Airship

Airship

Maddalena Ferraro

Description

What it looks like? How it's done?

An airship is like an horizontal balloon that can move. It doesn't cost very much.

An airship consists of:

• An enclosure intended to contain the gas
• A "gondola" and the crew and cargo compartments
• One or more engines
• The tail fins needed to stabilize the trajectory and allow the airship to be maneuvered in motion

Can it carry passengers? How many?

Yes, an airhsip can carry passengers. The number of people in an airship can vary. The maximum is of 100 people at a time, in fact there are 50 cabins (single, double and for 4 people) For Exemple the Graf Zeppelin could carry 45-50 people.

Explanation

Is it fast? Or is it slow?

_______

An airship is not very fast, in fact at most it can reach eighty nods,

150 km / h.

Do you need a license?

To fly an airship it is necessary to be in possession of a patent, which certifies the ability to perform ascents and travels with free balloons of any volume, even with passengers on board.

Does it pollute?

Obviously polluts a little, however less than a plane. Despite the fact that it is much slower than a plane, flying an airship could decrease the pollution in the air

History

The first airship was built in 1852 by the Frenchman Henri Giffard, it consisted of a 44m long, cigar-shaped floppy casing and was powered by a propeller powered by a steam engine. Giffard's airship, which flew over Paris at a speed of about 10 km / h, could only be controlled in almost total absence of wind. In the first

decade of the twentieth century there were many countries where functioning airships were built; the first Italian dirigible, of the semi-rigid type, was designed by Gaetano Arturo Crocco and tested in 1908.

The airship gained efficiency and reliability with the use of the internal combustion engine and the semi-rigid casing.

At this point we must remember the heroic exploits of the Italian explorer Umberto Nobile who flew over the North Pole with the semi-rigid Italian airships Norge and Italia in 1926 and 1929 respectively.

During the return, Italy was shipwrecked on the polar pack ice and it was necessary to organize a rescue expedition to recover the shipwrecked who were saved just when they reached the end of their strength. In the meanwhile, in 1900 the German Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917) had built the first rigid airship capable of assuming large dimensions: specimens over 240 m long, with over

40 m in diameter, weighing up to 240 t, capable of to cross the Atlantic, with 100 passengers, at 150 km / h. Long rival of the airplane for supremacy as an aerial vehicle in the 1930s, the airship rapidly declined, mainly due to a series of very serious accidents, the last (and decisive) of which destroyed the largest airship ever built, the German Hindenburg (245 m long): caught fire in Lakehurst (New York) on 7 May 1937 in the collision with the landing pylon, causing the death of 36 of the 96 people on board.

The military life

The airship also had an intense military life. During the First World War (1914-1918) about 300 non-rigid British airships protected the Allied convoys from submarine attacks (U-boats). Not a single surface vessel was lost to enemy attacks while under the protection of airships. During the Second World War (1939-1945) the US deployed about 140 non-rigid airships to protect coastal convoys. Again no surface vessel so protected was sunk, and only one airship was lost - her engines had failed and was pulled down by an attacking U-boat.

After the war, non-rigid military airships continued to be developed by the United States Navy. They were tested in a variety of simulated combat conditions in all seasons, and performed extremely well. With a crew of 25 they were able to operate the fleet for eight consecutive days without refueling. Currently, in civilian uses, airships are used in advertising, film shooting, scientific observations and as a support to the activity of the federal police.

Curiosities

• The most famous models:
• The Graf Zeppelin ⇢ connected Europe and the United States in five days.
• The Superzeppelin⇢ connected Frankfurt to Rio de Janeiro in four days

• Everyone calls airships zeppelins but it's actually called airships and not zeppelins

• The most expensive airship in the world cost 581,952.90

• Rigid Airship:

A rigid airship has a rigid framework covered by an outer skin or envelope. The interior contains one or more gasbags, cells or balloons to provide lift. Rigid airships are typically unpressurised and can be made to virtually any size. Most, but not all, of the German Zeppelin airships have been of this type.

• Semi-rigid Airship:

A semi-rigid airship has some kind of supporting structure but the main envelope is held in shape by the internal pressure of the lifting gas. Typically the airship has an extended, usually articulated keel running along the bottom of the envelope to stop it kinking in the middle by distributing suspension loads into the envelope, while also allowing lower envelope pressures.

• Non-rigid Airship

A non-rigid airship relies entirely on internal gas pressure to retain its shape during flight. Unlike the rigid design, the non-rigid airship's gas envelope has no compartments. It typically has smaller internal bags or "ballonets". At sea level, these are filled with air. As altitude is increased, the lifting gas expands and air from the ballonets is expelled through valves to maintain the hull's shape. To return to sea level, the process is reversed: air is forced back into the ballonets by scooping air from the engine exhaust and using auxiliary blowers.

Personal opinion / expirience

Contro

Pro

• it's slower than an plane

vs

• pollutes less than a plane

Thank

you!