
toSinct, which .. ue repbocd by new
ones. The ainhip W&I in the air for the
WI lime on 19 A~t t939. the tenth
anniVU'lat)' oIilllint trial fligbt. After..
wards variouIletll ,"a c condUCled with
it on the vound and il _
finally
broken up in I!MI.
mw.
wpe
ae.
("''' 'o)
radi.l
,gO
~:SI',5n(g-60m)
One 100 h.p. CurtisI OXX-2
-,.
&ti-
eipWyiiDdct watc:r-ooo&o'"
Mui
r!"i:4,5m.p.b.
(72 bn/hr)
......
0fJIrati-I mlu.,:
,,000 n
(2,15,5 m)
&dr_: a.ppp"",=" ,6 houn
66 The Caaal)'Iu 8eu or adn .....
tlN1 alnbJp'
I" 1925 the Goodyc:u ",",p'ny
do jeW 10 IIart the build"", oC a IIcct.
oC an. 1I non-ricid ainbipl for the tn.inire 01 ac.... and lOr cxperimcntaJ pur_
l" , inc.hriing pNIeofU' and adVU'tising fticbQ.
This do. ' Mi _ b.1 ~d on the ..... nd
re&JOIlin& tha, the Goodrcar ",",pany
.tood a good ch'Ol'" oC abo ieadm, the
way wbat Jarrc rigid ainhipl .. uc 10
be devdo-;..:d in the futW'e. .. ita
opcaimce pined from building: mooc
than one bundrtd non.rip;l and tcmirigid ainhip' WOlIId be 01 IOInC con1Cq'1C1lCe. The air-mindcd lOp ~
ment look into consideration that after
the delivery oC 1M lI..,d.. 10 the U.s.A.
(ICe No. !Ill) Germany wu Otdued to
disband the Zcppc:lin ainbip worb in
complill.nce with the talill 01 lhe
ArmiItioe. The uJ)'bot "wid be thai
theit lltaff 01 Ul&inecn and technici._
' ..
_-'
.J
,
__ "
.,..ee-
D.C.
came next, in AUIUII 1!J28,
followed in 1929 to 193~ by liflUjGPr,
Vip Uml, VolIaUm', fh/rrukr, Rdim" and
IWol.k, the twO
replaccmenu
for "'n fta-T a nd Vip"",l when they
became oblolete. CPb' J .., &wqriM
and Rat,., ",cae the wt three ainhip
p"rililJl
wt ..
aircraft.f'II..ioTed alma'
to ascenu to hi~
-DCein rqanI
un<'ballengtd
altitudea. TItil became feuible &I the
rault of a nurnber of impeo_auenb,
ap"'i-Ily to whal literal.,. had been
the 'ha,ket', Thia ......... 1 that a Cree
balloon now could climb.:.rne 16,4"" n
(s,ooo m) ab..'C the cei.linp of the
aaoplana of that pu;oo,
Oneolthe milO avail himM:lf ofthill
new type of baUoon wu AUfUlte
Pienrd, a native of Swi~land, who
in t9'2!t had bocomc proCe.or of pb)'lia:
at the lechnical coIlqe in Bm I
Pia:atd Jpt'" ialDtd in the Jtudy of ~
mic ray., and in thY field wu joioed
by bill twin brother,Jean Pkcan:I, alaoa
pbyaidtl. h far hack. .. 1915 the two
brothen had made t.l1oon al""'I to
an altitude ofaboul 10,000 It (3,000 m)
to meuure atmolpberic ph W'CL
With financiallUPport &om a Belcian
foundation for the. promotion of .ei....
tific raeareh, Auguste Picard in laler
yean made a Durnber of"lloon ateenlS,
theuah nooe of them wu of any particular aviation qrufica1'O".
With the PUWlenot characleriatic of
thk diJtinctive a:icnliat, bol'tC'.e;, Piocud by 1950 commanded suflicienl
InOO1CY to order a "I>"" i1 t.l1oon hom
the Riedinger company in Anp ....ug.
I n nxogdition of the IUpport &twn the
Fond Nationale de la Rechercbe
Sodcntifique, he named thia balloon
F.}{.R.s. Itl gondola ...... made of
aluminium. in the -.hapc of a t-lI, and
immediately attracted world-wide at
teDtion. However, an -teenl on 14 Scptcmlx:r 19!O to an altitude of ~,soo rl
( 16,000 m), planned by Picard and bill
aailtanl, Dr Paul Kipfer, was a complete failure, u the balloon .Imply
rd'UJed to lea,'C the ground, and he beeame a laUfhidf-ltock. His appcarana:
wu againlt him and il did not help
mallen either thai on this ........ Qon he
and hit OOfDpa"ion had tumed up
~
baKel.like bdmeu with
son
dow.,.
AuguJlC
..,
Aono lOr
,2
I1VO
m.
in Ig&,.
11M:
'-'loon, ol Good)-eAr
mWo, _
m.nned, by Major C. L. .'ortlDq and
Lt Cdr T. C. W. Settle wbo lid an
wac
~illed.
rt
equi .....ent _
the ElIOIt
compktc: yeI, comprilina hundreda of
inM.nJmenu and pieca olappa.ratus lOr
JCiulti/k P'UPCW' Amonr the INitten
10 be invctti,ued woe fivc dilfuent
forms olbaclrn. and diK. ol planll.
When eumined lata in labcntorics
thae cultuna "'o:e IOund 10 be viable
at hiab alliwd.. It acan:dy need. 10
be added WI ""' boanf the tondola an
air-<oolditionin( unit and the ~..eIt
atyk: of uri0' ~Ien 'NE:e inItalkd.
There __ alao a darkroom, a Ihort
waw radio tn.osmiuer and an ingcni
OUt machine lhal 'UtomllicaJly reo
corded Ihe reading; ol :9 diffcrml
instnunentl.
MOIl ol the Plmmer and .utumn
__ tlpCnt in tcstint the numerous
p'ctti ol equipmeul and havm, thc:m
imulled and adjuated The date ol
: a November __ fixed lOr the. "ilL
,,---'-01 ...
..,
.tanin,
or
69-70
""<'
zas...
r.,..
ZRS-~
In AkI'Ol1 the work ... finl <OIIoeDtnled on the bdp and COIUtnK1jon
oJ. hUJe dock .,.. aha:! in which to buikl
th:lc Linhipt. On 7 NovemJxr 1929
the Qection oJlhe framework oJ the
ZRS-4 wu m.ucuntcd. 'I'be diM:( cl
the _val ainhip divWon, Admiral
W . E. MolI'elt, dtOC. tokl ri~ into
the main b..l.hc.d oJ the ainhip. The
dlid' daicncr. the bmu Zeppelin
expert. Dr Katl Amltcin, and hu !tall'
",V
some
ZR-]
Alvtla, for inItanoe (_
No. ~) . TItUi its ciahl aiJinct wae in
(orponted inside the hUCC hull, with
only the po.,.... lien poojcc:tina. Not only
wele tboe prop'llen icoallible (10 provldc brUing cfrcc:t during I.dill(, ir
required ), bul tbey coukl aao be
lWivdkd and paced in horizontal
poIition, potntinc either upwrnt Of
downward to provide an upward or
downwatd pab which wu cl imancnte
value duriDt: the uartioc aDd I'ndina
...
1U"lIf"....
co."
.u...
..u-
..u-
military weapoN.
When M_ rctwmd 10 CalilOmia
iUooromandu-uplOlhiItime,Capuin
"'ICa H. D7ClMJ, wu p--o! I by
Habat V. Wiley. 'fhiI _v:el oK.cu
hid already hrd _ iooc career with
ainnip:t, u be had ~y IUVCd ill
both And'" and wlt",na and, II
fJready recorded, wu one oJ the vert
JCw PFrVivon (rom the InQ(( recU'l t
di'llter. The U.s. N_vy looked
10 bim 10 exploit (ully lbote quali~
thai .4(_ lord rlrtady OCulOllltralcd.
Wiley n. a .tronc rdY'OCl!e of tbc
..u-
...
btinJ. V~ .. _
to the racue
i Ted .t an
ee."..
U.s.
.......,
".,..
tbousbtl
all
I~
completely. Bul
."ndooed
Yfl_: 6~cu.n
(1 84,060 cu.m)
(lh,800 q )
P.)'rz': .60,6.M lb (711,86, q )
MIIXi
(140 kmfbr)
CnUi",~: 6S m.p.h. ( lOll km/hrl
e.oerybody on
aware of the .mouanc. of
lOOn
board _
lhe Ntualion .. the whole tail ~ion
began 10 break ofr. The counlet'"
mc:asun:s taken eouk!. not p,'e M_
rrom aharin( the !"ate fI her lister airIhip. It 8000 ruled in the tea, helpkIL
The old and kq;-r pled dama(c
had at lut got the betltt of the ainhip.
Fxcrpt lOr IWO who dwwroed, aU bands
on board managed to climb on to the
nGIC put of the ainhip, which IF:qJt
'1-1: 87 m.p.h.
...
,.
Z.pp'lin LZ .,'Hl-dF""""
~ by the attainmenb of
GrV z",.lill (lee No. 61). Dr HUCO
Eekcnu and hiI enrinccn in FriedricNh'w:n ia I~ d-.i-\cd 10 Uodlc
nat lhc ideal ainhip (ot rn.n.Atlantic
lo..,a.
uppu 'A'
aDd a bia 'B'. 'IlIe A deck conlained
a dioi", loom ,.-8ft ( 10m) kto&.
1&. n (~ m) wide wbicb _led 54
JI';1e BcfODd thiI ,"ae 1 di"l
and wrilina loom and tpaciouI
I"'''uce. the pie de rbitl'oce of
wbicb _
a arnaIl. (\ainty BIQthner
lightweia;ht piano. Here wfre'" to be
rouod two 49 n (1,5 m) long ptOincUlde
decb, one each on the port and .tat'baud aide. The dccb wen: provided
with Iatze picture window. affoniing
~ mw.. AU the pa 'en
......~atiom wac painled ia harmonili", coIoun and ckpntly dec0rated.. On the wall. huoa ooicUW
paintinp deplctinr the mikstone C\'OIta
in the de....k~,.,....,.,.t of .... oc.auUa.
F"o.na1Jy. the cc:nttc IICCtion of A deck
WlUI divided into twentyfive .m,ieand twin-benh cabilU. Since rn.n.
Atlantic ainhip par.a=, both in the
northctn and IOUtherD bcmilpberes.
wu much in demand, this airship later
had nine more cabiN added 011 B deck
wbere email zmokina tOOth _
.-0
provided. Fot rcuonI which will become evidenl later the untWine 10001
keplltrictly iIoIated, and only one
lilllle. iF_i.1 Liabter WlUI ~ there.
AIIo iD$taI.Icd on B deck ,"ae the toilet.
wuh!IM and pantry. 'The quartU'l of
the -ma.I1 aew (who wocked in
_lebo), and i,ht holds each fll.IOt
Ib (500 q ) capacity. woe provided in
the Iattt triancular lattiec ked run
ning the (u1l icn&th of the airship.
Bulky (NCbt wu handled and ItOrtd
in two additional boIdi of ),5 I 2 Ib and
1.3I1S lb capacity (1I.,ao kr and 600 kr)
two paP-"1tt
"""'""'".
dccb.
11ft
.........
_,...
lherulm.panyinGu"eny.Tbeknd
of lbc Gennan Air Miniltry, and later
-'-bu".
_"':"'"
----,-, UI
, ~ .,.........
,"",,""', '
on> , 1IlIU
..............
ba...mc
I",.
......
,
. .K:
UCiiXS
L _ O\ttlae .u,"",
dcqMg
then
Al1antic
com ing
route.
,Iz., _
ai
Cp~in
ainbip
,.,0
~ ~ putentom:
and
aew ai6t. At
p.m. on 6 M.y !l,e
ainhip p'nd 0Ytt the Empire State
Buiq in New York Ciry on its _ y
10 I .kchunt, w~ the c:oaunaodinI
c:6ca ai tbit; air bNe, Capt... 0IarIa
...
'9
u.
"c
rut
tintina" static
"'9
bumed-OUl WKC~. In the end, howea", all '" E' thar the dirttt (2UM:
WU Ihe dillllroUl bydtOiUl.
The Hw ... ,-, Uo spelled finis for
the G~ <JH-li. and the jUlI..comp/e!ed
LZ 'SO Grtif QHttIi.ll. No mcm: puIeI1gert wen: carried in thac lIW!odons
o(the air, in JPite or.e~ualattempts 10
operate them again.
....wI
nriatioru.
K_I (IJI!rial number 999\1), of SI9.9OO
cu.n (9.059-6 cu.m ) capacity, W1U
planned by the U .S. Navy in 193/ and
I!OIUtiluted a c:omplctcly new Iype of
non.rigid ainblp. The envelope: waa
ordered from Goodyear whilc: the gondola, to be attached direc:tly to the
mvclopc, "'... built at the Naval Air_
craft YaclOr)' at the Navy Yard in
Phibdclphia. The power plant comprised IWO S30 h.p. Wn,htJ-6-9 rad ial
erlIina. l n K-I the U.s. Navy acquired
an oulltanding patrol ainbip that wu
a big improvcmmt on the IWO types
bOilowed from the U.s. Army in 1937
(the TeIS and TeI4)' Howevcr
neither ofthac, DOl" the X_I, could be
plaecd in -erual K>"Vice &I the parding
o{the couts ollbc UnitedStat~ ...... the
exdusive domain 0{ the U.S. Army,
In that K-I WQ u.ed for experimenta l
PWJlOll!l and &I a training ain.bip.
The development of 'B1im~' began
to make real headway when aU patrol
duties in I g111 bec:amc the I cspolUlibility
o{the: U.s. Navy, which lou no time in
readying lbc404>OOOcu.n (11,+40cu.m )
aU.c K_II povoe.ed by two 5.50 h.p. Prall
&. Whitney R-IS40-AN-1I Wup radial
Ciliinca. The lall!l" production ofK.c;Jass
ainhiJll appean IOmCWhat haphaurd
in rClpecl to the Iequcnc::e
designation numbcn. For ntana:, K-5 up to
and including K-8 belonged to lIIe
II!ries, while KS and K-4 were
of the third lJI!I"ia. K'3, K'4-0 K'1 a nd
K-8 .aved &I training ainbi~; aU
otha K-dul ainbi~ up to and induding K-tS5 performed patrol duties ;
and from K_I. OIl, they had mve~
of a capacity 0{ 4-1150000 cu.n ( 1II,OM' 7
cu.m). Several of the K-cl.ut ainhiJll
...ue not allotted any IJI!riaI numben.
or
.... ,.id,
...
(I
.... OJ
MIIXiPIMm IpuJ:
"
m.p.b
(12 1
Iun!",)
C..wl!( S;tM: 47 m.p.b.
<1s km/hr)
R..tt; 11,000 miles (S,IIIIO m)
C,tu1: 12 mal
war
&om the
ZSIlG-I.
Bet.idI!I the d'll E' already mullioned
the U.S. Navy during World War II
abo had ainbi~ of the L (1,., but
they .... ae ooly uxd (or the training of
ae ....
1'bc: U.s. Navy ordu-ed the lint airaIlip ol thil d1I, 1..- 1 (1JI!ria1 numba11110) in '931. L-2 and I..-S were
orda-cd in 19fO. 1..-4 to 1.-8 were
Col l i d Goodyear advutiaing ainbi~
(lICIt: No. 66). 11tUl 1..-4 (KTiaI number
ogSol) w&I the former Volatmwhich aiong with Afa.1j1....on and VitilaJ dared all the VBy b.ck to I~.
I..-S (1Crial number og802 ) wu e:x.&tn;rW, 1.-6 to L-II, the former
Rtfimra, &Wow and Rmr,n. No IU"iaI
numbcn "'tie allotted either to thete
Jut three of the (onner advertiaing
ainbijll or to the J.,.g to WII production ainhi~ of the aame model.
1S The N elu. o f the U.s. Navy
Only ODe ainhip of the ZPN- I type
wu builr. I n I~ il was redesignated
ZPG- I and WQ the prnIOtypc: of a
planned oo:ia with extra 10lIl range.
The gondola Wal provided willi an
upper and a Iowtt ckck.. The IWO
pwher propdlcn "'tie intelWtll'll!Cted
to that one engine could drivc both of
them wben the ainhip cruilcd al a low
IF I. The four inclined tail fins ol the
N ainbi~ wen: a diatinc:liv( (eature of
this dUll and broke with the previoul
tradition of having the fins mounted
suo
'"
-ne
inc
. , _ _ MlM7d _~June
,gi"
1,52,
b.p.
Wricbt
74__
Ba .....I ' ball_a '" World
W
...
R"IJ88
aar.,
datu-.
",ra.
''''ina:
c.n.ry h'ncjo
na.
rerpectivdy.
Almoll aU the warrUl( nations em
ployed balloon barra.r=, bul nowhere
elzot _ Ihil fornt or.'lent and inactive
defence 01 mooe intponanoe than in
Great BriIAin. Already, on 17 March
1957, a .pttlal balloon unit, No.
wu COElIIW U ~n 01 Fichter C0mmand. For '4 c ationlJ.. thJr; unit
wu on I NO'\uubet 1938 i.ncotpcutc:d
in the DCwl,...b illtd, indc:pCiadc;:ut Bal
loon Contmand, the chid 01 wbich
_
Air V"__ MalWI O. T. &itd.
Wbc:rI the: war broke OUI 011 , Septonbet '939 lbae wu already a ~
atO!.lnd London comprilinc: .... bal
IoonI while an additional .80
so.
"1m.
............
..... .... 0
.,
,t.
".
'"
,t
'9"
,. n.... "Z.V;""".
gondwill.
ft by 116 ft U~ )( 7'9 m )
and arc cnml"'lHd d ,,760 blue, ,'CCli,
red and ydlowlisbl bulbi that arc inlel"
councot'lm with 4lIS,u8 n (llI9oooom)
olwiring.The)Loi V are .nim1ed in
lhc _ytc of_dr_per Ot' filtn cartoooL
'J'l.: daittd . " V an: poductd ill
mtIIUl't I~
Sp e=IAeatJoa ofNIM
'America'
V*=': iW2,j'OOCU.n
(5,740 cu.m)
Lnwd: 192ft II in (sa'ssm)
I>iIDttM-: 50 n ('5'24 m)
&tUtu: Two 110 h.p. Continental
70n
No.,.
pi"1
alnJUp . , . U.s.
prod,_
combinalinn of _It and
~dy
licity but
IiJ:reyliDder
M.ri
If*'I: 50 m.p.h.
(80 bnfhr)
c",iriIIIS/IfN: 55 m.p.h.
i>ti ..."")
&"' Ilru;
Caadr-~'
'Super Skytaaalar'
WUI.,.
$ ..... World War t ended, nonri&id
. ' Jbip exctu.ivdy have b COl iii lei I'lec
iD F, '''''X, japan, &be Soetict Uniooot,
Great Britain aDd &be Uqj!<d Slates,
77
2(1
hours
ad.....u.u..
".
or
in actioo.
I>urinf
the liz
IU""'","" _u. thmc arnall, bUIy airjointly travel 1 B5oOCO mile.
(!nopco bQ) or O1Oife 00 Yiai. 10 the:
01...
'"
Euro"".
",
"9
or
w-.
the
pealctl diatanoe or mlnlce to land
de7 :It to a pre-fivd pl. 'FOE h",.ml'
are aDOlbC"1' pop'l.. 101m oJ baUoon
competition. One ,,11oon will 'tart as
the 'fox' and the othC"1' paniCpa'"
balloons will ,uive to d....oe..d as ("be
to the kndina FpOt 01 thc 'fOK "linen'
as p!*ible. Today HcNland. SwilZC!i'.
land and Cc:rmany are the moat ac:tiY1:
bF.lloOi1.inl c::ounui .....
Balloon rac:ct re.c:hcd the peaka of
their popularity i.. thc pe'oo. from
7goo to 19'4 and .,ain bet .. e("n 1920
and 1939. TheGoo'doa BnpneU bF.11nen
raas wue the molt impona.nt annual
evcot oJ aD intematioNl eharac:1U.
Jama GocdOil Bennett _ the very
wealthy owner 01 the N_ r".t H".u
newspaper who ofbcd a trophy
beatinc h. name and 12,)00 francs
(wbm moaey was IItill on the ~Id
ttandanI) 10 be oompetcd lOr annually,
thc winner brirta the piklt landina' hil
balloon f.rtheat away from the
point. The int Gordon Bennett bF.11oon
..w _ held in Pan. on 50 September
7906 and _ won by Lieutenant
Frank P. Lalun. U.s. Army. H e IIew
to Yorbhift, in En,:land. a diJtanc:e 01
4(n mi1tt (60 km), in h. balloon
U.w&, .. " The rue was alwa)'l hdd
in the C'OUIltry ol the pouioul ycu',
winner, and in this _
the 6ft1
jC.ieuozuinued Wltil 79"0 inlerrup'ed
only by the war yean. The ..:oond
... iu _ beld from 19lI5 to 19lI8, the
thin! Kia in 19'19 and IgsO, and th("
founh Kn.... &om 7gs2 to '938.
The Cordon Bennett bal1000 rIt"n
werealwa)'lvcrydramatie, but lOn",n.t.
ely IGl .... intarpened with ("()Ill;nl
inridalu. 'IDe mQlt bann:!our ("OW1IC
was thai
!be '9lI' race. held in
Bn h on
September. rift aer0nauts ,",oe killed al the Itan and fh"C
itiOie wac injured. Tbue fatal aec;'
dUlts line ....,-" eilba by
01
li;tttninr IUltinc the halb"" Of by
compete to dist\l.e. wbo
...
CilQ
stanm.
n.e
C"O\I'Cf
2,
e,.hct
or
(a,.h7 km)
r~ Biltc:ri'dd izl Sa,..,ia to the Pam
diJtritt in R , -a in 87 hours, in h.
b.l1oon J)wj,f.., ol~.5000 euA (1,600
c:u..) cal city, be Id a duntiorl
recotd lOr "Ibm which ItaIQ WIbc:atCII 10 this day. He thea abo tttablithed a world', disW5("C I'C("!QI'd for
balloottJ, bul !hit _
bealen by hil
compatriot HIlnI5 Rudolf Berlina' who,
!be dinanee
'l'U"y
or
Dim
cu.n
cap'
lUI,
" houn.
sen
28,2,..,
C"OmjA
"
.r
"'\000
}# N, but often _
Iooicd
ujXJn
......
"'''Q
"""t
ir
woru.
u::;:;:
~ ~lOb~81~m~
,n
GLOSSARY
ANrrwliJt. 'The circular neck bf;low the balloon envelope throtl,b which it u filled
with gu. 1lle appendix iJ Id\ open dwi"l the trip 10 allow p i to ocape when the
balloon iii heated by the mn.
&dr-to A Jq)antle: bac: inlide the en'l'1:lope in ~t nonricMl. and 1CIIliri3ld
ainhipi which, by meant of a bIo""Ci, can be 611ed with aln""I'bcric air 10 maintain the: pumrc in the enw:1opc if p i itlollt. and thereby keep the trI'I'1:iope CtllIy
expended
lkm " ",.m.,. A vaI\'t mnunted atlhe bottom of an ainhip UlV'\Li;X! and ac:tins: ...
a II.kty valve, bnc:e it 0JiUI' if the pi
're in.jck the en'l'1:iope cxc:ccdt the...rety
limit (from _&.necnth 10 _twentieth of the yield point ofille envdope).
(ApI
A lilhtcr-than-aitcrall with no piopubion
7 .... normally _ed
~""
""f .
.......
.i,IIU,.
r.,
".
BIBLIOGRAPHY
H. YOIl Abuc.on;
~ .abnen
in
FreibaUon. Berlin ,~
c.
.ru ..
Loadoo .....
K.. O. Hoffmann : Die: Gachichle dcr
R.
om
.01=_:
",.
Luf\naehridltcnllUPPC IJ,I.
Nechl8ullilnd 1 96~ and 1968.
"0
J.du..... :
Loadoo .....
11.. S.nIOl-Dumont: My Ainhi ... Lon
don 190...
R. A. S.... ille-Sneath: Britiah Aircnf\
IJ,I. Harmondsworth 19+4.
J. Schutte: OU' LuIbebillbau SchOlleLam 1909-1925- 8U'lin 19116.
II.nlborly Smith: Throw Qui Two
Ii andi. Londoa ,g&,.
.....
pm...~:
Aviation
yean).
~tapzinc.
Paris (nriow
",
-
INDEX
"'Iorcw
"'ilb. Other rOCW"" in bold type indicate the pap on "'hicb the main tal
dCll;ription r.1llll; addil>onal rd"trenea., on Olher pqa. arc indicated in ordinary
'yp<.
I NDEX TO BALLOONS AND AIRSHIPS
Ad. . ainbip (U.S. Navy). ' 98
Ainhip, 6--7 (diagram)
_'_L'
CI "''lII'
unwp, ' S,5
Ch.arics bydtosen balloon (a). ...... 1
Cill "c.qainhip, I Wit,.., /Jl
...
(~).
I&t, '14
I,
...
'I'
C.,).
1..-14. 1
I~
"'loon (').
Cold;....
I~II.
C "- ainbip, _
CJ N II ainbip, " 7
CMsli' .,-,. . .' ...... I I)
'"
OS
1.2 IH
B,.:.il"lloo\, 130
C CD ainbir- (U.s. Navy). 199
C t ainh.ip, lee Schlltte-LaIUl SL ,
Calif i.,. A~ ainliip, 149
cyi,.u.,
ainllip, 139
"'lilt"'"
"7
DwiJ_,
...
I.",,,,
l.v~balloon
( II ). 11)-115
""11oon, 107
1_ }{__ balloon, 1'10
I~;' ainhip, _ N4
LZ8
&/ II:' ainbip, ICe Zeppelin LZ '10
EM ainb.ip, .6g
ainhip, Ill, lII8
Emu;., balloon (U.s. Federal Army),
"S
n.
Llulsi I, JJ _
..,
11'3
.DII
'55-'si
CtuiNJdi balloon,
1'10
'pt"
'"
.,0-
11"'11'
.,
C,41 Z.;,.Iu. Il
airship,
LZ ' 3D
C,,., lVulna balloon,
lee
lee
Zeppelin
(~). 2Ia-
IIII, tl6
K ite balloon (tI ). IS (diagram), Ia&-
...
sa
F,_
I.""
J .. balloon (,,). t U
Ew".
'..
Mq,,'p
ainhip,:zoo. 211
"'<001'11111' III airship, 211
M~h ainhip, tee No. I
Midis... I " ainhip, tee Zeppelin LZ
'If"
.,
M_c:"__
.M_,..,
...
,"
,,.
,,.
}(IIili $to;
'UiUKJUn,
LO
121
r ......
~p,2OO
II_II"
.'"
"'"'
LZ,
Z airship, see Zeppelin LZ
V
~o
Z
Z
Z
Z
Z
'J"
.,-
."
Zeppelin
Zeppelin
Zeppelin
Zeppelin
LZ 20
LZ 21
LZ 2~
LZ 23
(Z V) ainhip, ' 59
(Z V I) airship, 'S9
(Z VII ) ainhip, 159
(Z VIII ) airship, lS I,
'59
."
,8.
.&>
us
'3'
,
Fraeukel, Knut, 133
Freyer, 152
Frilz, Ham, 157
I NDEX TO PERSONALITIES
Allen, Ezra, I 14
Allen, j ames, 114
AmundJcn, Roald (59 .nd. 60). ,86-
.,.
Anderson, O. A. (68),~"
Andrte, Salomon Augusl (24), 132-134
Arbnda., Frano;oiJ.Laurcnl, Marquis
d' ( I ), g8 990 100
Arnslein, Karl, 114, 200, 1104
Assmann, Richard, 135
Aubert, Fred, 146-149
Cavendish, Henry, 9
Cayley, Sir George, 9, 10
Charles, jacques Alexandre Ctsar (3),
97, 99-10 ' . lIao
Cheves, Langton, "5
Cocking, Robert, 111-IJa
Cody, S. F . 144
Colding, Johan Peter (8), 109-110
Coirnore, R. B. H., 1!)6-197
Conl!, NieolasJacqua (6). 106-107
c.o.yn., Max, ao I-liOlI
Coutclle, jean Marie joseph (6), 106-
..,
Babushlcin, 191
Baldwin, Thol1lQ !>rott (n ), ItS-lt9
Ballantyne, W., 175
Behounck, FranliJck, 1119
Berliner, H ana Rudolf, 1111 1
Berson, Arthur (~5), 1"-'3:1
Baier, Ltona rd, 111 1
Biggin, Georrc, 101- 103
Black, joseph, 9
Blanchard, j ean.Pien"C (4), 103-10:1
Blanchard, M adeleine.Sophie, 104105, 1114
B6cler, Alois, 161
Bockholl, Ludwig, 1611-164
Boc:rn3ck, Fritz, 167
Bois, 140
Booth, R. S., 196
Boyd, O. T., 1I13
Brander, Sir W. Sefton, 1!)6-197
Bum, George, IllS
Bumey, Sir Dennistoun (&I), 195-197
Buttlarllnndenfds, Horst TrCU$Ch
von, 100-161
Fleuri, 140
Foenter, Arthur, 207
.ordney, C. L., :wa
Fordyce, George, 102
'"
".
,,'
1~- l a50
..
Nordenfeld, 133
'"
'.~
Piteard, Jeanetle, _
Pie.u, M . R., 18]
Pietner, Feli., ISII-I:.3
Platen Uallermund, MaSnUi von, IS7
fu ..dla, Vinnm, I go
Ponlremoli, Aide, I IIg
Priatley, Jottph, 9. 97
Pritchard, j . e. t.l , 1 7~
Prua, t.lax, 13, 1 !H,l108-~II()1""
...
'f''''''
IUSINUS AND
'N;;SiMa
'94'
IUPUNES Ii. ...
OEN.-' I
tLYlNO IOATS _ .
'f' Poch. b
n..
CoI_r
ANNED SPACECRAFT
UlCUT" 0 ........""
(I and
Weinling ramily,
' 117
.,.,
TtlE WAIU
PIUVATE
Trollopc:, 1117
.,.
,,.
0.". ""0
.
.0
EGE . LEt-.NART
BALLOONS AND
ARM OURED
AIRSHIPS
ArV. OF THE
17 83-1973
o 71 37 0568 X
629 .1 332
CoI_r
. tt'&- .I
,
T WKfTI.
............. o. _ _
.,.1
......"....
>
...
7"7
os6I X
Iilk Holbono,