Patrick's+Report

The famous Good Year blimp is an example of an airship. In this report, you will learn about the parts of an airship, types of airships, the Hindenburg, and modern uses of airships.


 * __Parts of an Airship __**

Most people think that in airships, everywhere is filled with helium. That’s not true, there are two giant ballonets inside an airship. A ballonet is a bag that holds the air. The ballonet has a valve at the bottom to pump the helium into or out of each ballonet to even out the weight of the airship. The part that is on the outside that is like skin is called the envelope. Envelopes are not just found on non-rigid airships, they can also be on rigid and semi-rigid airships. On rigid airships the envelope is not soft. A gondola is the cabin that hangs underneath. The gondola is where the pilot and co-pilot would steer the airship. Most gondolas are small. They have engines that are attached onto both sides of the gondola. Pilots would steer the airship by turning fins or rudders connected to the tail.


 * __Types of Airships __**

Did you ever know that there are more kinds of airships than just blimps? There are three types of airships, a non-rigid airship, a rigid airship, and a semi-rigid airship. Non-rigid airships are known as blimps because of their soft envelope. Blimps are often used for commercial purposes. They have no frame. When filled with gas, helium blimps become a cigar shape. Blimps use helium because helium is not flammable but is the second lightest gas. Hydrogen is the lightest gas known but is very flammable so they don’t use hydrogen anymore.

Rigid airships are also called Zeppelins. These are built with a solid framework to keep their shape. Zeppelins have to have to be stored in a giant storage area because they always stay the same size and can’t be flattened out. That is because they have a solid framework.

Last is the semi-rigid airship. Semi rigid airships are similar to blimps but have a keel frame. A keel frame means that the frame is just at the bottom of the airship.


 * __The Hindenburg __**

On May 6, 1937 the Hindenburg, the biggest airship was about to land. It was more than four times larger than the modern Goodyear Blimp. Inside there were cabins, lounges, a smoking room, and a dining room. People called it a floating hotel. There also was a catwalk. There were two kinds of catwalks, the keel catwalk and the axial catwalk. The axial catwalk is a catwalk that goes through the center of the Hindenburg and the keel catwalk goes down along the bottom of the Hindenburg.

At 7:25 P.M. it floated 200 feet above the airfield. All of the ground crew tried grabbing the ropes but couldn’t get to them in time before the Hindenburg caught into flames. People jumped out onto the soft sandy beach and ran away from it as fast as they could. The Hindenburg fell onto ground on its tail and stood upward while breaking apart. Flames shot 200 feet into the air. It quickly fell down on the beach. In the morning after the crash all that still remained of the Hindenburg was supports that held it all together. The crash had killed 36 out of 97 passengers and 24 out of 45 crew members. Since then airships do not carry passengers anymore. They are now used for photography, and filming, as well as advertising and military purposes. Airships also perform rescue missions and early warning duties.


 * __Modern uses of Airships __**

Have you ever wondered what we use airships for? Today we use airships in certain types of purposes such as advertising and camera platforms for sporting events. People also use airships for tourism and aerial observation. Airships are no longer used to transport people for two reasons. First, they are more expensive than other winged aircraft. Second, are because of safety reasons. Other companies are thinking of using them for transporting cargo and heavy loads to areas with no road ways that connect to this area. This is called road less trucking.

You have now learned some about the parts of an airship, the different types of airships, the disaster of the Hindenburg, and some modern uses of airships.