Summary of Airships

In the late 18th century, serious attempts were made to realize the dream of airship, which was credited to Henri Gifford, who made the first primitive airship flyer 1852. The concept of airships and balloons was established by the Greek philosopher named “Archimedes” who figured out the principle of buoyancy - the total weight of the Airship or Balloon is less than the weight of the air it displaces. If we go back to the history, the prospects of Airships as bombers had been recognized in Europe. It was World War 1 that marked airship as a weapon. The physical damage done by the Zeppelins Airships was trivial and the deaths it caused amounted to a few hundreds.

Airships can remain in the air for long periods of time. A disadvantage of an airship is its speed. The altitude at which an airship can fly depends on how much lifting gas it can excrete. Modern airships use dynamic helium volume. At sea level, helium only takes up a small part of the hull, while the rest is filled with air. As the airship ascends, the helium inflates, reducing outer pressure. Air is repeatedly pushed out and released from the downward valve. This allows the airship to reach any altitude, balancing inner and outer pressure. The greatest disadvantage of the airship is size, which is essential to increasing performance. As size increases, the problems of ground handling increase. The ground handling problems reduced the number of days the Zeppelin Airships were able to make patrol flights. So long as the power-to-weight ratios of aircraft engines remained low and specific fuel consumption high, the airship had an edge for long range or duration operations

There are two kinds of floating air lighter-than-air Aircrafts, the Balloon and the Airships. The difference being that Balloon is not powered whereas the Airship is a powered Aircraft.

Traditionally, airships can be divided into three classes: Rigid, Semi-Rigid, and Non-Rigid. Non-Rigid Airships depend on the internal pressure of the gas to maintain their shape. Semi-Rigid Airships are pressured airships with a rigid structure. Rigid Airships are also called Zeppelins, offered means of transporting very heavy loads over long distances through the air.

Airships are used as both alternatives for advertisement and promotional sightseeing purposes. They are no longer used for passenger transport. However, in the 1930’s, Zeppelin Airships had the advantage to carry significantly more passengers than contemporary aircrafts. Airships could also be employed for cargo transport, especially delivering extremely heavy loads at great distances. As far as the proposed designs and applications are concerned, spacious decks are inside for sitting, sleeping recreation and leisurely journeys are proposed.

In 2005, a diamond mining company launched an airship exploration program to find potential diamond mines by scanning the local geography. The Research and Development Company for Airship technologies has developed an airship for high altitude, environmental research, heavy lifting and military applications. Proposals have also been made for the use of airship in the exploration of planets.

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