Military, Naval and Civil Airships Since 1783

The History and the Development of the Dirigible Airship in Peace and War

Daniel George Ridley-Kitts

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2012
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• eBook ISBN:
  9780752490366
• Subtopic: Social History
• Index: Technology & Engineering

A comprehensive history of the development of the airship, appealing to the enthusiast and general reader alike
 
Tracing the development of the airship, this book relates the struggles of the early pioneers, from the Montgolfier brothers, and the parallel of the hydrogen balloon. Throughout the 19th century, "Aeronauts" learned the skill of aerial navigation, making lost distance flights in an unfamiliar element. Attempts were made to control the direction of flight, first by the use of steam, then by utilizing electrical power, and finally the petrol engine. From 1900, Count Zeppelin developed the rigid airship from a faltering experimental craft into a potent war weapon. Between the wars it appeared that the giant passenger-carrying airships offered the solution to long distance air travel, but this dream proved illusory. In the present age, airships are again being considered for new uses including airborne military command posts and geostationary unmanned "Aerostats" harvesting the power of the "Jetstream" to provide an umlimited supply of electrical power for the planet.

Table of contents

• Title
• Dedication
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• Introduction The Conquest of the Air
• 1 The Airship: An Explanation
• 2 The Development of the Dirigible 1783–1914
• 3 Early British Efforts 1878–1914
• 4 The First British Rigid: Mayfly
• 5 Interim 1912–14: The Astra-Torres, Parseval & Forlanini Airships
• 6 The Second Navy Rigid: R9
• 7 War at Sea: Sea Scouts vs the U-boat
• 8 War at Sea: Airships with the Grand Fleet
• 9 Air Defence of Great Britain: Opening Moves
• 10 Air Defence of Great Britain: Nemesis
• 11 Zeppeline Gegen England und Weiter 1915–18
• 12 The R23 & 23X Classes
• 13 Short Brothers’ Wooden-Framed Y Type: R31 & R32
• 14 R34 Across the Atlantic
• 15 The Last of the Aerial Cruisers: R36 & Shenandoah
• 16 The Vickers R80, Airship Sheds & Mooring Masts
• 17 The Admiralty A Type: R38/ZR2
• 18 The Airship vs the Flying Boat
• 19 Airship Development in the Interwar Years
• 20 From the Second World War to the Present Day
• Appendix 1 The R34’s Transatlantic Flight
• Appendix 2 Airship Development in Great Britain 1900–30
• Appendix 3 The LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin
• Appendix 4 The First Zeppelin Raid on the British Isles
• Bibliography
• Copyright