An airship is a powered, steerable aircraft that flies by buoyancy, using a gas lighter than the surrounding air, held either within an envelope or within separate internal gas cells, to lift an attached structure carrying engines, crew and cargo. The Jesuit priest Francesco Lana de Terzi proposed an unbuildable design he called an Aerial Ship in 1670, and the French engineer Henri Giffard achieved the first true powered, controlled flight in an airship in 1852, covering 27 kilometers in a steam-powered craft of his own design. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin then pioneered the rigid airship, built around an internal framework of triangular lattice girders housing separate gas cells with engines carried in external gondolas, launching his first craft, the LZ1, in July 1900; Zeppelins dominated passenger airship service through the 1930s until the Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed on 6 May 1937, a disaster that ended the type's era as a passenger transport.
Facts
YearSourced to the subject's own account SignificanceSourced to the subject's own accountAirships were the first aircraft capable of controlled, powered flight and remained in common use into the 1930s, before being surpassed by aeroplanes and largely retired after a series of high-profile accidents. 1 Connections
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1. Airship (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHistory, Early pioneers section
In 1852, Henri Giffard became the first person to make an engine-powered flight when he flew 27 km (17 mi) in a steam-powered airship.
lead section, Terminology-adjacent paragraph
Airships were the first aircraft capable of controlled, powered flight and were most commonly used before the 1940s; their use declined as aeroplanes surpassed their capabilities.
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