airship travel history

AIR & SPACE MAGAZINE

Airships rise again.

Zero emissions and a million pounds of lift renew the appeal of these century-old giants.

Tom Grundy, the CEO of Hybrid Air Vehicles, started his career working on fighters and drones for BAE Systems, and he was a project engineering manager for Airbus during the development of the A380. But these days his focus is on a type of aircraft that can do things the fixed-wing fliers he has spent his life admiring can’t—even though the basic technology keeping them aloft is substantially older. Welcome to the second age of the airship.

Grundy’s company is promoting its striking, pillow-like AirLander 10, initially designed for military surveillance, as a pleasant, low-emission alternative means of regional air travel. In May the company announced plans to begin service for up to 100 passengers per flight on a handful of short-haul routes (Liverpool to Belfast, Oslo to Stockholm, Seattle to Vancouver, among others) in 2025. A Scandinavian company is in talks about using the AirLander to give tours of the North Pole.

The chief market for the airships of the 21st century, however, will not be passenger service but freight hauling. The new airships can carry heavier loads farther and cheaper than helicopters can, with lower emissions than fixed-wing aircraft—potentially zero emissions, if the ships are powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Historically, there have been two major types of airship. Rigid airships, as the name implies, are built around a hard skeleton. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin of Germany flew the first rigid airships, and on his account, they are sometimes called Zeppelins. The other type of airship is non-rigid. Non-rigid airships have no skeleton. They consist of an envelope inflated with a lifting gas such as helium, from which is suspended a gondola for crew, passengers, and cargo. The familiar Goodyear blimps have been mostly non-rigid airships.

The engineers at Hybrid Air Vehicles looked at the history of rigid and non-rigid airships and came down solidly on the non-rigid side—with a twist. Rather than the cigar or American football shapes of past airships and blimps, the AirLander looks more like a pillow. A radically different design, it’s a lifting body—and heavier than air. It relies on both aerostatic lift from helium and aerodynamic lift to fly, making it a hybrid airship. “About 40 percent of our lift is aerodynamic,” Grundy says. “When we turn our engines off and we slow down, we’re heavier than air. We come down and land just like airplanes do.”

The appealing energy efficiency of airships comes from their ability to float in the air as boats do on water—so it seems strange to purposefully erode that lighter-than-air quality. But there is another, problematic side to aerostatic buoyancy. “If you are taking 50 tons of cargo to a remote part of the world,” Grundy says, “and you want to put that 50 tons down in [that same spot], you now have 50 tons of buoyancy you have to deal with.” Like a pool float held underwater, it’s going to surge upward once you let off the pressure. Airships of yore would manage by venting lifting gas (not something you want to do with limited and expensive helium), taking on ballast, and elaborate rope and mooring procedures. That’s a nonstarter if you want to make money taking big things to places with little infrastructure, Grundy says, but he believes the AirLander is the answer.

When the AirLander had its first flight in Lakehurst, New Jersey in 2012, it was intended as a U.S. Army surveillance craft. The Army canceled that program the following year, and HAV brought the ship across the Atlantic to Cardington, about 60 miles north of London, for a 2016 series of flights that would test its viability for civilian use. In November 2017, the unoccupied AirLander broke free from its mooring mast and deflated. Grundy says the lessons of this incident resulted in improvements to the production model, which remains on schedule. “Our base business plan sees us delivering 12 aircraft per year” beginning as soon as 2025, he says.

Gentle Giant

The Graf Zeppelin was 776 feet long. Even non-rigid airships could be enormous, according to Wichita State University professor of aerospace engineering Brandon Buerge. He cites the U.S. Navy’s N-Class blimps of the 1950s, tasked with anti-submarine and early-warning missions. They could be as large as 400 feet long and 120 feet tall, “bigger than anything we’ve been flying with any regularity,” Buerge says.

Early on, the German Zeppelins racked up an impressive record for safety and capability. The Graf Zeppe lin flew more than a million miles beginning in 1928, circumnavigated the globe, and lifted more than 43 tons. “How long did it take before fixed-wing aircraft caught up?” Buerge asks. (About 30 years. The C-133 Cargomaster—first heavy lifter in the U.S. Air Force—entered service in 1958 and could carry more than 55 tons, but it had four jet fuel-guzzling turboprops.)

Still the rigid giants eventually proved fragile. The German airships used flammable hydrogen for lift, which led to the Hindenburg disaster. And the U.S. Navy’s rigid airships displayed an alarming tendency to break up in bad weather. The Germans scrapped the Graf Zeppelin at the start of World War II, while the American Navy stuck with non-rigid blimps, using them to escort shipping convoys. The blimps proved much more resilient, with one N-Class blimp, the Snowbir d, crossing the Atlantic twice and beating the Graf Zeppelin ’s record for endurance by flying for more than 264 hours through all kinds of weather.

“Those are the ships they would plow through ice storms,” Buerge says. “It’s hard to kill a non-rigid airship.”

As you approach Moffett Federal Air Field in Sunnyvale, California, Hangars Two and Three are easily visible from U.S. 101, their parabolic apexes and massive door frames hulking over the relatively flat desert landscape. Seeing them from a distance does not prepare you for the feeling of their immensity as you stand between them. The giant hangars channel the early summer breeze like a box canyon. In the 1930s, they housed U.S. Navy airships like the Macon , a behemoth 785 feet long and 150 feet high. More recent tenants include the California Air National Guard and NASA.

The current occupant of Hangar Two, LTA Research, is using it to house airships again. My tour guides on this bright June morning are LTA CEO Alan Weston and LTA chief of operations James McCormick, who acts as a sort of ground wire for Weston’s seemingly boundless energy. Inside the hangar, a chorus of birdsong echoes down from the rafters far overhead.

Before us stands the naked, cigar-shaped skeleton of the airship they have dubbed Pathfinder 1, a 400-foot-long vessel that could easily swallow the fuselage of the Boeing 737 that brought me to California. It’s more organic sculpture than airframe, a latticework of black carbon-fiber tubes rising like the bones of an ancient leviathan awaiting its taxidermied skin—in this case, high-tech sailcloth.

“Isn’t that cool?” Weston asks.

His excitement is catching, but he is in some ways a strange ambassador for the return of a technology that for most of the last 70 years has been more prevalent in science fiction than in the real world, those floating billboards hovering over football stadiums notwithstanding. “Most of my career has been in spacecraft and rockets,” Weston says. He designed kill vehicles for President Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars program and spent 23 years doing research and development for the U.S. Air Force. Then he served as director of programs at NASA Ames Research Center until his retirement in August 2013.

Retirement did not last long. Late that same year, Google co-founder Sergey Brin asked Weston to create a company to build an airship that could carry cargo on his humanitarian relief missions.

Weston’s enthusiasm for his new project grew as he studied the history of airships. The Hindenburg disaster of 1937 might have been the death of airships in the popular imagination, but there have been fresh design efforts in every decade since. (John McPhee’s book The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed documents a push by a strange coalition of former Navy airship men and Presbyterian ministers to develop a hybrid airplane/rigid airship in the 1970s. Their ship flew, but no one wanted it. Their dreams of at once revolutionizing air freight and missionary work went unfulfilled.)

His history lessons complete, Weston concluded that the challenges that plagued the older rigid airships could be overcome. They would use non-flammable helium as a lifting gas, for starters. And the flaws that brought down Navy airships like Akron and Macon —a faulty altimeter and structural damage, respectively—could be corrected with modern avionics and strong, light materials. Each of the 13 rib-like carbon fiber “mainframes” that make up the length of Pathfinder 1 weighs just 600 pounds, but together, they support a vessel with 28 tons of lift. A broken carbon tube can be replaced in-flight.

“The beautiful thing about a rigid airship is you can almost do anything you want,” Weston says. “The problem with all these blimps is you don’t have any hard points.”

Pathfinder 1 will support a gondola, diesel generators, solar panels, batteries, electric motors, and vectored thrust propellers, as well as a small gangway running the length of the envelope for accessing the interior frame. While LTA will not disclose the dimensions of its in-development Pathfinder 3, it will be substantially more capacious than Pathfinder 1, with room enough in the crew gangway for passengers and for hydrogen—for fuel cells, rather than for lift.

Beyond Pathfinder 3, LTA aims to build a massive rigid airship that will dwarf the Zeppelins of the past. All LTA will say on the record about its next-gen giant is that it will be too big to be built in Sunnyvale—LTA is in the process of moving into the former Goodyear Airdock hangar in Akron, Ohio. “The AirDock goes on top of this,” Weston says, gesturing up toward Hangar Two’s distant ceiling. “This is 160 feet tall. The AirDock is 200 feet tall.”

That ship isn’t scheduled to fly until 2023 at the earliest, and Weston and his team have plenty to keep them busy in the meantime, like fully outfitting Pathfinder 1 and flying it to its new home in Akron—following a series of flight tests around the San Francisco Bay area.

Though Weston hopes to begin these short-distance “camping trips” this year, they are currently unscheduled. “History is full of airship projects that crashed or something bad happened because people were in a rush,” Weston says. “We’re going to be careful.”

Igor Pasternak shares Tom Grundy’s view that buoyancy control is key to building a commercially practical airship. The founder of Worldwide Aeros Corporation in Montebello, California, Pasternak built tethered balloons called aerostats as a teenager growing up in Ukraine. Airships, he says, are “what I have been doing all my life.”

He thinks, though, that relying on aerodynamic lift and vectored thrust will limit an airship’s operational capacity. Requiring a runway, even a short one, is another limitation. The vehicle under construction at Worldwide Aeros, the Aeroscraft Dragon Dream, is a non-cylindrical rigid airship. It takes a different approach than Hybrid’s AirLander, using a low-pressure system to compress and release helium to modulate the lift of the airship—compress the helium, shrink its volume, and you reduce aerostatic lift. Prove a heavy-lifting airship can perform true vertical take-offs and landings without ground infrastructure, Pasternak says, and “we are talking about a huge shift, dramatic shift” in the transport business.

That proof is yet to come. The design review for the Dragon Dream operational demonstrator was completed only last summer, and he won’t say when its next test flight will be. As with LTA, he’s pushing the humanitarian applications of airships, having entered into a partnership with the World Food Program that he hopes will eventually see his invention delivering food to famine-struck regions.

The emphasis on charity might help to cover up some observers’ skepticism. “Hope springs eternal” is what aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia says when I ask him if the new airship ventures will change the market. “Frankly, it doesn’t scale,” he explains. “Air travel is all about scale, getting 300 people into a 777. You just can’t do that with these things.”

He can’t readily think of a cargo someone would need to send faster—and at a higher price—than by ship, but slower than by jet. And exotic cargo flown to remote locales is often a one-way trip. “Air cargo is all about equipment utilization, with UPS and FedEx being the best examples of that,” he says. “They have these elaborately choreographed route networks that are all about efficient use of equipment and not having too many one-way trips.”

LTA, Weston admits, is in a privileged position. With a nonprofit humanitarian mission and the backing of some of the world’s wealthiest people, Weston has been freed to think about the challenges of lighter-than-air flight one step at a time. He wants to build airships with no carbon footprint, and so hopes to utilize hydrogen fuel cells in Pathfinder 3 and beyond. Combine oxygen from the air and on-board hydrogen in a fuel cell and you can generate power as well as water, both for consumption and for ballast. “You’re generating the stuff you’re going to drink and use to wash your hands and take a shower with as you are flying around,” Weston says. “We actually gain weight with the water. One kilogram of hydrogen generates nine kilograms of water, so we have plenty of buoyancy control.”

He muses that the success of airships in humanitarian relief could spur the market more generally. Perhaps low-cost, hydrogen-powered cargo airships could spur other industries, such as shipping, to transition to hydrogen power. “I view this as the project of a lifetime,” Weston says. “There’s more opportunity, in my head, to do something useful than anything I’ve ever seen.”

To Buerge the aerospace engineer, helicopters seem like a reasonable analogy to the new airships. “I don’t ride on a helicopter with any regularity, and you probably don’t either,” he says. But even though the civilian helicopter market isn’t near the size of the commercial aircraft industry, “I wouldn’t call helicopters an unsuccessful technology, or a technology that doesn’t exist in a serious way.”

And there’s one element of airships that hasn’t been tested seriously in recent memory: the experience of flying in one.

Buerge once flew in two blimps, a Polar 400 and a Skyship 600, on one of those warm summer days that generate puffy clouds and bumpy rides in fixed-wing aircraft. The dynamics were more like a boat than an airplane, the bow coming up gradually, the ship gliding over a thermal, and then down again. Smooth. “The response isn’t anything that someone that is used to flying in heavier-than-air vehicles would interpret as turbulence,” he says. “It was as close to a magic carpet as I have ever experienced.”

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Jon Kelvey | | READ MORE

Jon Kelvey is a writer and freelance journalist focusing on science, health and aerospace.

The First Powered Airship | The Greatest Moments in Flight

This is part of a SPACE.com series of articles on the Greatest Moments in Flight, the breakthrough events that paved the way for human spaceflight and its next steps: asteroid mining and bases on the moon and Mars.

Soon after the Montgolfier brothers launched the first hot-air balloon in 1783, inventors began to design ways to propel and control lighter-than-air aircraft. The major drawback in balloon travel was that it was essentially a one-way trip. If lighter-than-air flight was going to be successful, there had to be a way to steer the airship, or dirigible. The word "dirigible," in fact, comes from the French word diriger , meaning "to direct or to steer."

In 1784, General Jean Baptiste Marie Meusnier designed an elliptical airship that was about 260 feet (79 meters) long. It was to be powered by three hand-cranked propellers, which required the labor of 80 men. Meusnier's design was never built.

In 1850, another Frenchmen, Pierre Jullien of Villejuif , demonstrated a cigar-shaped model airship at the Paris Hippodrome. The airship's rudder, elevator, and gondola were mounted under the front part of the balloon. A clockwork motor that drove two airscrews mounted on either side of a center line propelled the airship. A light wire frame stiffened by a truss maintained the bag's form. Jullien was onto something that another man would leverage.

The first powered flight

Jules Henri Giffard , a French engineer and inventor, took note of Jullien's design. He built the first full-size airship — a cigar-shaped, non-rigid bag that was 143 feet (44 meters) long and had a capacity of 113,000 cubic feet (3,200 cubic meters). He also built a small 3-horsepower (2.2-kilowatt) steam engine to power a three-bladed propeller. The engine weighed 250 pounds (113 kilograms) and needed a 100-pound (45.4 kilograms) boiler to fire it.

The first flight of Giffard's steam-powered airship took place Sept. 24, 1852 — 51 years before the Wright Brothers’ first flight . Traveling at about 6 miles per hour (10 kilometers/hour), Giffard traveled almost 17 miles (27 kilometers) from the Paris racecourse to Elancourt, near Trappes. The small engine could not overcome the prevailing winds, and Giffard could only manage to turn the airship in slow circles. He did, however, prove that in calm conditions controlled flight was possible.

The first round trip

The first airship to return to its starting point was a vast improvement over earlier models. Charles Renard and Arthur C. Krebs , inventors and military officers in the French Army Corps of Engineers, built an elongated balloon, La France . It was 165 feet (50.3 meters) long, and it had a capacity of 66,000 cubic feet (1,869 cubic meters). A battery-powered electric motor propelled La France .

The motor drove a four-bladed wooden tractor propeller that was 23 feet (7 meters) in diameter. The airship also had a rudder and elevator, ballonnets, a sliding weight to compensate for any shift in the center of gravity, and a heavy guide rope to assist in landing.

The first flight of La France took place on Aug. 9, 1884. Renard and Krebs landed successfully at the parade ground where they had begun—a flight of 5 miles (8 kilometers) and 23 minutes in which they had been in control throughout. During 1884 and 1885, La France made seven flights. Although the batteries limited its flying range, the airship demonstrated that controlled flight was possible if it had a sufficiently powerful lightweight motor.

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History of Airships and Balloons

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There are two kinds of floating lighter-than-air or LTA craft : the balloon and the airship. A balloon is an unpowered LTA craft that can lift. An airship is a powered LTA craft that can lift and then maneuver in any direction against the wind.

Background of Airships and Balloons

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Balloons and airships lift because they are buoyant, meaning that the total weight of the airship or balloon is less than the weight of the air it displaces. The Greek philosopher Archimedes first established the basic principle of buoyancy.

Hot air balloons were first flown by the brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier as early as the spring of 1783. While the materials and technology are very different, the principles used by the earliest eighteenth-century experimenters continue to carry modern sport and weather balloons aloft.

Types of Airships

There are three types of airships: the nonrigid airship, often called a blimp; the semirigid airship, and the rigid airship, sometimes called a Zeppelin .

Hot Air Balloons and the Montgolfier Brothers

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The Montgolfier brothers, born in Annonay, France, were the inventors of the first practical balloon. The first demonstrated flight of a hot air balloon took place on June 4, 1783, in Annonay, France.

Montgolfier Balloon

Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier, paper mill owners, were trying to float bags made of paper and fabric. When the brothers held a flame near the opening at the bottom, the bag (called a balloon) expanded with hot air and floated upward. The Montgolfier brothers built a larger paper-lined silk balloon and demonstrated it on June 4, 1783, in the marketplace at Annonay. Their balloon (called a Montgolfiere) lifted 6,562 feet into the air.

First Passengers

On September 19, 1783, in Versailles, a Montgolfiere hot air balloon carrying a sheep, a rooster, and a duck flew for eight minutes in front of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and the French court.

First Manned Flight

On October 15, 1783, Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes were the first human passengers on a Montgolfiere balloon. The balloon was in free flight, meaning it was not tethered.

On January 19, 1784, a huge Montgolfiere hot air balloon carried seven passengers to a height of 3,000 feet over the city of Lyons.

Montgolfier Gas

At the time, the Montgolfiers believed they had discovered a new gas (they called Montgolfier gas) that was lighter than air and caused the inflated balloons to rise. In fact, the gas was merely air, which became more buoyant as it was heated.

Hydrogen Balloons and Jacques Charles

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Frenchman, Jacques Charles invented the first hydrogen balloon in 1783.

Less than two weeks after the ground-breaking Montgolfier flight, the French physicist Jacques Charles (1746-1823) and Nicolas Robert (1758-1820) made the first untethered ascension with a gas hydrogen balloon on December 1, 1783. Jacques Charles combined his expertise in making hydrogen with Nicolas Robert's new method of coating silk with rubber.

Charlière Hydrogen Balloon

The Charlière hydrogen balloon exceeded the earlier Montgolfier hot air balloon in time in the air and distance traveled. With its wicker gondola, netting, and valve-and-ballast system, it became the definitive form of the hydrogen balloon for the next 200 years. The audience in the Tuileries Gardens was reported as 400,000, half the population of Paris.

The limitation of using hot air was that when the air in the balloon cooled, the balloon was forced to descend. If a fire was kept burning to warm the air constantly, sparks were likely to reach the bag and set it afire. Hydrogen overcame this obstacle.

First Ballooning Fatalities

On June 15, 1785, Pierre Romain and Pilatre de Rozier were the first persons to die in a balloon. Pilatre de Rozier was both the first to fly and to die in a balloon. Using a dangerous combination of hot-air and hydrogen proved fatal to the pair, whose dramatic crash before a large crowd only temporarily dampened the balloon mania sweeping France in the late eighteenth century.

Hydrogen Balloon with Flapping Devices

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Jean-Pierre Blanchard (1753-1809) designed a hydrogen balloon with flapping devices to control its flight.

First Balloon Flight Across the English Channel

Jean-Pierre Blanchard soon moved to England, where he gathered a small group of enthusiasts, including Boston physician, John Jeffries. John Jeffries offered to pay for what became the first flight across the English Channel in 1785.

John Jeffries later wrote that they sank so low crossing the English Channel that they threw everything overboard including most of their clothing, arriving safely on land "almost naked as the trees."

Balloon Flight in the United States

The first real balloon flight in the United States did not occur until the Jean-Pierre Blanchard ascended from the yard of the Washington Prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 9, 1793. That day, President George Washington , the French ambassador, and a crowd of onlookers watched Jean Blanchard ascend to about 5,800 feet.

First Airmail

Blanchard carried the first piece of airmail with him, a passport presented by President Washington that directed all citizens of the United States, and others, that they oppose no hindrance to the said Mr. Blanchard and help in his efforts to establish and advance an art, in order to make it useful to mankind in general.

Henri Giffard and the Dirigible

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Early balloons were not truly navigable. Attempts to improve maneuverability included elongating the balloon's shape and using a powered screw to push it through the air.

Henri Giffard

Thus the airship (also called a dirigible), a lighter-than-air craft with propulsion and steering systems was born. Credit for the construction of the first navigable full-sized airship goes to the French engineer, Henri Giffard, who, in 1852, attached a small, steam-powered engine to a huge propeller and chugged through the air for seventeen miles at a top speed of five miles per hour.

Alberto Santos-Dumont Gasoline-Powered Airship

However, it was not until the invention of the gasoline-powered engine in 1896 that practical airships could be built. In 1898, the Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont was the first to construct and fly a gasoline-powered airship.

Arriving in Paris in 1897, Alberto Santos-Dumont first made a number of flights with free balloons and also purchased a motorized tricycle. He thought of combining the De Dion engine that powered his tricycle with a balloon, which resulted in 14 small airships that were all gasoline-powered. His No. 1 airship first flew on September 18, 1898.

The Baldwin Dirigible

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During the summer of 1908, the U.S. Army tested the Baldwin dirigible. Lts. Lahm, Selfridge, and Foulois flew the dirigible. Thomas Baldwin was appointed by the United States Government to superintend the building of all spherical, dirigible and kite balloons. He built the first Government airship in 1908.

American inventor Thomas Baldwin built a 53-foot airship, the California Arrow. It won a one-mile race in October 1904, at the St. Louis World Fair with Roy Knabenshue at the controls. In 1908, Baldwin sold the U.S. Army Signal Corps an improved dirigible that was powered by a 20-horsepower Curtiss engine. This machine, designated the SC-1, was the Army's first powered aircraft .

Who Was Ferdinand Zeppelin?

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Zeppelin was the name given to the duralumin-internal-framed dirigibles invented by the persistent Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin .

The first rigid framed airship flew on November 3, 1897, and was designed by David Schwarz, a timber merchant. Its skeleton and outer cover were made of aluminum. Powered by a 12-horsepower Daimler gas engine connected to three propellers, it lifted off successfully in a tethered test at Templehof near Berlin, Germany, however, the airship crashed.

Ferdinand Zeppelin 1838-1917

In 1900, German military officer, Ferdinand Zeppelin invented a rigid framed dirigible or airship that became known as the Zeppelin. Zeppelin flew the world's first untethered rigid airship, the LZ-1, on July 2, 1900, near Lake Constance in Germany, carrying five passengers.

The cloth-covered dirigible, which was the prototype of many subsequent models, had an aluminum structure, seventeen hydrogen cells, and two 15-horsepower Daimler internal combustion engines, each turning two propellers. It was about 420 feet long and 38 feet in diameter. During its first flight, it flew about 3.7 miles in 17 minutes and reached a height of 1,300 feet.

In 1908, Ferdinand Zeppelin established the Friedrichshafen (The Zeppelin Foundation) for the development of aerial navigation and the manufacture of airships.

The Nonrigid Airship and Semirigid Airship

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The airship evolved from the spherical balloon first successfully flown by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783. Airships are basically large, controllable balloons that have an engine for propulsion, use rudders and elevator flaps for steering, and carry passengers in a gondola suspended under the balloon.

There are three types of airships: the nonrigid airship, often called a blimp; the semirigid airship, and the rigid airship, sometimes called a Zeppelin.

The first effort at building an airship involved stretching the round balloon into an egg shape that was kept inflated by internal air pressure. These non-rigid airships, commonly called blimps, used ballonets, airbags located inside the outer envelope that expanded or contracted to compensate for changes in the gas. Because these blimps often collapsed under stress, designers added a fixed keel under the envelope to give it strength or enclosed the gas bag inside a frame. These semirigid airships were often used for reconnaissance flights .

Rigid Airship or Zeppelin

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The rigid airship was the most useful type of airship. A rigid airship has an internal framework of steel or aluminum girders that support the outside material and gives it shape. Only this type of airship could reach sizes that made it useful for carrying passengers and cargo.

• The Early History of Flight
• Ferdinand von Zeppelin
• The History of Lighter-Than-Air Craft
• The Hindenburg
• The Long History of the Parachute
• The Hindenburg Disaster
• Hindenburg Disaster
• A Timeline of Women in Aviation
• Inventions and Inventors of the 18th Century
• June Themes, Holiday Activities, and Events for Elementary Students
• Hydrogen Balloon Explosion Experiment
• Why Do Helium Balloons Deflate?
• The History of Airplanes and Flight
• The Wright Brothers Make the First Flight
• History of Flight: The Wright Brothers
• Learn How a Jet Engine Works

54 Airships, Blimps, & Aerostats

Introduction.

Airships, balloons, blimps, and other aerostats generate aerostatic or buoyancy lift using an envelope filled with a gas less dense than air, such as helium, enabling them to fly freely and “float” without needing forward airspeed. Such aircraft have been collectively called “airships” or “aerostats.” Today, they are more usually referred to as “Lighter-Than-Air” or LTA aircraft, as summarized in the figure below. Furthermore, because an LTA aircraft does not require much of a runway, albeit still needing a relatively large terrestrial footprint for takeoff and landing, they can also be classified as a form of vertical/short take-off and landing (V/STOL) aircraft. Technically, any unpowered type of LTA aircraft is considered a balloon , and one that is powered and steerable is called an airship .

Historically, airships have suffered from the public perception as lumbering giants of the sky with an accompanying poor safety record. However, airships and aerostats have been used successfully for over a century in many applications, including military surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, border patrol, passenger and cargo transport, and advertising. The most famous are the giant Zeppelin airships and the Goodyear blimps .  During the 1920s and 1930s, several Zeppelin airships were used to transport passengers across the oceans and around the world in luxury compared to airplanes of that era. However, airships obtained a poor reputation for safety after the Hindenburg erupted in a huge fireball and was destroyed in 1937, in full view of the media, after a successful flight carrying passengers across the Atlantic.

While airships have seen minimal practical use since the 1940s, technological advancements, growing concerns about environmental pollution from airplanes, and a global focus on sustainable transportation have sparked renewed interest in airships . Much of the engineering knowledge about airships dates back over a century, and most technical data reports from the NPL research labs in Britain and NACA in the U.S. date to the 1920s and 1930s, including wind tunnel tests. However, new aerospace engineers still need to be aware of the history of airships in terms of their successes and failures, how they work, and their general performance characteristics. Furthermore, they must be able to objectively and confidently assess any potential future of airships as part of the aviation spectrum.

Modern types of airships, which by any standard are giant aircraft, dwarfing the A380 and Boeing 747 (even the Hindenburg was three times longer and twice as tall as a 747), can potentially carry substantial payloads up to 100,000 kg (220,000 lb) over distances of thousands of miles, albeit at relatively low airspeeds, while producing low carbon emissions. Several companies, including Lockheed Martin , Hybrid Air Vehicles , Aeroscraft , and LTH , have been actively involved in airship research and development. In particular, hybrid airships have gained considerable attention in recent years, an example being shown in the photograph below. It has a cambered tri-hull shape, with disk-shaped cushions on the underside to serve as undercarriage. Hybrids create both aerostatic (buoyancy) lift as well as aerodynamic (motion) lift, offering several advantages over legacy airships in terms of performance, payload, and cruise speed. Modern airships have also taken advantage of advanced aviation safety features, including multiple redundant fly-by-wire flight control systems, active health monitoring, and advanced avionics and navigation systems.

Modern airships could also incorporate advanced propulsion systems, such as hybrid electric, hydrogen fuel cell, or solar energy technologies, thereby giving excellent levels of propulsive efficiency, lower energy costs, and a smaller carbon footprint. As climate change and sustainability concerns continue to increase, airships may soon find a new niche in aviation, perhaps with them servicing an Amazon or Walmart distribution center near you! While airships fly relatively slowly compared to airplanes, their cruise speeds are still faster than sea ships and as fast as any terrestrial vehicle or truck. They also have the advantage of flying directly from one place to another over land or sea.

However, any future implementation and widespread adoption of new generations of airships will still depend on many interrelated factors, including further technological advancements, regulatory considerations, public perception, economic viability, wider availability of hangarage and maintenance facilities, and the ability to tolerate all-weather operations. Indeed, while the future of airships shows much technical promise, it remains to be seen how (or if) such aircraft can mature to become an important and viably economic part of the future commercial aviation spectrum.

Learning Objectives

• Know about the history of balloons, airships, and other aerostats.
• Understand the principles of buoyancy and aerostatic lift.
• Appreciate the aerodynamic performance characteristics of airships.
• Understand how an airship is controlled during flight using buoyancy and propulsion.
• Be aware of the stability, handling qualities, and unique flight characteristics of airships.

The first LTA aircraft was a hot-air balloon, which was also the first human-carrying flight vehicle capable of sustained flight. It was designed in France by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783. Their balloon was made of paper and silk and rose to an altitude of about 2,000 m (6,560 ft) without a pilot. A few weeks later, a larger balloon, the Aerostat Reveillon , was launched carrying pilot Jean-François Pilâtre De Rozier , who ascended to the end of its 90 m (295 ft) rope tether. A month later, De Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes made aviation history by conducting the first free flight in a balloon, which ascended to around 150 m (492 ft) and drifted approximately 8 km (5.5 miles) before safely landing.

Benjamin Franklin , who from 1776 to 1778 was on a diplomatic commission to France, witnessed some of these early balloon flights. He was so impressed that he predicted that balloons would soon have considerable military value for “conveying intelligence into, or out of, a besieged town, giving signals to distant places, or the like.” Indeed, tethered balloons were to be used during the American Civil War for battlefield surveillance . They could reach altitudes of up to 300 m (984 ft), giving a great vantage point for soldiers, who used signal flags to send information down to their commanders.

For the next 150 years, hot-air balloons saw limited applications and were soon surpassed by airships and many other forms of aircraft. However, in the 1960s, hot-air ballooning became a popular recreational activity and sporting event. In 1987, Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand became the first to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon , flying 2,900 miles (4,670 km) in 33 hours. Branson and Lindstrand paired up again in 1991 and were the first to cross the Pacific in a hot air balloon. They traveled 6,700 miles (10,800 km) in 47 hours from Japan to Canada, breaking the world distance record by traveling in the high-altitude jet stream. Four years later, Steve Fossett became the first to complete the Transpacific balloon route as a solo pilot, riding the winds and the jetstream for four days while traveling from South Korea to Canada.

The need for balloons that could be combined with propulsion led to the development of airships with rigid internal structures known as dirigibles . The first dirigible was built and flown in 1852 by  Henri Giffard , who used a steam engine driving a propeller. Today, an airship is usually defined as any powered, steerable aircraft inflated with a lighter-than-air gas. Early airships were filled with hydrogen gas, which is highly reactive if not spontaneously explosive. Several airships had caught fire and crashed even before the infamous Hindenburg disaster in 1937. Using inert helium rather than explosive hydrogen as the buoyant gas would have prevented the Hindenburg from exploding and crashing. However, the U.S., which was back then, and still is, the source of much of the world’s helium, would not sell helium to Germany under the U.S. Helium Act of 1925 because it was considered a strategic asset.

The LZ127 Graf Zeppelin , as shown in the photograph below, was a German airship filled with hydrogen as the buoyant gas that made the first successful transatlantic passenger flight in 1928. It flew from Friedrichshafen, Germany, to Lakehurst, New Jersey, in the U.S., covering approximately 3,000 miles (4,800 km) in 112 hours. This impressive achievement was a milestone in the history of airship travel and demonstrated the feasibility of long-distance passenger-carrying airship flights in relative comfort compared to airplanes of that era. In 1928, travelers could still travel faster by trains than by airplanes, such as the Ford Trimotor, which was made of uninsulated thin aluminum sheets, and passengers had to stick cotton wool in their ears to stifle the noise.

The U.S. Navy, as did the British, soon developed several airships derived from German designs. The R100 and its sister ship, R101, were built in 1922 as part of a British government initiative to establish airships to transport passengers and mail from Britain to the most distant parts of the British Empire, including India, Australia, and Canada. The R100 first flew in December 1929 and made a well-publicized return crossing of the Atlantic in the summer of 1930. But following the crash of the R101 , it was scrapped. While other British airships were built through to the end of 1930, they were largely unsuccessful. The U.S.S. Macon , as shown in the photograph below, and the U.S.S. Akron were among the largest airships ever built. Although the hydrogen-filled, Zeppelin-built LZ 129 Hindenburg and the LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II were longer, these two U.S. Navy airships were the most voluminous helium -filled dirigibles. Unfortunately, both U.S. airships crashed and were destroyed in the mid-1930s, further diminishing the operational and safety reputation of airships.

A blimp , essentially a “pressure airship,” has its shape maintained by the gas pressure inside the envelope. Unlike a dirigible, with its structural structural skeleton, a blimp loses its shape when the internal pressure is reduced. The B-class blimps were patrol airships operated by the U.S. Navy during and shortly after WWI and used with much success for convoy and antisubmarine patrol duty. In 1925, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company began building blimps. These aircraft were first used for advertising but then proved valuable for various military purposes during various campaigns throughout WWII. Goodyear’s blimps proved a valuable asset to the Navy because they could stay airborne for long periods without using much fuel. Newer versions of blimps have a minimal internal structure made of lightweight composite materials such as carbon fiber, classifying them as semi-rigid  airships .

Tethered aerostats have offered a unique and valuable solution for specific applications that require a stable, long-duration aerial platform. Their wartime use dates back two centuries to gather intelligence, observe enemy activities, and direct artillery fire. The tethered design provides advantages in terms of stability, cost-effectiveness, and prolonged observation capabilities. A form of aerostat called a barrage balloon proved an effective defensive measure by the British during WW1 and WW2; see the photograph below. They disrupted enemy flights, forced aircraft to fly at higher altitudes, and provided early warning by visually alerting ground forces of incoming aircraft. Aerostats in the form of blimps are still used today by the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) to watch over the southern U.S. border; each aerostat is moored to the ground with a cable, and its altitude can be raised and lowered with a winch.

Anatomy of LTA Aircraft

LTA aircraft comprise various types of balloons, airships, and other aerostats. As aeronautical technology evolved, the name “balloon” has become reserved for hot air balloons, which are recreational aircraft. While the name “aerostat” still encompasses most types of LTA aircraft, an aerostat is usually considered an unpiloted LTA aircraft tethered to the ground with a cable. The name “airship” is reserved for a piloted LTA with a propulsion system, allowing the aircraft to fly from one place to another while carrying a payload or doing something worthwhile.

Balloons (Thermal Aerostats)

A balloon or thermal aerostat is the simplest form of unpowered aerostat. Balloons have limited control capability and drift freely in the winds, so they are generally flown in light winds and good weather. Notable uses of balloons in modern aviation include weather balloons for meteorology (usually filled with helium) and sporting “hot-air” balloons for recreation, the latter being shown in the figure below.

Hot air balloons have a propane burner to heat the air inside the envelope. As the air heats up, it becomes less dense than the surrounding cooler air, so the balloon envelope will inflate, causing a buoyancy force. There is little difference in the density of hot and cold air, so the envelope must be voluminous to lift even a couple of people. Hot air balloons carry ballast, usually sandbags, which can be dropped or emptied to reduce weight. The pilot can open a parachute valve by pulling down on a cord to let some hot air escape and control the balloon’s altitude, i.e., to achieve neutral buoyancy. Those who have flown in hot air balloons generally say it was a serene and picturesque experience, the uncertainty of the landing point being part of the excitement of this type of aerial adventure.

Stratospheric Balloons

There are also balloons designed for flight in the upper stratosphere and at the edge of space, an example being shown in the figure below. They typically fall into two main types: zero-pressure and super-pressure balloons. Both of these types utilize helium gas for buoyancy. They are the only type of flight vehicle that can be operated in this region of the atmosphere, which ranges from 50,000 ft to 150,000 ft (about 15 km to 45 km) in altitude, which is too low for satellites and too high for airplanes. The payload gondolas can carry experiments on science, astronomy, atmospheric chemistry, as well as weather sensors. At the end of the mission, the payload is severed from the balloon and recovered by parachute.

Zero-pressure stratospheric balloons have release valves that allow the pressure inside the balloon to remain the same as the outside. These balloons will continue to rise until they find a buoyancy altitude or burst; potentially, they can stay aloft for weeks or months. Super-pressure balloons are entirely sealed and maintain a higher pressure inside the balloon, allowing it to maintain its operational altitude despite temperature changes that occur day and night. Super-pressure balloons are launched partially filled with helium, and as the balloon ascends and ambient air pressure decreases, the helium expands to fill the envelope, and it reaches its desired float altitude.

Airships (dirigibles and blimps) are traditionally piloted and use engines driving propellers or fans for forward propulsion. Depending on their structural design, airships are divided into three types: rigid, semi-rigid, or blimp (pressure airship). Semi-rigid airships usually fall into the blimp class. The classic rigid airship, a dirigible , has an internal space-frame structure surrounding its gas containers (gasbags), as shown in the figure below.

The Zeppelins of the 1920s through the 1940s are well-known examples of dirigibles, which used hydrogen as the buoyant gas; the airships in the U.S. used helium. The main structure is usually aluminum, but more modern dirigibles are more likely to use composites. The internal structure provides the shape and rigidity of the airship, but the outer covering or envelope is unpressurized. The covering must be a strong and durable fabric, but it does not have to be gas-tight like a blimp because the buoyant gas in a dirigible is contained in a series of internal gas bags.

The gondola or car is the compartment suspended below the envelope, where the passengers, crew, and other equipment are housed. The integral internal structure connects the gondola, empennage, engines, and gas cells, carrying and distributing the loads across the entire structure. The engines may be located on the gondola, but because of the expansive rigid internal structure of a dirigible, there are multiple hard points, and the engines can be placed almost anywhere. The vertical stabilizer, or fin, helps maintain the aircraft’s directional stability, and the horizontal stabilizer gives pitch stability. Airships utilize various control surfaces to help maneuver, including rudders and elevators, which are used for yaw and pitch control, respectively.

A non-rigid airship, also known as a blimp, maintains its shape from the pressure of the buoyant gas within it. Blimps may have some external bracing or reinforcement to support the weight of the gondola and engines. However, in the classic blimp, the gondola is suspended from the top of the envelope by a catenary curtain and cables, as shown in the figure below. Buoyancy is controlled using air-filled ballonets that allow the center of buoyancy to be modified for control and trim. The iconic Goodyear GZ20A blimps were used until 2017. The new semi-rigid Goodyear Zeppelin NT blimps are extensively used in the U.S., especially at major sporting events such as the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500 .

Semi-Rigid Airships

The modern version of the Goodyear blimp, as shown in the figure below, is a semi-rigid blimp ( Zeppelin NT ), which can be noted by the absence of suspension cables holding the gondola. A modern successor of the classic Zeppelin dirigibles of the 1930s, this airship uses helium as the buoyant gas. Semi-rigid airships have an internal structure supporting the gas envelope and other components such as the engines and tail surfaces. However, the envelope maintains its shape using the internal pressure of the helium, so semi-rigid airships still fall into the blimp class. The engines drive propellers or ducted fans to provide the thrust necessary to propel the airship forward or backward, and vectoring the thrust can significantly help maneuverability. Modern airships use water ballast rather than lead shot, but otherwise, the features of the semi-rigid airships (Goodyear still calls them blimps) are similar to dirigibles.

Tethered Aerostats

A tethered aerostat is anchored to the ground on a cable; in the photo below, it is tethered to its mooring. Letting out the cable allows the aerostat to rise and be tethered at various altitudes. Such aerostats have been employed for persistent aerial surveillance over a designated area. Equipped with multiple sensors, cameras, and radar systems, aerostats can monitor the movement of troops, detect threats, and provide real-time intelligence. Tethered aerostats are also utilized for telecommunications purposes. Lifting communication equipment, such as antennas and repeaters, to high altitudes can enhance wireless communication networks over a wide area. This technology can be particularly useful in remote areas where traditional communication infrastructure may be limited or damaged. A typical system consists of a tethered aerostat capable of radar surveillance and high-resolution imagery over a large area from only a few thousand feet high.

Hybrid airships

Hybrid airships are intended to combine some of the features of airplanes and airships. As shown in the figure below, these innovative vehicles carry a fraction of their weight from buoyancy and the remainder from aerodynamic lift generated by their airframe shape. Their aerodynamic lift production may be as high as 30% of their weight.

Hybrid airships are intended to fill the gap between the low operating cost and low airspeeds of traditional airships and the higher speed but higher fuel consumption of airplanes. By combining dynamic and buoyant lift, hybrids can cruise at higher airspeeds with a greater payload compared to a pure airship. Because of their large size, they have a significant payload capacity compared to other aircraft types. This makes them suitable for various applications, including cargo transportation, disaster relief efforts, and remote access operations. However, they do need a large hangar space for maintenance and storage, which is also a consideration of where and when they can operate.

Led Zeppelin – Going Down Like a Lead Balloon!

Buoyant (Lifting) Gases

A buoyant gas or  lifting gas is any gas that produces buoyancy or aerostatic lift, so this gas must be less dense than the surrounding air. Well-known buoyant gases include hydrogen and helium, as well as hot air. The choice of buoyant gas depends on availability, cost, density, and safety. Helium is the most suitable for airship and aerostat operations because it is non-flammable and non-toxic. However, helium is expensive, and supplies can be intermittent. Hot air, as a buoyant gas, is limited to recreational balloons.

Hydrogen is the lightest and most buoyant lifting gas. It is low density and provides maximum aerostatic lift per unit volume, often called  lifting capacity . It is readily available and relatively inexpensive. However, hydrogen is highly reactive and potentially explosive, posing safety risks. Many hydrogen-filled airships were lost in the 1920s because of fire and explosion, and the use of hydrogen decreased significantly after the Hindenburg disaster in 1937. Aviation regulators currently ban the use of hydrogen for airships, but this position may change if hydrogen is ultimately approved for use as a fuel on airplanes.

Helium is the second lightest gas, non-flammable, and safer than hydrogen. Helium is not reactive and does not support combustion. It is commonly used in modern airships and some types of balloons. Helium is extracted from underground gas pockets as a by-product of natural gas refinement. It is a relatively rare gas and expensive, especially at the volumes needed for an airship. Helium is a commodity, and its price varies daily. Still, in 2022, it was, on average, in U.S. dollars, about $7.6 per cubic meter ($210 per thousand cubic feet), whereas the price of gaseous hydrogen is about $1.6 per cubic meter ($44 per thousand cubic feet). Filling a Goodyear blimp with helium would cost about $80,000 versus $15,000 for hydrogen.

Hot air is produced by heating ambient air using propane burners. Hot air is less dense than the surrounding air, creating buoyancy. It does not pose the safety concerns associated with hydrogen. Hot air has a lower lifting capacity than gases like hydrogen or helium. Balloons using hot air require almost constant heating to maintain buoyancy because of rapid heat transfer through the thin gas envelope.

Ammonia is lighter than air but considerably heavier than hydrogen or helium. It has a good lifting capacity but is a pungent, choking gas that is toxic and corrosive. However, ammonia is less flammable than hydrogen. It was used in some early airships before the availability of hydrogen and helium in the quantities needed. Because ammonia is highly toxic, its release into the atmosphere poses numerous environmental hazards, and its use for LTA aircraft has been permanently discontinued.

Summary of Buoyant Gases

The table below summarizes the essential properties of buoyant gases, the reference being air. The density values are given in terms of grams per liter (g/L) at standard temperature and pressure (STP), which has the same numerical value in units of kg/m 3 . While hot air is easy and inexpensive to produce, it does not have much lifting capacity.

Where does helium come from?

Helium is a naturally occurring element in the Earth’s atmosphere, but its concentration is too low for economical extraction. Helium is also found in underground gas deposits, which migrate upward to the top of the gas pocket. Helium, being lighter than the other gases present, can then be separated and collected. The U.S. is the world’s largest helium producer. The sole source of helium in the U.S. comes from a plant operated by the Bureau of Mines in Texas . However, helium is a finite resource, and its annual and long-term availability is uncertain. Consequently, recent efforts have been made to promote the conservation and responsible use of helium. Ironically, modern airships may revert to using hydrogen if helium sources are limited or it becomes cost-prohibitive.

Principle of Buoyancy

Archimedes’ principle is used to analyze the aerostatic forces on LTA aircraft. This principle states that the upward or buoyancy force exerted on a body immersed in a fluid equals the weight of the fluid that the body displaces. This behavior is true whether the body is wholly or partially submerged in the fluid and is independent of the body’s shape. As shown in the figure below, the resulting force acts upward at the displaced fluid’s center of buoyancy (also the center of mass). This principle is commonly used in problems involving the hydrostatic or aerostatic analysis of all “floating bodies,” such as boats, ships, balloons, and airships.

If the object is heavier than the buoyancy force, it will sink . If the object has a weight equal to the buoyancy force, it will have neutral buoyancy and reach an immersed depth where it will neither sink nor rise in the fluid. The body will rise in the fluid if the buoyancy force exceeds the weight. Eventually, if the body is made light enough, it will float on the surface of the fluid interface. In this case, only partial immersion may be needed to displace the fluid required to create the buoyancy force to balance the weight, i.e., like a boat or a ship.

Now consider a hot-air balloon floating in the atmosphere, as shown in the figure below. The balloon’s envelope contains hot (i.e., warmer) air so that it will have a lower density than the surrounding cooler air. Using Archimedes’ principle, the balloon’s buoyancy force will equal the weight of the displaced colder air. The balloon’s net weight will include the weight of its envelope and structure (including anything in the basket hanging below) plus the weight of hot air. Therefore, the net force acting on the balloon will equal the difference between the balloon’s net weight and the weight of the displaced air.

The buoyancy lift is given by

Therefore, for neutral buoyancy, then

Worked Example #1 – Buoyancy of a hot-air balloon

This means that the corresponding density of the hot air inside the balloon must be

which is less than the density of the surrounding cool air, as expected.

We are asked to determine the corresponding temperature of the hot air, for which we can use the equation of state, i.e.,

We are told to assume that the pressure inside the balloon is the same as that outside the balloon so

and rearranging gives the ratio of the temperatures as

Geometric Characteristics of Aerostats

Traditionally, airships and many aerostats have streamlined hull shapes based on prolate spheroids, i.e., those that look like fat cigars; spheres closely approximate balloons. An ellipsoid, shown in the figure below, is the most general shape in this geometric class of bodies of revolution that includes, in special cases, prolate and oblate spheroids as well as spheres.

Regarding aerodynamics and other characteristics of such shapes, the key geometric parameters of interest are the ellipsoid’s projected frontal area, volume, surface area, and slenderness ratio. Aerodynamic coefficients used in the analysis may be based on any or all of these parameters. Therefore, it is essential to understand how they are defined.

Projected Frontal Area

The general formula for the volume of an ellipsoid is

Surface Area

The surface area of a spheroid is a surface of rotation, which is given by

In general, an approximate formula for the wetted area of a general ellipsoid is

Slenderness Ratio

Center of Buoyancy

In understanding the flight characteristics of LTA aircraft, it is paramount to determine the aerostatic buoyancy force and the center of buoyancy, i.e., where the resulting buoyancy force can be assumed to act. The center of buoyancy or the center of the aerostatic lift is also the center of volume and gravity of the displaced air. Therefore, the center of buoyancy can be determined by finding the center of volume of the buoyant gas within the airship’s envelope.

It is useful to first illustrate the process in two dimensions, which means finding the center of area of a slice of a three-dimensional object. In reference to the figure below, the total area can be determined using

The first moments of area are given by

Naturally, the process can be extended to three dimensions involving volumetric integrals. In practice, an approximate center of buoyancy will be determined numerically because there is unlikely to be an exact formula for an airship’s shape. In this case, the integrals in the equations above will be replaced by numerical summations based on the actual shape. Most CAD software allows an automatic calculation of the volume and center of volume of a shape.

Aerostatic Trim

In the absence of aerodynamic forces, a stationary free-flying airship or other LTA aircraft will be in static equilibrium when the center of gravity lies directly below the center of buoyancy, as shown in the figure below, i.e., the upthrust from buoyancy equals the weight, as given by

Notice that the center of gravity for an airship is generally well below the center of buoyancy, which gives the aircraft significant pendular stability about the pitch and roll axes. In aerostatic trim or the static equilibrium condition, most airships are not entirely level but can be seen to take on a slightly nose-high attitude. Airships have very little inherent stability about the yaw axis, although disturbances in yaw are heavily damped by the aerodynamic forces on the fuselage and vertical tail(s).

Therefore, for a given set of atmospheric conditions, the needed volume of the helium gas can be determined to provide a specific buoyancy force to overcome the airship’s weight.

Worked Example #2 – Buoyancy of an airship

An airship has a gas envelope with a 296,520 ft 3 volumetric capacity. Helium is used as the buoyant gas. If the airship has an empty weight of 14,188 lb and a maximum fuel load of 960 lb, what would be the maximum payload the airship could carry? Assume MSL ISA standard atmospheric conditions. The density of helium can be assumed to be 0.0003192 slugs/ft 3 . Ignore the effects of any ballast.

Rearranging for the payload weight gives

Using the numerical values supplied gives

Therefore, the maximum payload at the takeoff point would be 4,491 lb.

Some form of ballast is used on most types of LTA aircraft. Ballast is any material placed on board a buoyant aircraft to add non-structural weight for balance and/or trim. Water ballast, carried internally in tanks, is typically used, although bags containing sand or lead shot can also be used. Besides trim and balance, ballast can be taken on or cast overboard to obtain a particular takeoff or in-flight weight and for landing and unloading the airship on the ground. For example, on a hot air balloon, ballast in the form of sandbags is used to keep it firmly on the ground as the hot air fills up the envelope. Some ballast is dropped overboard when the airship is ready to fly, and the balloon is said to weigh-off . During descent, dropping more ballast can reduce the descent rate as the balloon comes in for a landing.

Airships and blimps will also add or remove ballast as bags of lead shot or add/dump water ballast before weigh-off. The weigh-off condition means that the airship is trimmed to the condition it must operate in the initial part of the flight. To this end, ballast is added until the aircraft reaches a point where it becomes slightly heavier than the upward aerostatic buoyancy force, which is called static heaviness . After takeoff, the pilot first gives the airship a pronounced nose-high attitude using up elevator so the engines can provide a vertical component of thrust to overcome the static heaviness. If thrust vectoring is available, the propulsion system is swiveled to give mostly vertical thrust during the takeoff maneuver. These actions propel the airship upward and forward into a climb. As the airship gains altitude and airspeed, the airflow over the envelope generates some aerodynamic lift, and the pilot reduces the pitch attitude to reach a steady climb. Finally, the nose is lowered to almost level for the cruise.

It is important to note that “static heaviness” refers to the airship’s weight when stationary. The specific value of static heaviness of an airship can vary greatly depending on its size and configuration. Typically, the static heaviness is between 5% and 10% of the gross weight. Larger airships that carry heavy payloads must have a higher static heaviness than smaller blimps. Hybrid airships have the largest static heaviness because their hull shapes are specifically designed to produce significant aerodynamic lift, so the takeoff and landing will involve a short runway length.

Ballonets (meaning little balloons in French) are the gaseous equivalent of the water ballast tanks used on submarines. They are used in airships and blimps to control buoyancy and the center of buoyancy of the lifting gas. As shown in the figure below, the ballonets consist of internal gas bags or chambers within the airship’s envelope that can be inflated or deflated with air to control the volume of the buoyant gas. Another purpose of the ballonets on blimps is to maintain the buoyant gas’s net positive differential pressure so that the envelope retains its shape.

Pressurized air is pumped into the ballonets using a system of scoops, electric pumps, ducts, valves, and pressure regulators. The air scoops are often placed where the dynamic pressure from the slipstream created by the propellers or other propulsion systems can be captured. The ballonets are operated through an automatic pressure control system to regulate the inflation and deflation processes, and any excess pressure is released by venting through a set of air valves; manual control of the ballonets by the pilot is also possible.

Inflation Fraction

Recall that buoyancy or aerostatic lift is equal to the weight of the air that the buoyant gas displaces less the weight of the buoyant gas itself, i.e.,

For example, an inflation fraction of 0.85 would mean that 85% of the envelope’s volume would produce buoyancy. Therefore, the buoyancy can be written in terms of the inflation faction as

the concept being shown in the figure below. The ballonets do not produce buoyancy because they are filled with air at nominally ambient conditions, and so act like ballast in the same manner water is used for ballast on a submarine.

The process of analysis then proceeds as before.

Controlling Buoyancy

By adjusting the internal air pressure and volume in the ballonets, they will expand or contract so that the overall inflation fraction of the airship’s envelope can be modified, thereby controlling the buoyancy and center of buoyancy. Ballonets also provide a means to adjust buoyancy to compensate for changes in atmospheric conditions, i.e., pressure and temperature, solar heating of the envelope, and weight loss from fuel burn. This process allows the airship to safely ascend or descend, change its pitch attitude, and compensate for variations in the center of gravity location.

For example, as shown in the figure below, the ballonets are initially inflated with air, reducing the volume of the buoyant gas and giving the airship some static heaviness. After weigh-off and the initial climb, the external atmospheric pressure and density decrease, allowing the buoyant gas to expand. Excess air in the ballonets is vented out to maintain a constant differential pressure across the envelope, allowing the buoyant gas to expand freely, thereby keeping the net buoyancy of the airship.

Pressure Altitude (Gas Ceiling)

The highest achievable altitude, where the gas pressure differential reaches its design limits when the ballonets are mostly fully deflated, is called the “pressure altitude.” However, this airship term should be kept distinct from the pressure altitude used in altimetry, so the condition is best called the gas ceiling . In an emergency, an overpressure of the buoyant gas on the outside of the envelope opens the release valve and vents some buoyant gas to prevent structural issues. Typically, the pressure altitude of a blimp or other airship is about 3,000 m (roughly 10,000 ft). During descent, the ballonets are reinflated as atmospheric air density increases to maintain the envelope’s differential pressure and control the airship’s net buoyancy.

Trim Attitude

Ballonets can also trim the pitch attitude for climb and descent, as shown in the figure below. The purpose is to use the ballonets to move the center of buoyancy relative to the center of gravity. Inflating the forward ballonet will move the center of buoyancy aft, lowering the nose of the airship and reducing the pressure in the aft ballonet to maintain the buoyant gas pressure inside the envelope. Similarly, inflating the aft ballonet will move the center of buoyancy forward, raising the nose and reducing the pressure in the forward ballonet.

Center of Gravity

Any aircraft’s center of gravity (c.g.) can change during flight as fuel is burned off or for other reasons. Airships are no different, and the pilot needs to monitor and maintain the center of buoyancy and ensure that the c.g. is within acceptable limits. Aircraft manufacturers provide guidelines and limits for the permissible range of c.g. at different weights, called a c.g. envelope. Operating any aircraft outside its c.g. envelope can affect its handling characteristics, stability, and maneuverability, potentially leading to unsafe flight conditions. To this end, for an airship, the ballonets can compensate for variations in the c.g. location, either before or during flight, as shown in the figure below.

Thrust Vectoring

Thrust vectoring refers to the ability of an airship to control the direction of its propulsion force. This goal is achieved by adjusting the angle of the propulsion system or its components, such as engines or propellers, to change the direction of the thrust. Thrust vectoring is not a new concept and was first used on the U.S.S. Akron and Macon airships, which used tilting propellers. The basic principle is shown in the figure below. Notice that thrust vectoring can change the magnitude and direction of the forces and moments, giving significant control of the airship independently of the aerodynamic surfaces or buoyancy. Negative thrust can also be obtained by using fully feathering propellers.

The recent Zeppelin NT uses three swiveling propellers and vectored thrust capability. This capability allows the aircraft to perform vertical take-offs and landings, stable hovering, and backward flight. The two propellers on each side of the airship generally provide forward thrust but can also swivel through 120 degrees to obtain vectored thrust. The photograph below shows that the aft engine drives a propeller that can be swiveled downward if needed and a second (non-swiveling) sideward thrusting steering propeller for precise directional (yaw) control.

Other Factors Affecting Performance

Other factors can affect the performance of airships besides buoyancy and its control. These include the effects of superpressure, superheat, and envelope fabrics.

Superpressure

Blimps and other pressure airships are pressurized relative to the ambient air pressure to maintain the gas envelope’s shape and structural rigidity, called superpressure . Because the gondola, engines, tail surfaces, etc., are interconnected through the gas envelope, it is essential always to have some superpressure in a blimp to keep the flexible envelope tight enough to carry bending, shear, and torsional loads without crushing or buckling. Nose battens, which are lengthwise longerons, are attached to the outside of the envelope to carry mooring loads and prevent the dynamic pressure of forward motion from collapsing the gas envelope. The superpressure is typically relatively low, at about 0.5 kPa (about 10 lb/ft 2 ), but it can be adjusted higher in turbulent air when some extra rigidity of the envelope might be needed.

All LTA aircraft will be subjected to thermal effects from solar radiation. The large surface area of the envelope absorbs heat and can cause the buoyant gas inside to expand. The temperature differential of the buoyant gas over the ambient air temperature is called s uperheat . Excessive superheat can increase internal gas pressure and decrease density, increasing buoyancy and static liftly managed if not adequate. The ballonets automatically compensate for thermal effects in a blimp by releasing air through the valves. Excessive superheat requires some buoyant gas to be released to maintain buoyancy. It is also best to use a fabric for the gas envelope that is white or silver on the outside to reflect solar radiation and black on the inside to absorb and radiate heat outward from the inside.

Envelope Fabrics

Besides helping control superheat effects, the fabric used for the envelope of an airship plays an essential role in its construction and performance. The fabric choice affects the airship’s strength, durability, gas containment capability, and overall weight. The outer envelope of a rigid airship has to form a smooth fairing over the hull structure and gasbags. Unless it remains taut under all conditions, the airflow over the external shape will be disturbed, creating excess drag and possibly flow separation. The early airships had cotton coverings, which were tautened using cellulose dope-like fabric-covered airplanes. The envelopes of blimps are made from rubberized coated fabrics to keep them gas-tight.

The primary requirements for airship fabrics are:

• Good strength-to-weight ratios, i.e., light and structurally strong.
• High puncture and tear resistance, such as from accidental damage.
• Resistance to environmental factors such as rain, cold, heat, and UV exposure.
• Low permeability to prevent gas leakage and loss of pressure.

Modern airships use multi-layer polyester fabrics and polyurethane-coated nylon. Polyester films or woven polyester are also popular. These fabrics are lightweight, strong, and resistant to stretching, tearing, and environmental degradation. They can be coated or laminated with materials that enhance gas containment properties and increase durability. Polyurethane-coated nylon fabrics provide strength and tear resistance, while the polyurethane coating adds flexibility, gas impermeability, and protection against environmental factors. Vectran is a high-strength synthetic fiber known for its excellent resistance to heat, chemicals, and UV radiation, and it is also used for space flight applications. Tedlar is another suitable covering, a long-lasting polyvinyl fluoride film suitable for surfaces exposed to harsh environments.

Worked Example #3 – Using hydrogen versus helium?

How much more payload could an airship carry if it used hydrogen as the buoyancy gas rather than helium?

and for helium, then

Subtracting one equation from the other gives

Therefore, the increase in the payload of the airship from using hydrogen will be proportional to the difference in the densities of helium (about 0.18 kg/m 3 ) and hydrogen (about 0.09 kg/m 3 ), i.e., the percentage increase in the payload using hydrogen versus helium will be about (0.18 – 0.09)/0.18 = 50%, which is a lot of extra payload. However, the FAA does not allow hydrogen as a buoyant gas, so the question can be considered moot.

Aerodynamic Effects

The consideration of aerodynamics, as opposed to aerostatics, must consider the motion of the airship through the air. The aerodynamics of airships are important because they are flown with aerostatic heaviness , which is the amount by which a buoyant aircraft’s gross weight exceeds buoyancy. The extra lift on the airship is made up using the so-called “dynamic lift.”

Dynamic Lift

In general, the term dynamic lift denotes the lift produced on the airship other than from its buoyancy to overcome its weight. As shown in the figure below, the dynamic lift can be produced by aerodynamic lift force from the airship when it is at an angle of attack relative to the direction of flight, by the deflection of the control surfaces, and from a component from the thrust from the propulsion system, i.e.,

A primary aerodynamic effect on an airship is its drag, which thrust and power must overcome. Nevertheless, the aerodynamic lift and moments on the hull, in particular, must also be considered. The drag on an airship will comprise both pressure drag and skin friction (boundary layer shear) drag. While the pressure drag will be affected by the projected frontal area and base pressure drag (including any flow separation), skin friction is the dominant drag source on an airship because of its large surface area; this area is called the  wetted area. The lift and moment contributions come primarily from the pressure distribution on the hull.

Lift, Drag & Moment Coefficients

where it will be noted that the reference area is

i.e., the envelope volume is raised to the power 2/3, which will have units of area. The reference length is defined as

For airships, the moments are usually referenced to the center of volume, i.e., the center of buoyancy.

Flow Fields

To understand the force and moment characteristics, it is first necessary to better understand the nature of the flow field on an airship at an angle of attack. The flows about airships resemble those of prolate spheroids, which have been well studied in the wind tunnel using computational fluid dynamics (CFD); an example of a CFD solution is shown in the image below. The results show that the flows around such bodies strongly depend on the angle of attack.

At zero angle of attack, the boundary layer is primarily attached, although some flow separation can occur at the rear of the body, especially at lower Reynolds numbers. This is the lowest drag configuration. As the angle of attack increases, the adverse pressure gradient toward the rear upper surface of the body causes flow separation with the emergence of two primary longitudinal vortices that are laterally displaced on each side of the body. These vortices create a suction pressure and lift, and cause the center of pressure to move aft, as shown in the figure below. The vortices move forward on the body with a further increase in the angle of attack and create a notable wake at the tail. The center of pressure, however, stays in front of the center of buoyancy.

These complex vortical flow structures directly affect the surface pressure distribution and wall shear stresses over the body and the flow environment at the tail (where the control surfaces are placed on an airship), producing nonlinear aerodynamic forces and moments.

Lift, Drag & Moment Characteristics

The complexity of the individual flow fields about prolate spheroids, in general, and specific airship shapes, in particular, means that only general aerodynamic characteristics can be presented. Measurements of the aerodynamic characteristics of sub-scale airships are available in NACA Report 394, authored by Ira Abbott in 1931, and NACA Report 432, by Hugh Freeman in 1932. Both authors present graphs of the lift, drag, and moment characteristics of airship shapes as functions of the pitch angle and Reynolds number based on length.

Some results from NACA Report 432 are shown below, containing results for the bare hull, the hull with the tail surface and gondola, and also up and down elevator deflections. Two things become immediately apparent from these measurements. First, while the drag on an airship is relatively high compared to an airfoil or wing, the amount of dynamic lift generated is meager for the size of the body. Second, the aerodynamic characteristics are nonlinear with respect to changes in the angle of attack, which is partly a consequence of the creation of vortex flows and flow separation, as previously described. Notice also the effects of the elevator angle, which behaves analogously to a flap or aileron, increasing or decreasing the lift over and above the baseline lift.

The aerodynamic pitching moment is also of interest. Moments are usually referred to as the center of volume (also the center of buoyancy), which for a prolate spheroid is at the mid-length, and for an actual airship is about 45%. Notice that the moments are nose-up (positive) for low angles, but at about 8 degrees, the moment becomes increasingly nose-down (negative).

Generalization of the Aerodynamics

Generalized aerodynamic models of airship characteristics are not available. However, some essential characteristics are apparent, which are summarized below in terms of the increments in lift and drag coefficients as functions of the pitch angle, also referred to as the hull angle of attack. It will be apparent that the initial slope of the lift coefficient curve at low angles of attack is at least one order of magnitude less than that of a wing, which is about 0.1 per degree. The increasing lift slope at higher angles of attack is because of the effects of vortex lift.

A reasonable lift model without elevator deflection is

The corresponding drag coefficient also shows a nonlinear characteristic, a form of induced drag, i.e., “drag due to lift.” This drag contribution is relatively large compared to the baseline drag on an airship at zero angle of attack. It is possible to write this drag coefficient term as

The aerodynamic pitching moment is also of interest, mainly because this component contributes to the stability characteristics of the airship. The results in the figure below show that at lower angles of attack, say below 8 o , depending on the trim state, the moment is positive, i.e., nose-up, indicating that the center of pressure is in front of the center of buoyancy and the center of gravity. For higher angles of attack, the moment becomes negative (nose-down), indicating that the center of pressure has now moved aft of the center of buoyancy.

The change in the slope and sign of the moment curves are significant in that at low angles of attack, the aerodynamic moment is destabilizing, and a positive change in the angle of attack gives a positive (nose-up) moment. This situation changes for high angles of attack, the negative slope suggesting good pitch stability because of an aft movement of the center of pressure. Because of the dominant axisymmetry of an airship, the lateral airloads to changes in yaw angle behave similarly.

Comparisons to Drag Measurements

The measurements in this figure are presented the way they were plotted in NACA Report 394 , authored by Ira Abbott, which documents the tests done on airship models of Goodyear Zeppelins in the NACA Langley variable density wind tunnel. Tests were first performed on the general shape, and the effects of the gondola, tail surface, struts, and bracing wires were then added.

Drag Breakdown

In practice, the actual drag coefficients of airships and other aerostats can be affected by the drag and interference of the various appendages to the bare hull, such as the gondola, powerplants, rigging, stabilizers, and control surfaces, etc., leading to an increase in the drag coefficient of a baseline prolate spheroid. For example, a typical drag breakdown of an airship is given in the table below, which is helpful for initial design estimates of drag coefficients. Of course, the most reliable method of finding drag coefficients for an actual airship shape is in the wind tunnel with a Reynolds number sweep.

Power Required for Flight

To propel an airship, its aerodynamic drag must be overcome by the thrust from the propulsion system, i.e., the engines and propellers or fans. Estimates of the power required for the flight of an airship proceed along similar lines to that of the propeller-driven airplane. In the simplest terms, the maximum speed of an airship occurs when the maximum thrust generated by its engines is equal to the drag it experiences while being pushed through the air at that speed. That drag depends on the diameter and length of the airship, and more specifically, the projected frontal area and the total “wetted area” of its entire outer envelope. In general, the drag varies with the square of the airspeed, and so the power increases with the cube of the airspeed.

The drag in level flight is given by the conventional formula, i.e.,

Using Eq. 37 , the drag coefficient can be expressed as

where from Eq. 36 the lift coefficient is

The corresponding power required for flight can be written as

Worked Example #4 – Estimated power required for flight

An airship with a slenderness ratio of 3.9 has a buoyant gas volume of 6,600 m3 and cruises at an airspeed of 54.5 kts (28 m/s) at MSL ISA conditions using no dynamic lift. The drag coefficient on the airship based on Eq 30 is 0.051, and the propulsive efficiency is 0.80. Estimate the power required for flight.

The power required for flight can be written as

Inserting the values gives

Power Required Curves

The nature of the power required curves for an airship depends on many factors, partly because in regular operation, the airship may use some element of dynamic lift for flight, i.e., there is a lift-sharing effect to consider. The fraction of the total weight carried by buoyancy can be between 90% and 95% (say for a blimp) and 70% or less for a hybrid airship.

Buoyancy Only

Buoyancy + Aerodynamic Lift

When some dynamic lift is used for flight, the drag on the airship will be greater, so the power requirements will be greater. Assume that there is no dynamic lift from thrust, which means that the lift sharing can be written as

so the lift coefficient is

Therefore, because the thrust required equals drag, then

The power required is

The forgoing equations show that the power required for an airship comprises two parts: one (non-lifting) part, the parasitic power, which increases with the cube of airspeed, and another (lifting) part, which increases proportionally with airspeed, which is the induced power, as shown in the figure below. Notice that without aerodynamic lift, i.e., zero heaviness, the power required is minimal because the airship’s weight is supported by buoyancy, and there is no aerodynamic-induced drag.

Maximum Attainable Airspeed

The maximum achievable airspeed depends on the type of the airship. Airships are large aircraft with a lot of surface area and have high skin friction drag coefficients. Therefore, the expectation is that maximum airspeeds will be relatively low compared to airplanes, which is indeed the case. Cruise speeds between 35 kts (65 kph) and 80 kts (148 kph) are possible without excessive power requirements and engine weight. However, because the power required increases with the cube of airspeed, power and fuel demands increase rapidly above this.

Therefore, the speed of the airship eventually becomes power limited, i.e., the installed power to produce the required thrust to overcome the aircraft’s drag is insufficient, limiting the airspeed that can be attained, as shown in the figure below. The Hindenburg was the fastest airship ever built, reaching about 70 kts. The current Zeppelin NT Goodyear airships cruise up to 60 kts. Notice that greater true airspeeds are possible at higher altitudes, although airships typically fly below 8,000 ft.

If the airship is a blimp, then free-stream dynamic pressure may reach a point where it begins to exceed the internal gas pressure, causing the envelope to collapse. Blimps are capable of only relatively low maximum airspeeds for this reason, even with the addition of external longerons in the nose region or more propulsive power. Therefore, it is more than drag and power that limits the maximum airspeed of a blimp. Naturally, higher airspeeds can be achieved with rigid (or even semi-rigid) designs because the internal structure maintains the shape of the envelope.

Stability Characteristics

Airships, like all aircraft, are designed to have sufficient static and dynamic stability to be safely flown. In this regard, they tend to naturally return to their trimmed or equilibrium pitch position after a disturbance such as a gust. Both the static and dynamic stability responses of an airship are of interest and, in some ways, are similar but also different from airplanes. If all the forces and moments generated from gust disturbances tend to return the airship to its trimmed condition, then it will be statically stable. For example, for a disturbance that increases pitch angle, i.e., the airship responds nose-up. Static stability means the restoring effects will cause the nose to pitch down after removing the disturbance.

However, static stability does not necessarily mean the airship will immediately settle and reestablish its original trimmed state. It may exhibit a subsequent displacement response in time, i.e., a characteristic called dynamic response . A statically and dynamically stable aircraft is generally easier to fly. However, an aircraft may be statically stable and dynamically unstable but still flyable, especially if, like an airship, the overall dynamic response is slow enough for the pilot to control by employing regular flight control inputs.

There are several considerations regarding the stability characteristics of airships, i.e.,

• The c.g. location should be close to the center of buoyancy so a restoring buoyancy moment is produced after pitch disturbance. Airships are stable in pitch roll because the c.g. lies well below the center of buoyancy, i.e., a pendular form of stability such as found on a high-wing airplane. The payload distribution, however, must always be distributed so that the c.g. position is within normal flight limits.
• The area of the airship’s tail surfaces (empennage), including the size of the horizontal stabilizer and elevator, play a significant role in the directional (pitch and yaw) stability. If the surfaces are too small, they may not give enough directional stability or control authority. If the surfaces are too big, they add to the empty weight and may cause c.g. issues, i.e., a tail-heavy airship may need the addition of non-structural mass in the nose.
• The mass distribution along the airship’s length affects the moment of inertia, particularly in pitch and yaw. Larger moments of inertia will increase the time constant of the dynamic stability response but inevitably make the airship more sluggish in response to control inputs. The significant apparent or added mass of airships, which is an unsteady aerodynamic effect, also contributes to their overall inertial characteristics.

Pitch Response

Moments on an airship are usually referred to as its center of volume (also the center of buoyancy), which for a prolate spheroid is at the mid-length and for an actual airship about 45% of the length from the nose. The center of gravity of an airship lies well below the center of buoyancy, as shown in the figure below. Hence, for pitch disturbances, the resulting moments about the center of gravity from buoyancy tend to stabilize.

However, the previous aerodynamic results have shown that at lower angles of attack, say below 8 o , depending on the trim state, the aerodynamic moment is positive, i.e., nose-up, indicating that the center of pressure is in front of the center of buoyancy and the center of gravity. The change in the slope and sign of the moment curves are interesting from a stability and control perspective because the aerodynamic moment destabilizes at low angles of attack. However, this situation is hardly concerning or dangerous because of the dominant gravity moment, and an airship will have good aerodynamic pitch stability if trimmed slightly nose-up.

Critical Airspeed

Airships can experience a form of speed instability as a particular low airspeed, called the critical airspeed, is approach ed . This issue arises because of the forward center of pressure location and low aerodynamic forces on the hull at low airspeeds and low angles of attack. With the application of an up elevator, for example, the horizontal fins need to produce a downforce to pitch the airship nose-up, as shown in the figure below. However, the net vertical force will force the airship down, not up, if the airspeed is too low, which is why it is called the critical airspeed. While referred to as an instability, strictly speaking, it is a form of control reversal . Normal control effectiveness will be restored only when the airship flies faster than its critical speed. Pilots need to be aware that this effect can occur during landing. Thrust vectoring, used on all modern airships, eliminates this adverse characteristic.

Yaw Response

Because of the dominant axisymmetry, the lateral airloads to changes in yaw angle behave similarly to those for pitch. However, in this axis, there is no gravity moment about the center of buoyancy, so directional stability is weaker than pitch stability. At low yaw angles, the center of pressure is in front of the center of gravity, producing a destabilizing moment but helping to initiate a turn. However, this effect is mild and quickly compensated for by applying the opposite rudder. The restoring moment is positive at slightly higher yaw angles, giving the airship stability.

Roll Response

Airships are very stable in roll because of the high pendular stability, as shown in the figure below. However, unlike airplanes, they perform relatively flat turns like sea ships in a flat attitude with little bank angle. At higher airspeeds and/or with a tighter radius of turn, the centripetal acceleration causes a slight natural bank angle because of the low c.g. location relative to the center of buoyancy.

Dynamic Response

The effects of an airship’s relatively high internal moments can lead to a dynamic response and long settling times, much longer than for conventional airplanes. Airships tend to have a pronounced phugoid response at lower airspeeds, as shown in the figure below. For example, even a casual observation of the Goodyear blimp will show that it has a pronounced porpoising characteristic, the phugoid response when it flies around. The response is for an extended (long) period and is easily controlled by the pilot. At higher airspeeds, the phugoid is well-damped.

Like static stability, the dynamic response is affected by the position of the center of gravity relative to the center of buoyancy. Perturbations relative to the center of buoyancy also affect the frequency of the airship’s pendular motion.

Tethered aerostats are giant, helium-filled balloons anchored to the ground with strong cables or other tether. They are designed to remain stationary at a specific altitude for extended periods. Tethered aerostats have seen various applications, including military surveillance, telecommunications, scientific research, and advertising. Equipped with multiple sensors, cameras, and radar systems, these types of aerostats can monitor the movement of troops, detect enemy activities, and provide real-time intelligence to military personnel on the ground. Tethered aerostats are also utilized for telecommunications purposes, and lifting antennas and repeaters to higher altitudes can enhance wireless communication networks over a wider area. This technology is particularly useful in remote or disaster-stricken areas where traditional communication infrastructure may be limited or damaged.

The equations for a tethered aerostat involve the forces acting on the aerostat and the tether. The drag force depends on the aerostat’s shape, size, and wind speed. The tether exerts a tension force to keep the aerostat anchored to the ground. The buoyancy force must also be sufficient to overcome the weight of the tether; the weight of the cable can be calculated based on its length and linear density (mass per unit length). The cable also experiences drag force from the wind flow, which depends on its shape, diameter, and wind speed; the free-body diagram is shown below. Assuming that the cable is straight rather than forming a catenary is reasonable for a first-level analysis.

For horizontal equilibrium, then

and for vertical equilibrium, then

Worked Example #5 – Forces on a Tethered Aerostat

Vertical force equilibrium gives

Horizontal force equilibrium gives

Dividing the force equilibrium equations gives

Inserting the numerical values gives

Therefore, the angle is given by

Airships of the Future?

Airships occupy a unique niche in the annals of aviation, boasting a rich history intertwined with innovation and adventure. Looking ahead, their future applications offer intriguing possibilities across various domains. Some of their potential applications include:

• Cargo transport in remote areas lacking infrastructure or where environmental concerns limit ground transportation. Their ability to carry heavy loads over long distances with minimal infrastructure requirements makes airships appealing for certain logistical challenges.
• A unique and leisurely mode of travel, providing passengers with breathtaking views and a sense of nostalgia. Luxury airship travel could attract affluent travelers seeking a distinctive experience akin to luxury cruises on the oceans but in the skies.
• They are stable platforms for aerial observation, surveillance, and monitoring activities such as environmental research, border patrol, and disaster response. Their slow speed and ability to hover make them well-suited for tasks requiring long-duration observation.
• Airships could serve as floating communication platforms, hosting antennas for cellular networks, internet connectivity, and broadcasting services. They could be deployed to remote areas or events where establishing traditional infrastructure is impractical.
• Large, eye-catching airships can serve as flying billboards, attracting attention and promoting brands or events. They offer a unique and memorable way to reach audiences, particularly in crowded urban areas or at outdoor events.
• Ongoing advancements in materials, propulsion, and control systems could lead to more efficient and capable airships. Research institutions and aerospace companies may continue to explore airship technologies for scientific research, experimentation, and potential breakthroughs.
• Airships could deliver humanitarian aid and disaster relief to areas affected by natural disasters or conflicts. Their ability to access remote or inaccessible regions could facilitate the distribution of essential supplies and support rescue operations.
• Airships have the potential to be more environmentally friendly than traditional aircraft, as they consume less fuel and produce fewer emissions per payload tonne. This aspect could become increasingly important as climate change and sustainability concerns drive the demand for greener transportation solutions.

Despite these potential applications, challenges such as limited speed, susceptibility to weather conditions, high initial costs, and lack of storage and maintenance facilities have this far hindered the widespread adoption of airships. However, ongoing technological advancements and evolving market demands may lead to renewed interest and investment in airship development, shaping their future role in the aviation spectrum.

Summary & Closure

Airships, also known as dirigibles, blimps, or Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) vehicles, utilize the aerostatic principle of buoyancy to stay aloft. The principles of aerostatic lift, buoyancy, and ballast have been described along with their aerodynamic characteristics in forward flight. With advancements in technology and design, airships are being reintroduced as another mode of transportation that can combine efficiency, versatility, and environmental friendliness. New designs incorporating hybrid-electric or hydrogen propulsion systems offer more significant potential for clean and sustainable aviation. Airships consume significantly less fuel than airplanes and ships per unit cargo weight per unit distance, reducing carbon emissions. This benefit makes airships attractive for long-haul cargo transportation, much like container ships travel the oceans. The reintroduction of airships could also provide a unique and memorable way for passengers to experience recreational travel.

Recent advancements in materials, propulsion systems, and aerodynamics have improved the safety, efficiency, and maneuverability of modern airships. Several companies, including Lockheed Martin , Hybrid Air Vehicles , Aeroscraft , and LTH , have been actively involved in airship development. Continued technological innovation will drive the development of more advanced airship designs, making them safer, more reliable, and economically viable. To this end, several companies and organizations have been developing and improving modern airship technology to expand their potential applications and make them a more viable transportation option. While modern airships will never replace traditional aircraft, they offer unique capabilities that suit them for specific transportation, surveillance, and perhaps tourism roles.

5-Question Self-Assessment Quickquiz

For Further Thought or Discussion

• What fundamental aero-hydrostatic principle allows blimps, balloons, and airships to float in the air?
• What are the main differences between blimps, balloons, and airships in terms of their structure and functionality?
• How have blimps, balloons, and airships been used historically, and what are some of their modern applications?
• What are the advantages of using airships for cargo transportation compared to other modes of transport?
• What are the safety considerations associated with operating blimps and airships?
• How have advancements in technology and materials improved the design and performance of modern airships?
• What are some notable examples of airships used for scientific research or exploration?
• What are the environmental benefits of using airships for transportation compared to airplanes or ships?
• Can you explain the concept of hybrid airships and their potential advantages over traditional airship designs?
• How do blimps and airships navigate and maneuver in the air? What controls are used?
• What are some challenges or limitations that currently prevent the widespread adoption of airships in specific industries?
• How could new airships contribute to tourism, and what unique experiences could they offer passengers?
• Discuss any recent innovations or advancements in airship technology or design.

Other Useful Online Resources

For additional resources on balloons, airships, and blimps, follow up on some of these online resources:

• Aerospaceweb: Balloons and Airships – A comprehensive resource providing information on the history, types, design, and applications of balloons and airships.
• “How a Zeppelin Works.” A great video .
• This old film tells the story of the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation and their manufacturing of blimps and aircraft.
• “Helium, The Wonder Gas.” View the video here .
• “Airships, Dirigibles & Zeppelins: Graf Zeppelin, R-100, U.S.S. Akron, Hindenburg & more!” View the video here .
• “Dirigibles, Airships, & Zeppelins: Lighter-Than-Air Travel.” View the video here .
• A video about the R.100’s transatlantic voyage to Canada in July 1930.
• The U.S. Navy’s most successful rigid airship, the U.S.S. Los Angeles (ZR-3). View the video here .
• “What It Takes To Fly The $21 Million Goodyear Blimp.” View the video here .
• “The Good Years: A Blimpumentary .”
• “Final Flight of Goodyear Blimp N10A Spirit of America.” View the video here .
• Airships.net – A website dedicated to the history and development of airships, offering articles, photos, and detailed information about famous airships throughout history.
• The Great Balloon Race – An interactive educational game that teaches the principles of buoyancy and the science behind hot air balloons.
• Goodyear Blimp – The Official website of Goodyear’s famous blimps provides information about their fleet, history, and operations.
• Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen – The official website of the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen, Germany, offers a wealth of information about the history, technology, and cultural impact of airships.
• “Could Passenger Blimps Be Making a Comeback?” View the video here .
• “Goodyear Airship Hangar Tour – Wingfoot Lake.” View the video here .
• Airships – How a design that resembles the past could change how we fly in the future. CNN video .

Introduction to Aerospace Flight Vehicles Copyright © 2022, 2023, 2024 by J. Gordon Leishman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Claire Ellis

The History of Airships and Airship Travel in Commercial Aviation

Airships were thought to be the future of commercial aviation until the Hindenburg disaster. But could they be making a comeback? We take a look at the history of airships, from passenger flights to military and advertising blimps, and glimpse at a future that could include private charter flights aboard them some day.

What is an airship?

Also known as a “dirigible balloon” or “blimp”, the classic airship is a large gas balloon that rises into the air and can be steered using engine-driven propellers. Similar to hot-air balloons, they’re powered by gases like hydrogen and helium which are lighter than air. Airships come in three broad types: rigid and semi-rigid designs use metal frames to keep the balloon’s shape, while non-rigid balloons are inflated by gas alone. Airships have most commonly been used throughout history as:

Passenger airships – The US, Britain, and Germany developed large, rigid airships for passenger flights, which were popular in the 1920s and 1930s. While the US had access to helium, other airships used highly flammable hydrogen; and many exploded in-flight, bringing private flights to an end.

Military airships – Germany used its famous Zeppelin airships to carry out bombing raids in the First World War, inspiring the British Royal Navy to create their own B-Class airships for detecting German submarines. Since then, airships have mainly been used as aerial surveillance for military forces.

Advertising blimps – Commercial blimps have been used for advertising since 1925. Since they can hover over one space and be seen from afar, they’re particularly effective for advertising at outdoor events, and retain their “wow” factor to this day.

The early history of airships

The airship’s story starts in France, following the invention of the hot-air balloon in 1783. Inspired by the creation, engineer Jean Baptiste Meusnier designed an elaborate dirigible with a 276ft-long elliptical balloon powered by three propellers, featuring a boat-like basket attached to the balloon by ropes.

His design was never built, but shortly after in 1785, French inventor Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American Dr John Jeffries crossed the English Channel in a hydrogen balloon. During the two-and-a-half-hour flight, the pair had trouble steering the balloon, which was also overloaded, and dipped dangerously close to the water. To lighten the load, Blanchard and Jeffries threw out their cargo and even stripped off their clothes.

In the following years, airship design developments came thick and fast. In 1852, French engineer Henri Giffard flew the first steam-powered hydrogen-balloon airship with steering. However, a key turning point came with the creation of the Zeppelin airship in 1895, which was patented by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin and built by aviation pioneer David Schwarz.

The rise of Zeppelin and Goodyear airships

The Zeppelin was a rigid airship, featuring a long, thin, tough-skinned balloon filled with hydrogen gas. Small crew and passenger compartments were suspended beneath it, and there were two 15-horsepower engines, which allowed the airship to fly at 25 miles per hour. Zeppelins were mainly used for scenic passenger flights, but 20 were built to bomb Britain during the First World War, and were successful owing to their speed and ability to carry heavy loads.

Over in the US, 1925 saw the first flight of the Goodyear Pilgrim, a 110ft-long, 45ft-high helium airship. The Pilgrim was powered by an 80-horsepower engine and was the smallest airship in the world, capable of carrying two passengers as well as the pilot and mechanic. The Goodyear was popular with luxury pleasure cruise passengers but later used by the US Navy and Army for surveillance. Today, many people know Goodyear airships as advertising blimps.

The Hindenburg disaster

Airship travel took a dramatic turn in May 1937, when the world’s largest passenger Zeppelin, LZ 129 Hindenburg, exploded while landing in New Jersey, killing 13 passengers, 22 crew members and one person on the ground. The devastating crash was caught on camera by television crews and, along with a string of other airship fires, the Hindenburg disaster was largely responsible for ending private flights on passenger airships.

Just a year before the crash, the Hindenburg had successfully flown across the North Atlantic, becoming an icon for airship travel. The vessel was known for its luxurious interior, similar to five-star cruise ships and the opulence of today’s private jet charters . The Hindenburg had 34 double-berth cabins capable of accommodating 72 passengers, as well as lavish dining rooms and lounges. There was also a writing room, bar, promenades for spectacular aerial views and, unbelievably, a smoking room.

In the wake of the Hindenburg crash, airships were mainly used by the military for surveillance purposes and to carry cargo to remote areas. In 1984, for example, the US Navy funded a project to develop airships with turboprop engines for coast-guard missions. This was later discontinued owing to budget cuts. Elsewhere, though, Westinghouse and Airship Industries continued their work on airship designs – and developed the Sentinel 1000, which had its maiden flight in 1991.

Future of airship travel

Where are we now? What’s the current state of the industry? Are airships making a comeback? Here are some of the ways airships are currently being used or may be used in future:

Delivering aid relief – Airships can reach remote areas because they don’t need a runway, and can be lowered and tethered without touching the ground. The Aeroscraft, for example, is a rigid-shell airship that can deliver cargo without having to land. In 2017, UK airship developer Hybrid Air Vehicles test-flew its Airlander 10, which is part helicopter, plane, and airship. It’s the world’s largest aircraft at 302ft long and is perfect for carrying cargo to disaster areas.

Scientific monitoring – In 2013, Goodyear and Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik joined forces to create a fleet of super-fast, quiet Goodyear blimps. These models have been used in various scientific projects and experiments.

Eco-flights – As environmental concerns grow, sustainable air travel is rising in popularity. Given their low fuel costs and emissions, airships could make a comeback, similar to the rise in popularity of drones. Battery-powered airships can be entirely emission-free and are virtually silent. Who knows: some day airships might join the list of charter aircraft that would be perfect for a luxury vacation or your next company team-building event! 

Communication and surveillance – Airships are a possible option for low-cost border surveillance, security and communication. For example, the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV), developed by Northrop Grumman for the US Army, can offer 21 days of continuous air surveillance.

Leisure flights – Modern airships benefit from technical advances and use of helium rather than flammable hydrogen. This means they could become popular for passenger flights again (although who knows how ticket prices will compare to your average private plane rental). In fact, as of 2017, Zeppelin is running 12 scenic tourist routes across Germany and Switzerland, and plans to introduce flights in China. 

Private charters – Welcome to the future! If you’re a private jet enthusiast, then you’d better add “a future airship flight” to your bucket list! And it’s just around the corner. The previously mentioned UK firm, Hybrid Air Vehicles, is forecasting a 2024 launch of passenger journeys that promise travelers an experience that’s more like a journey on board a cruise ship or yacht, including lounges, viewing decks, master suites, health spas, and offices. So if you thought chartering a jet was the pinnacle of luxury, a higher peak might just be coming into view!

Carve out your own luxury on a private plane

As commercial aviation evolves, it seems the story of the airship is set to continue, and who knows when this aircraft may become an alternative to chartering a plane. In the meantime, for some exclusive air travel of your own, check out Air Charter Service (ACS): we can provide you with a private jet quote in no time at all. If you’d prefer to speak to one of our local travel and concierge experts, contact us to hear how we can turn your next trip into an luxuriously comfortable and ultimately convenient travel experience that meets all your plane rental requirements.

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Airships: History and Fascinating Photos from the Heydays of the Luxurious Travel

As with hot air balloons, the history of airships begins in France. A French officer named Meusnier devised an airship based on hot air balloon technology and the ability to navigate. It was created in 1783 following the appearance of the hot air balloon. He designed an airship with an elongated envelope, propellers, and a rudder in 1784, unlike today’s blimp. However, Meusnier never constructed the airship he drew for his idea.

Another Frenchman, an engineer named Henri Giffard, built the first practical airship in 1852. It was driven by a three-horsepower steam engine weighing 350 lb (160 kg) and flew at 6 miles per hour (9 km/h). Giffard’s airship managed to lift off, but it could not be fully controlled. La France, the first successfully navigated airship, was built in 1884 by two more Frenchmen, Renard and Krebs. Its pilots completely controlled la France, thanks to its electrically-driven airscrew with a nine hp capacity. It flew at a speed of 15 mph (24 km/h).

Germany’s David Schwarz built the first distinctly rigid airship in 1895. As a result of his design, Count Zeppelin built the zeppelin, the first rigid airship. The zeppelin was powered by two 15 horsepower engines and flew at 25 mph (42 km/h). During World War I, Germany gained a significant military advantage due to the creation of more than 20 such vessels. Germany’s success inspired the British Royal Navy to use zeppelins as military reconnaissance aircraft to develop its aircraft. Instead of replicating the German rigid airship design, the British built several small non-rigid balloons. During World War II, these airships were used to detect German submarines and were known as “British Class B” airships. This may be the origin of the term blimp — “Class B” plus limp or non-rigid.

The United States, Britain, and Germany focused on developing large, rigid airships carrying passengers in the 1920s and 1930s. In contrast to Britain and Germany, the United States used helium primarily for their airships. The US has small helium reserves within its natural gas deposits, which are quite costly to produce but not flammable like hydrogen. The United States banned the export of helium to other countries because of its high price, forcing Germany and Britain to use the more volatile hydrogen gas. The heyday of the large passenger-carrying airship came to an abrupt end after hydrogen instead of helium was used in many ships, resulting in major losses of life.

#1 The U.S. Navy’s dirigible Los Angeles, upended after a turbulent wind from the Atlantic flipped the 700-foot airship on its nose at Lakehurst, New Jersey, in 1926.

The ship slowly righted itself and there were no serious injuries to the crew of 25.

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#2 The German zeppelin Hindenburg floats past the Empire State Building over Manhattan, on August 8, 1936.

On route to Lakehurst, New Jersey, from Germany.

#3 In 1905, pioneering balloonist Thomas Scott Baldwin’s latest airship returns from a flight over the City of Portland, Oregon, during the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition.

#4 An airship flies above the White House in Washington, District of Columbia, in 1906.

#5 The Baldwin airship at Hammondsport, New York, in 1907. Thomas Scott Baldwin, second from left, was a U.S.

Army major during World War I. He became the first American to descend from a balloon by parachute.

#6 French military dirigible “Republique” leaving Moisson for Chalais-Mendon, in 1907.

#7 Zeppelin airship seen from the water, August 4, 1908.

#8 A Clement-Bayard dirigible in shed, France, 1908.

The lobes on the tail, meant for stability, were removed from later models, as they were found to slow the craft in the air.

#9 Wellman airship “America” viewed from the RMS TRENT, shown dragging her anchor, ca 1910.

#10 Boats, airplane, and airship, ca. 1922. Possibly the U.S. Navy’s SCDA O-1.

#11 Luftskipet (airship) “Norge” over Ekeberg, Norway, on April 14, 1926.

#12 The giant German dirigible Graf Zeppelin, at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on August 29, 1929.

#13 The Graf Zeppelin flies low over Tokyo before proceeding to Kasumigaura Airport on its around-the-world flight, on August 19, 1929.

#14 A pair of Gloster Grebe fighter planes, tethered to the underside of the British Royal Navy airship R33, in October of 1926.

#15 British M.P.s walk onto an airship gangplank, in Cardington, England, in the 1920s.

#16 Aerial view of the USS Akron over Washington, District of Columbia, in 1931.

With the long north diagonal of New Jersey Avenue bisected by the balloon and Massachusetts Avenue seen just beneath the ship.

#17 Passengers in the dining room of the Hindenburg, in April of 1936.

#18 Interior hull of a U.S. Navy dirigible before gas cells were installed, ca. 1933.

#19 The Graf Zeppelin over the old city of Jerusalem, April 26, 1931.

#20 The mechanic of the rear engine gondola changes shift climbing inside the mantle of the airship.

As the Graf Zeppelin sails over the Atlantic Ocean in a seven-day journey from Europe to South America, in August of 1933.

#21 The German-built zeppelin Hindenburg trundles into the U.S. Navy hangar, its nose hooked to the mobile mooring tower, at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 9, 1936.

The rigid airship had just set a record for its first north Atlantic crossing, the first leg of ten scheduled round trips between Germany and America.

#22 The Hindenburg flies over Manhattan, on May 6, 1937.

A few hours later, the ship burst into flames in an attempt to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey.

#23 The German dirigible Hindenburg crashes to earth, tail first, in flaming ruins after exploding at the U.S. Naval Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937.

The disaster, which killed 36 people after a 60-hour transatlantic flight from Germany, ended regular passenger service by the lighter-than-air airships

#24 The airship USS Macon, moored at Hangar One at Moffett Federal Airfield near Mountain View, California.

#25 The USS Akron launches a Consolidated N2Y-1 training plane during flight tests near Naval Air Station at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 4, 1932.

#26 The USS Los Angeles, moored to the USS Patoka.

#27 The wreckage of the naval dirigible USS Akron is brought to the surface of the ocean off the coast of New Jersey, on April 23, 1933.

The Akron went down in a violent storm off the New Jersey coast. The disaster claimed 73 lives, more than twice as many as the crash of the Hindenburg. The USS Akron, a 785-foot dirigible, was in its third year of flight when a violent storm sent it crashing tail-first into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after midnight on April 4, 1933.

#28 Sunset over the Atlantic finds a United States convoy moving peacefully towards it destination during World War II.

A U.S. Navy blimp, hovering overhead, is on the lookout for any sign of enemy submarines, in June of 1943.

#29 The USS Macon sails over lower Manhattan, on October 9, 1933.

#30 At a Nevada nuclear test site test Site, on August 7, 1957, the tail of a U.S. Navy Blimp is photographed with the cloud of a nuclear blast in the background.

The Blimp was in temporary free flight in excess of five miles from ground zero when it collapsed from the shock wave of the blast. The airship was unmanned and was used in military effects experiments. Navy personnel on the ground in the vicinity of the experimental area were unhurt.

Written by Aurora Hale

I am a blogger, entrepreneur and small business coach. I'm an introvert and cat lover. My favourite hobbies are breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

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History of Flight: Breakthroughs, Disasters and More

By: Aaron Randle

Updated: February 6, 2024 | Original: July 9, 2021

For thousands of years, humans have dreamed of taking to the skies. The quest has led from kite flying in ancient China to hydrogen-powered hot-air balloons in 18th-century France to contemporary aircraft so sophisticated they can’t be detected by radar or the human eye.

Below is a timeline of humans’ obsession with flight, from da Vinci to drones. Fasten your seatbelt and prepare for liftoff.

1505-06: Da Vinci dreams of flight, publishes his findings

Few figures in history had more detailed ideas, theories and imaginings on aviation as the Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci . His book Codex on the Flight of Birds contained thousands of notes and hundreds of sketches on the nature of flight and aerodynamic principles that would lay much of the early groundwork for—and greatly influence—the development of aviation and manmade aircraft.

November 21, 1783: First manned hot-air balloon flight

Two months after French brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier engineered a successful test flight with a duck, a sheep and a rooster as passengers, two humans ascended in a Montgolfier-designed balloon over Paris. Powered by a hand-fed fire, the paper-and-silk aircraft rose 500 vertical feet and traveled some 5.5 miles over about half an hour. But in an 18th-century version of the space race, rival balloon engineers Jacques Alexander Charles and Nicholas Louis Robert upped the ante just 10 days later. Their balloon, powered by hydrogen gas, traveled 25 miles and stayed aloft more than two hours.

1809-1810: Sir George Cayley introduces aerodynamics

At the dawn of the 19th century, English philosopher George Cayley published “ On Aerial Navigation ,” a radical series of papers credited with introducing the world to the study of aerodynamics. By that time, the man who came to be known as “the father of aviation” had already been the first to identify the four forces of flight (weight, lift, drag, thrust), developed the first concept of a fixed-wing flying machine and designed the first glider reported to have carried a human aloft.

September 24, 1852: Giffard's dirigible proves powered air travel is possible

Half a century before the Wright brothers took to the skies, French engineer Henri Giffard manned the first-ever powered and controllable airborne flight. Giffard, who invented the steam injector, traveled almost 17 miles from Paris to Élancourt in his “Giffard Dirigible,” a 143-foot-long, cigar-shaped airship loosely steered by a three-bladed propeller that was powered by a 250-pound, 3-horsepower engine, itself lit by a 100-pound boiler. The flight proved that a steam-powered airship could be steered and controlled.

1876: The internal combustion engine changes everything

Building on advances by French engineers, German engineer Nikolaus Otto devised a lighter, more efficient, gas-powered combustion engine, providing an alternative to the previously universal steam-powered engine. In addition to revolutionizing automobile travel, the innovation ushered in a new era of longer, more controlled aviation.

December 17, 1903: The Wright brothers become airborne—briefly

Flying from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, sustained flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft. Each brother flew their wooden, gasoline-powered propeller biplane, the “Wright Flyer,” twice (four flights total), with the shortest lasting 12 seconds and the longest sustaining flight for about 59 seconds. Considered a historic event today, the feat was largely ignored by newspapers of the time, who believed the flights were too short to be important.

1907: The first helicopter lifts off

French engineer and bicycle maker Paul Cornu became the first man to ride a rotary-wing, vertical-lift aircraft, a precursor to today’s helicopter, when he was lifted about 1.5 meters off the ground for 20 seconds near Lisieux, France. Versions of the helicopter had been toyed with in the past—Italian engineer Enrico Forlanini debuted the first rotorcraft three decades prior in 1877. And it would be improved upon in the future, with American designer Igor Sikorsky introducing a more standardized version in Stratford, Connecticut in 1939. But it was Cornu’s short flight that would land him in the history books as the definitive first.

1911-12: Harriet Quimby achieves two firsts for women pilots

Journalist Harriet Quimby became the first American woman ever awarded a pilot’s license in 1911, after just four months of flight lessons. Capitalizing on her charisma and showmanship (she became as famous for her violet satin flying suit as for her attention to safety checks), Quimby achieved another first the following year when she became the first woman to fly solo across the English channel. The feat was overshadowed, however, by the sinking of the Titanic two days earlier.

October 1911: The aircraft becomes militarized

Italy became the first country to significantly incorporate aircraft into military operations when, during the Turkish-Italian war, it employed both monoplanes and airships for bombing, reconnaissance and transportation. Within a few years, aircraft would play a decisive role in the World War I.

January 1, 1914: First commercial passenger flight

On New Year’s Day, pilot Tony Jannus transported a single passenger, Mayor Abe Pheil of St. Petersburg, Florida across Tampa Bay via his flying airboat, the “St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line.” The 23-mile flight (mostly along the Tampa Bay shore) cost $5.00 and would lay the foundation for the commercial airline industry.

1914-1918: World war accelerates the militarization of aircraft

World War I became the first major conflict to use aircraft on a large-scale, expanding their use in active combat. Nations appointed high-ranking generals to oversee air strategy, and a new breed of war hero emerged: the fighter pilot or “flying ace.”

According to The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft , France was the war’s leading aircraft manufacturer, producing nearly 68,000 planes between 1914 and 1918. Of those, nearly 53,000 were shot down, crashed or damaged.

June 1919: First nonstop transatlantic flight

Flying a modified ‘Vickers Vimy’ bomber from the Great War, British aviators and war veterans John Alcock and Arthur Brown made the first-ever nonstop transatlantic flight. Their perilous 16-hour journey , undertaken eight years before Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic alone, started in St. John's, Newfoundland, where they barely cleared the trees at the end of the runway. After a calamity-filled flight, they crash-landed in a peat bog in County Galway, Ireland; remarkably, neither man was injured.

1921: Bessie Coleman becomes the first Black woman to earn a pilot’s license

The fact that Jim Crow-era U.S. flight schools wouldn’t accept a Black woman didn’t stop Bessie Coleman. Instead, the Texas-born sharecropper’s daughter, one of 13 siblings, learned French so she could apply to the Caudron Brothers’ School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, France. There, in 1921, she became the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license. After performing the first public flight by a Black woman in 1922—including her soon-to-be trademark loop-the-loop and figure-8 aerial maneuvers—she became renowned for her thrilling daredevil air shows and for using her growing fame to encourage Black Americans to pursue flying. Coleman died tragically in 1926, as a passenger in a routine test flight. Thousands reportedly attended her funeral in Chicago.

1927: Lucky Lindy makes first solo transatlantic flight

Nearly a decade after Alcock and Brown made their transatlantic flight together, 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh of Detroit was thrust into worldwide fame when he completed the first solo crossing , just a few days after a pair of celebrated French aviators perished in their own attempt. Flying the “Spirit of St. Louis” aircraft from New York to Paris, “Lucky Lindy” made the first transatlantic voyage between two major hubs—and the longest transatlantic flight by more than 2,000 miles. The feat instantly made Lindbergh one of the great folk heroes of his time, earned him the Medal of Honor and helped usher in a new era of interest in the possibilities of aviation.

1932: Amelia Earhart repeats Lindbergh’s feat

Five years after Lindbergh completed his flight, “Lady Lindy” Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean , setting off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland on May 20, 1932 and landing some 14 hours later in Culmore, Northern Ireland. In her career as an aviator, Earhart would become a worldwide celebrity, setting several women’s speed, domestic distance and transcontinental aviation records. Her most memorable feat, however, would prove to be her last. In 1937, while attempting to circumnavigate the globe, Earhart disappeared over the central Pacific ocean and was never seen or heard from again.

1937: The Hindenburg crashes…along with the ‘Age of Airships’

Between WWI and WWII, aviation pioneers and major aircraft companies like Germany’s Luftshiffbau Zeppelin tried hard to popularize bulbous, lighter-than-air airships—essentially giant flying gas bags—as a mode of commercial transportation. The promise of the steam-powered, hydrogen-filled airships quickly evaporated, however, after the infamous 1937 Hindenburg disaster . That’s when the gas inside the Zeppelin company’s flagship Hindenburg vessel exploded during a landing attempt, killing 35 passengers and crew members and badly burning the majority of the 62 remaining survivors.

October 14, 1947: Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier

An ace combat fighter during WWII, Chuck Yeager earned the title “Fastest Man Alive” when he hit 700 m.p.h. while testing the experimental X-1 supersonic rocket jet for the military over the Mojave Desert in 1947. Being the first person to  travel faster than the speed of sound has been hailed as one of the most epic feats in the history of aviation—not bad for someone who got sick to his stomach after his first-ever flight.

1949: The world’s first commercial jetliner takes off

Early passenger air travel was noisy, cold, uncomfortable and bumpy, as planes flew at low altitudes that brought them through, not above, the weather. But when the British-manufactured de Havilland Comet took its first flight in 1949—boasting four turbine engines, a pressurized cabin, large windows and a relatively comfortable seating area—it marked a pivotal step in modern commercial air travel. An early, flawed design however, caused the de Havilland to be grounded after a series of mid-flight disasters—but not before giving the world a glimpse of what was possible.

1954-1957: Boeing glamorizes flying

With the debut of the sleek 707 aircraft, touted for its comfort, speed and safety, Seattle-based Boeing ushered in the age of modern American jet travel. Pan American Airways became the first commercial carrier to take delivery of the elongated, swept-wing planes, launching daily flights from New York to Paris. The 707 quickly became a symbol of postwar modernity—a time when air travel would become commonplace, people dressed up to fly and flight attendants reflected the epitome of chic. The plane even inspired Frank Sinatra’s hit song “Come Fly With Me.”

March 27, 1977: Disaster at Tenerife

In the greatest aviation disaster in history, 583 people were killed and dozens more injured when two Boeing 747 jets—Pan Am 1736 and KLM 4805— collided on the Los Rodeos Airport runway in Spain’s Canary Islands. The collision occurred when the KLM jet, trying to navigate a runway shrouded in fog, initiated its takeoff run while the Pan Am jetliner was still on the runway. All aboard the KLM flight and most on the Pan Am flight were killed. Tragically, neither plane was scheduled to fly from that airport on that day, but a small bomb set off at a nearby airport caused them both to be diverted to Los Rodeos.

1978: Flight goes electronic

The U.S. Air Force developed and debuted the first fly-by-wire operating system for its F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter plane. The system, which replaced the aircraft’s manual flight control system with an electronic one, ushered in aviation’s “Information Age,” one in which navigation, communications and hundreds of other operating systems are automated with computers. This advance has led to developments like unmanned aerial vehicles and drones, more nimble missiles and the proliferation of stealth aircraft.

1986: Around the world, without landing

American pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager (no relation to Chuck) completed the first around-the-world flight without refueling or landing . Their “Rutan Model 76 Voyager,” a single-wing, twin-engine craft designed by Rutan’s brother, was built with 17 fuel tanks to accommodate long-distance flight.

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Learn the history of commercial aviation in the United States from air mail to airlines.

Flying was new and daring in the early years of the 20th century. Traveling by airplane was rare. Airlines, airliners, airports, air routes—none of these existed. But by century's end, you could travel to almost anywhere in America by air in a matter of hours. How did this revolutionary change happen?

Explore Passenger Flight by Era

The new field of air transportation was risky business. Early airlines proved unprofitable. They flew and then folded. The airline industry could not get off the ground. As it had with stagecoaches, steamships, and railroads, the federal government stepped in to foster a new transportation system. The U.S. Post Office began using airplanes to move the mail in order to help establish an air transportation system. 

Commercial airlines initially struggled to get off the ground, but with help from the government, who awarded airlines contracts to deliver the mail, they soon began to flourish. Despite the Great Depression, air transportation experienced phenomenal growth and change from the late 1920s through the 1930s, before U.S. entry into World War II intervened.

What happened during World War II?

During World War II, casual air travel virtually ceased in the United States. A tight priority list ensured that only those serving the war effort flew. Learn more about the role of commercial airlines during World War II below.

In 1955, for the first time, more people in the United States traveled by air than by train. By 1957 airliners had replaced ocean liners as the preferred means of crossing the Atlantic. The era of mass air travel had begun.  

The jet engine revolutionized air travel. Powerful and durable, jets enabled aircraft manufacturers to build bigger, faster, and more productive airliners. Jet technology also enabled airlines to reduce their operating costs and their airfares. 

Dive Deeper into Passenger Flight

Sweeping cultural changes in the 1960s and 1970s reshaped the airline industry. More people began to fly, and air travel became less exclusive—for some. Across the country, retail franchises were eliminating distinctive regional characteristics. Television reached into most homes. The automobile was transforming cities, and suburbs were consuming huge expanses of rural land. The interstate highway system was spreading across the nation, and a growing web of jetliner routes linked the country. Traveling from coast to coast now took as little as five hours.

Perhaps most importantly, people were fighting for equality.

Explore the Evolution of Passenger Flight through the Museum's Collection

The Museum's collection holds a number of objects related to the history of commercial aviation—from boarding tickets to uniforms, full size aircraft and archival photos—together these objects tell the story of commercial aviation in the United States. Explore some of these objects below.

In the early days of commercial flight, the flying experience was harsh and uncomfortable. To even get the opportunity to fly was considered a luxury. Learn more about the evolution of the commercial flying experience in the United States using objects from the Museum's collection.

View objects for commercial flight

The Museum's collection holds a variety of different airplanes—from the Wright Flyer to the SR-71 Blackbird—these aircraft help tell the story of flight. Our collection of commercial aircraft, such as the well-known Boeing 747, help tell the history of America by air. Learn more about some of these aircraft.

View commercial aircraft

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The history of airships: the rise, fall, and possible emergence.

Although airplanes have existed for more than 100 years, they continue to impress many people because of how they take flight and carry passengers across different countries. But one ship in the sky is not given as much attention because, well, it hasn’t been flying in the air frequently. What are they? Airships.

And if you’re wondering how these came about and what led to their downfall, read more about the airships and their history.

Rise of Airships

According to Britannica , the first ever airship was invented by Henri Giffard in 1852. And it has been developed over the next few years, with changes in the fuel and sheeting. But the story of airships won’t be complete without telling the story of Graf von Zeppelin. His airship would have changed history. It was meant to carry passengers and mail and let those travel around the world. 

It experienced hijinks along the way, including the gas needed to make the lift. Plus, it had to let go of hydrogen because of petrol usage. Despite this, Dr. Hugo Eckener, an anti-Nazi and Luftschiffbau Zeppelin chairman, alongside Ludwig Dürr, wanted to protect passengers and keep them safe.

What were the features of the airship?

• Navigation room
• Large saloon
• Passenger cabins
• Washrooms and chemical toilets

Seeing as there was little room for people to stay in this airship, Eckener had run a publicity stunt, and only a select few passengers could hop aboard. There were even commemorative items for the chosen few. According to Engineering and Technology, here were the lucky passengers:

• Lady Grace Hay Drummond-Hay
• Australian polar explorer
• A cameraman
• Young US millionaire
• Japanese, US, and Soviet Union representatives

These lucky few got the chance to view the pyramids, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, and North Africa. They even had the privilege to view the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset when they were in San Francisco.

How long did they travel? 12 days and 11 minutes!

Despite the promise this airship held, its reputation took a hit and started the fall of airships.

Fall of Airships

One of the main reasons that airships weren’t popular was because of Nazi Germany. Foreign nations were apprehensive of the German invention. In turn, they restricted flight on their land. At one point, the ruling German party at that time had put the party’s infamous symbol in the airship’s fin. But Eckener ensured that viewers from below will not see the symbol above.

Technically speaking, airships didn’t become obsolete. Blimps are airships and have been used in major sporting events. And it hasn’t been frequenting the skies because of cost, build, and operations. Reader’s Digest reported that the Federal Aviation Administration had authorized only 120+ airships to operate. Plus, there are only 25 blimps in existence, and half are for advertising purposes.

Also, one other reason airships aren’t frequently seen up in the air was because of its vulnerability during stormy weather.

The Eventual Comeback

Back in February, Discovery reported that the Skyship 600, an airship, was seen flying in Florida. But this wasn’t for entertainment purposes. It was for research, particularly cloud formation and insect migration.

pic.twitter.com/WtEbeHhRdO — Skyship Services (@Skyshipservices) October 3, 2013

This airship can land on any surface, opening up opportunities for potential tourist activities. There could be an airship that would help tourists fly over the North Pole.

And for other news and stories, read more here at Owner’s Mag !

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10 Environmental Organizations and Nonprofits To Save the World

Making positive changes in our lifestyle is a powerful way to tackle important issues. Supporting charities is another great way to help the environment, make a difference, and build a better future. In this light, now is a great opportunity for government, business, and individuals to back environmental nonprofits. Here are ten groups working for a sustainable future that you can support. Get started by choosing an organization that really connects with your values.  

1. World Wildlife Fund for Nature

This Swiss-based NGO focuses on conserving nature and reducing human environmental impact. Acknowledged for its work with endangered species, WWF has expanded its mission to cater to specific animals and landscapes and to more significant issues that affect them. 

WWF partners with governments, businesses, and other environmental organizations to implement policies and programs protecting wildlife, nature, and the global climate. 

How to get involved: Sign up to take action on a particular campaign, adopt a species, participate in one of its partner-led conservation tips, or get updates on its causes. 

2. One Percent For the Planet

One Percent For the Planet is a global convergence of businesses, environmental organizations, and individuals working together for a healthy planet. Founder Yvon Chouinard (also Founder of Patagonia) started the organization to bring ” dollars and doers” together to create change. Member brands commit one percent of their profits to support environmental action. The organization ensures those donations go to trusted nonprofits involved in wildlife and nature conservation, reforestation, ocean cleanups, and other environmental efforts.

How to get involved: Become a business member and donate 1% of your annual sales directly to One Percent for the Planet’sPlanet’s environmental partners network.  

3. Fashion Revolution

Fashion Revolution is a worldwide movement bringing people and brands together towards creating a safer, cleaner, and fairer fashion industry. Founded after the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, Fashion Revolution believes that collaboration across the value chain is the best way to transform the industry radically. It works with global coordinators to host events every year for an entire week in April to inspire consumers and brands to take a closer look at how and by whom their clothes were made.

How to get involved: Participate in the #WhoMadeMyClothes campaign all year round, especially during Fashion Revolution Week, which takes place annually in late April. 

4. Earthjustice

Earthjustice attorneys support various significant environmental policies, such as the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air Act. Earthjustice works with activists, national politicians, international policymakers, and individuals to protect and strengthen laws to benefit people and a healthy planet. 

How to get involved: Make a one-time or monthly donation and support essential campaigns.

5. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

The Natural Resources Defense Council aims to safeguard the Earth, including its people, plants, and animals. Founded in the 1970s by a team of law students and attorneys, NRDC is now a membership-based organization that works with lawyers, activists, scientists, businesses, and individuals to identify problems and formulate sustainable solutions. NRDC also ensures that everybody has the right to clean air, clean water, and healthy wild spaces.

How to get involved: Make a one-time or monthly donation, or add your voice to essential campaigns.   

6. Conservation International

Conservation International (CI) aims to protect the Earth to provide us with fresh water, adequate food, sustainable livelihood, and a stable climate. CI works with governments, business leaders, and individuals to implement doable solutions to climate change-related problems. In its 30 years of operation, the organization has successfully protected more than 601 hectares of land, marine, and coastal areas.

How to get involved: A $25 donation here will protect one acre of forest. Other ways to get involved with CI include:

• Subscribing to receive conservation news and calls to action in your inbox.
• Taking the “I Need Nature and Climate Action Pledge.”
• Reading their tips for greener living.

7. Rainforest Alliance

The Rainforest Alliance is a nonprofit working to create a better future for people and the Planet. They offer a certification program for brands selling rainforest-friendly products. They also work alongside activists, businesses, small farmers, and forest communities to drive positive social, environmental, and economic change across forest landscapes.

How to get involved: Promote their frog seal while shopping for rainforest-dependent products such as tea, coffee, chocolate, and paper. Environment-conscious travelers can even opt for Rainforest Alliance-certified hotels and tours worldwide.

8. Greenpeace

Greenpeace is an international environmental organization whose mission is to create a green, peaceful, and ecologically diverse world. It relies on its membership of activists, students, educators, scientists, and environmentalists to investigate issues and solutions, lobby governments, and show up for actions against climate change. 

How to get involved: Join a local group of activists and follow along with Greenpeace’s journalism site, Unearthed. Donations are also welcome.

9. Lonely Whale Foundation

Lonely Whale Foundation works with businesses and entrepreneurs to develop environmental business models, gets involved in communities to educate the next generation better, and initiates global movements to address plastic pollution in our oceans.

How to get involved: Check out current campaigns to get involved in or donate.

10. 350.org

With members in over 180 countries, 350.org uses social media campaigns, grassroots organizations, and collective public action to support clean energy solutions. Its primary objectives are to reduce carbon footprint, help build a zero-carbon economy, and make governments accountable for limiting their emissions. 

How to get involved: Join a local group near you and support the initiatives they are working on. You can also start your own or donate if you are far from an existing group.  

Up in the Air: The Dark Side of Balloon Releases

While balloons bring momentary delight in celebrations and events, this tradition poses ecological challenges we often forget. They are harmful to wildlife, marine ecosystems, natural resources, and even toddlers. Balloons filled with helium look so pretty in the sky. However, they can’t stay afloat for so long. Each of these balloons pops and plunges to the earth, turning into trash. This is why balloon releases should be banned. 

How the Tradition of Balloon Releases Harms the Environment

Releasing balloons has become a customary practice in local events, including schools, weddings, and memorials, with origin tracing back to the 1940s. We acknowledge the emotional significance of traditions, like those we’ve seen in sporting events with fireworks, marching bands, and cool mascots. However, it is becoming more evident that haphazard balloon releases have several harmful implications for the environment. 

Insert image: The Indy 500 balloon launch

Caption: The Iconic Indianapolis 500 Balloon Launch in May 2019. Source: speedsport.com

In May 2019, The Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) continued its tradition of releasing balloons before the start of the Indianapolis 500 . The IMS claims that its balloons are biodegradable. However, studies conducted to test these claims still raise a big question and pose a substantial environmental risk. 

Then, in 2022, the IMS management confirmed that the pre-race “Balloon Launch” has been paused indefinitely. 

Regardless of what the Indy 500 does, several people and organizations still do balloon releases. Here are some reasons they harm the environment and potential alternatives to flying balloons. 

Balloons are bad for wildlife and marine ecosystems.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) emphasizes that wildlife can confuse a balloon’s small, bright pieces as food. The agency points out that the balloons released into the air don’t merely go away. They either get stuck on something like electrical wires or tree branches. Others may deflate and plummet into the ground, where they can create many problems. 

Balloons that are not disposed of properly end up in the ocean and along the shores, and worse, they can be mistaken for food by wildlife and marine animals. Strings or ribbons attached to the balloon, on the other hand, can cause entanglement and other injuries. 

Another major problem is marine debris.

Experts are also worried about balloons becoming marine debris. Solid waste, found in global water bodies and the accumulation of such waste along waterway shorelines, is termed marine debris. Marine debris is frequently cited as one of the most widespread issues in global marine pollution.

7 Alternatives to Balloon Releases

At first, we are hesitant to talk about this because we know how sentimental balloon releases are in many communities, organizations, and families. Fortunately, there are several alternatives to balloon launches.

A non-profit organization called Clearwater Marine Aquarium recommends seven potential alternatives to balloon launches, including the following: 

• Flags 
• Banners 
• Streamers 
• Kites 
• Pinwheels 
• Bubbles 
• Floating Flowers 

Do you want to make a meaningful contribution to save Mother Nature? Now is the best opportunity to help!  Next time you’re thinking about celebrating, try these environmentally friendly replacements for balloons. 

Conclusion 

Our effort has exposed the environmental hazard that balloon celebration may bring to our plant. We must reassess our traditions and consider some eco-friendly alternatives to commemorate special events. Let us prioritize sustainability and make informed choices to make a lasting impact on the environment. It’s time to deflate the myths and rise above the challenges associated with balloon releases. 

Why Green Living Matters? Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Green living has become a popular campaign in a world increasingly defined by rapid industrialization. It is about switching to an eco-friendly lifestyle and living a simple life that will help us combat the effects of climate change. Our combined efforts to practice a green, sustainable lifestyle will be a significant step to save the planet and our future. And that practice will be the ultimate guide to our green lifestyle. 

What Does Green Living Entail?

Green living is a lifestyle that promotes creating a balance in preserving and protecting Earth’s natural resources, ecosystems, and biodiversity. In short, green living is a way of developing sustainable habits in one’s daily life. This way, their daily routines work alongside the natural resources instead of consuming them or damaging the environment permanently. 

The vital aspects of green living are reducing pollution, protecting wildlife, and conserving natural resources. People need to recognize that green living can alleviate the rapidly increasing global warming and climate change rates. 

What are the Benefits of Green Living?

The apparent advantage of green living is enhanced sustainability within individuals and the world. It also improves the state of the environment by taking into consideration the reduction of impacts of climate change and global warming. 

However, there are many benefits to committing to green living, which include the following:

Mitigate Further Pollution

Green living directly reduces your carbon footprint and overall global emissions. You immediately make a difference in pollution through simple habits like lowering your electricity consumption or avoiding plastic use.

Preserve the Natural Resources

One of the primary aspects of green living is using what you already have. This is where the concept of “reduce, reuse, recycle” comes in. 

Likewise, gardening was a green living trend that became popular due to the pandemic. More and more people have decided to grow their produce at home, reducing food waste and excessive use of plastic packaging. 

Green Living is Economical

Did you know that most Eco-friendly products are becoming cheaper? So, if you join the green living movement, you’ll notice a decrease in your usual spending habits. 

Lead A Healthier Life

Green living will help improve your diet and overall health because of increased fruit and vegetable consumption. Amidst the fast food era, most people no longer consume the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Green living can help encourage better eating habits while saving the planet. 

The Domino Effect

If one person sees how well you’re doing in green living, they will be inspired to try the same. Remember, the battle against climate change requires collective efforts. If we can slowly create change in the community, we can drastically reduce the harmful effects of global warming.

7 Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

A few simple changes around your home can reduce your carbon footprint. You can prevent waste and pollution by using the shower instead of a bath and using your reusable grocery bags. Look at some fixes that WWF pushes for implementing green living in your own simple ways. 

1. Dial it down . Turning your thermostat down to 2 degrees in winter and up two degrees during summer could save approximately 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

2. Turn it off . Artificial lighting comprises 44% of electricity use in office buildings. Always turn off the lights for 15 minutes or more when leaving any room. Also, switch off power strips and unplug electrical devices when not in use. 

3. Use cold water . Using cold water can as much as 80% of the energy needed to wash your clothes. Opt for a low setting on the washing machine to help save water.

4. Switch to electronic billing . Paper products comprise the most significant percentage of local solid waste in the United States, and printed bills alone generate almost 2 million tons of CO2. So, save paper by switching to electronic billing (e-billing).

5. Buy local produce . In North America, for example, fruits and vegetables travel 1,500 miles, on average, before reaching your plate. Buy fresh, local food to avoid long distances traveled and preserve nutrients and flavor.

6. Recycle. You can recycle plastic bottles, paper, electronics, batteries, etc. Practice proper disposal and learn how to recycle such products.

7. Switch to solar. Use solar panels to power your homes or offices. This can lower your electric bill and reduce your carbon footprint. Explore this option and help our planet through renewable energy .

Final Thoughts 

Green living reduces the further impact of global warming. It is a simple way to lessen the adverse effects of climate change because it encourages individuals to reduce their carbon footprint. Collectively, it can help reduce global temperatures. Moreover, green living improves health and sustainability in your own life and paves the way for a brighter future.

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Reading the Skies: A History of Air Travel

Throughout history, air travel has been a dream of humanity, with the idea of being able to soar through the skies becoming a reality. From the earliest attempts at powered flight in the late 19th century to the modern era of commercial air travel, air travel has been an integral part of our lives, allowing us to explore the world in ways that would have been unimaginable a few centuries ago. In this article, we will take a look at the history of air travel and explore how it has evolved over the years.

The earliest attempts at powered flight can be traced back to the late 19th century with the work of the Wright brothers in the United States. After years of experimentation, the brothers completed the first successful powered flight on the 17th of December, 1903. This flight marked the start of the age of powered aviation, with the Wright brothers’ achievement being the catalyst for further developments in the field.

The first commercial aircraft was developed in 1914 by the German company Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft (DELAG). The DELAG Zeppelin flights were the world’s first commercial air service and were used mainly for sightseeing trips over the cities of Germany. The Zeppelin flights were very successful and popular among the public, with more than 35,000 passengers taking flights by the start of World War I in 1914.

In the early 1920s, the development of the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-3 revolutionized commercial aviation. These aircraft had advanced features such as autopilot and cabin pressurization which allowed for longer flights at higher altitudes. The introduction of these aircraft marked the start of the golden age of air travel as they enabled airlines to offer faster, more comfortable and more reliable services.

The 1950s and 1960s saw the development of the jet engine, allowing commercial aircraft to fly faster and higher than ever before. This technological breakthrough enabled the development of commercial airliners such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 which could fly passengers around the world at speeds of up to 600 mph (965 km/h).

The introduction of the jumbo jet in the 1970s further revolutionized air travel, with the Boeing 747 being the first wide-body aircraft to be used for commercial passenger flights. The jumbo jet allowed airlines to fly more passengers at once, and its larger fuselage meant that the interior of the aircraft could be designed for greater passenger comfort.

In the 1980s and 1990s, advances in materials and aerodynamics allowed for the development of smaller, more efficient aircraft such as the Boeing 757 and Airbus A320. These aircraft were more fuel-efficient, had longer ranges and could fly higher than their predecessors. This allowed airlines to open up new routes and expand their networks.

The modern era of air travel is characterized by the introduction of new technologies such as the fly-by-wire system, which allows aircraft to be operated and controlled by computer rather than by the pilot. This technology has allowed for greater automation and safety, and has enabled airlines to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The introduction of the Internet has also allowed passengers to book tickets and check-in online, making air travel more convenient than ever before.

Air travel has come a long way since the first powered flight in 1903, with the development of new technologies allowing us to explore the skies in ways that would have been impossible just a few decades ago. As we move forward into the future, we can look forward to further advancements in air travel that will enable us to explore the world faster, more safely and more comfortably than ever before.

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Airship Travel

North pole expedition, capricorn voyage, life onboard, airship travel for a new era, the golden era of travel .

From the highly decorative to the stark brutalist design, airships of 100 years ago were varied in appearance but known for their lavish experiences. OceanSky Cruises is taking this legacy into a new era to bring to you high luxury while keeping our carbon footprint low and highlighting the best of low-touristed destinations.

We are bringing a new era to travel rooted in the deepest values of exploration, luxury, and sustainability. Airships can fly for days and don’t need airports for landing. They can land and access the remote and unexplored corners of the world. Their size allows us to provide large and comfortable cabins, lounges, fine dining areas, and big panoramic windows like no other current means of air travel. Given their unique lifting capabilities, energy efficiency is maximised making them one, if not the most, sustainable vehicles.

Our first expedition will make history by landing an airship on the North Pole for the first time in history. In the near future, we will be operating more airships and expeditions around the world. Join us on our North Pole expedition and be inspired by our Capricorn Voyage.

(right) Photo courtesy of Nationaal Archief

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Max Pinucci

Oceansky cruises, head of design.

“…White-gloved waiters serve à la carte dishes prepared in the electric kitchen. Services and furnishings are impeccably branded, the company logo stands out on porcelain, cutlery, tablecloths and menus. The captain entertains the diners who, after meals, look out of the large windows enjoying the scenery that flows slowly, two hundred meters below, crossed by the shadow of the leviathan that glides through the sky at 115 kilometers per hour.”

Bringing sustainable travel 

Back to the skies.

OceanSky Cruises has one main focus and that is to bring the airship back to the public as a viable way of travel again. In today’s world, we are facing a clean energy crisis and at OceanSky Cruises, we are doing our part to combat this crisis by creating an airline with extremely low energy needs. By choosing airships, one gets to float with the clouds and turn the passage into the most incredible part of the journey.

(left) Photo courtesy of San Diego Air and Space Museum

Carl-Oscar Lawaczeck

Oceansky cruises, ceo and founder.

“Let’s imagine a future with only renewable energy production…Aviation is the most challenging of all industries to make sustainable because it requires a significant amount of energy to lift weight upwards with one exception: Lighter Than Air technology. So, I think that airships can become a symbol, a messenger of humanity’s transition to sustainable activities on Earth. If we can fix aviation we can fix everything…” 

Trains in the sky

Reevaluating how we view airships

Airships are commonly compared to airplanes, probably because both are aerial vehicles. However, that’s where the similarities end.  We can, in a future of sustainable travel, consider airships as a travel option similar to the way we use trains… What if we can deploy an “aerial railway system of the sky”, literally overnight, in an area that suffers from sub developed transportation network, imagine what that would do to the economic prosperity in the region. We would instantly create an opportunity for less developed areas, to leapfrog into a buzzing economy of trade and commerce without leaving a footprint…

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Simple Flying

Miracle in the azores: how air transat flight 236 glided to safety after running out of fuel.

The Azores Glider was one of the most dramatic moments in aviation history and the longest glide of its kind.

• The Azores Glider flew with a catastrophic fuel leak due to maintenance error and made an emergency landing.
• Passengers and crew survived with no serious injuries, but some developed PTSD due to the incident.
• Captain Robert Piche managed the landing skillfully despite later receiving partial responsibility.

On 24 August 2001, Air Transat Flight 236 (aka the "Azores Glider") ran out of fuel over the Atlantic bound for Portugal. Improper maintenance caused a catastrophic fuel leak, causing both engines to flame out. Fortunately, the captain, Robert Piche, was an expired pilot and managed to glide the dead Airbus A330 to an emergency landing in the Portuguese Azores (in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean).

The Azores Glider earned its place as one of the most notable commercial flights to have glided after losing power . However, Air Transat Flight 236 was not the first commercial Canadian flight to run out of fuel in midair. In 1983, Air Canada Flight 143 (a Boeing 767 dubbed the Gimli Glider) ran out of fuel as it flew from Montreal to Edmonton in Canada.

Gliding over the Atlantic

According to the FAA , 3 hours and 46 minutes into the flight from Canada to Portugal, Air Transat Flight 236 developed a fuel leak in the right engine. However, the crew did not detect the leak and believed the aircraft had faulty sensors. It wasn't for another hour and 7 minutes after the leak began that the pilots diverted the flight to an emergency landing at Lajes Airport in the Azores . The right engine flamed out when the aircraft was still 150 nautical miles from the airport. Flight 143 continued to fly on its remaining engine until it, too, flamed out around 65 nautical miles from the airport at an altitude of around 34,500 feet.

At this point, it was far from certain the dead aircraft could make it to the airport. The crew informed ground control that ditching was a possibility. However, ditching at night (the pilots would not be able to see the water) in the large swells of the Atlantic Ocean was not a viable option. Had the aircraft ditched, the fuselage would likely have broken up, and those onboard would likely have died from the impact, drowning, and hyperthermia.

Fortunately, the flight enjoyed good visual weather conditions as it descended to Lajes Airport. The aircraft landed on runway 33 at 6:45 UTC and then performed an emergency evacuation during which 16 passengers and two cabin crew received light injuries.

After touching down, not only had all 293 passengers and 13 crew been saved, but they had also broken the world record. Having glided for almost 75 miles, the Azores Glider remains the longest passenger aircraft glide without engines.

Subsequent investigations found the leak resulted from a fuel line cracking due to interference between the fuel line and a hydraulic line on the right engine. This was caused by the wrong part being fitted. In flight, chaffing between the lines only millimeters apart eventually ruptured the fuel line.

Galunggung Glider: The Story Of British Airways Flight 9

Aftermath for passengers and aircraft.

The A330 (registered as N271AD and previously registered as C-GITS) suffered limited structural damage to the fuselage and the main landing gear but was repaired and returned to service. During the pandemic, it was stored at Marana Pinal Airpark (KMZJ) and doesn't appear to have returned to service. According to information provided by Planespotters.net , it is now owned by the leasing company AerCap and is stored.

It is normally said that no one was seriously injured in the incident. While that is true in terms of physical injury, some passengers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In 2015, The Canadian Press reported some of the 306 passengers and crew on board the Azores Glider developed PTSD. Brain images of eight of the passengers nine years after the incident revealed that their areas of the brain related to the event "lit up" with harrowing memories.

The powerless gliding may have only lasted 30 minutes, but that was enough for it to be a life-changing experience. Being told to don life vests for possible ditching and believing they were about to die was an experience some passengers and cabin crew may not fully recover from.

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Captain piche - a tainted hero.

''When you don't have that other engine, sooner or later you're going to go down, you know. That's just about it. You don't have time to think about anything else than taking care of the safety of the passengers. You do as you've been taught.'' - Captain Piche

Robert Piche (now 71) enjoyed a rather colorful career as a pilot. In his younger years, he worked for Quebecair before being laid off. He then worked odd jobs smuggling marijuana to the United States by plane. But in 1983, he was discovered while flying smuggled marijuana from Jamaica into the US.

He served the first 16 months of a 5-year sentence in prison before being released in 1985 and pardoned in 2000. In 1995, he was hired by Air Transat (then aged 43) and was 48 when he flew the Azores Glider. He continued to fly after the incident before retiring in 2017.

At first, Piche was praised for his calm handling of the emergency, but Piche and his co-pilot, Mr. DeJager, were later given partial responsibility for the incident. The New York Times reported in 2002,

" One of the most serious questions is whether the captain magnified the crisis by transferring fuel from the working engine to the failing engine, not realizing that it was leaking. "

Despite this, the Air Line Pilots Association awarded him the Superior Airmanship Award for skillfully landing the dead-stick Airbus A330.

More From Forbes

Ranked: the best airlines in 2024, according to a new report.

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What are the best airlines to fly? As the world emerges from the turbulence of the global pandemic, the airline industry is navigating a new landscape marked by shifting consumer expectations, evolving safety protocols and fluctuating economic conditions. Against this backdrop, travelers are weighing factors beyond mere ticket prices as they choose the best airlines to ensure a smooth and enjoyable travel experience.

The personal-finance website WalletHub has just announced its annual ranking of the best airlines . The study evaluates the nine largest national airlines in the United States and one regional carrier across a range of criteria, including reliability, safety, comfort and overall service quality, providing travelers with valuable insights to inform their decision-making process.

According to WalletHub, airline ticket prices had dropped significantly in 2023, but are back on the rise. However, costs are only part of the story. “WalletHub’s airline report is unique because it evaluates airlines beyond just ticket prices,” WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe told me in an interview. “While many reports prioritize affordability, WalletHub takes into account a wider range of factors that are important to travelers, such as comfort, safety, and overall service quality.” Compare this year’s list to 2023’s list of best airlines .

What are the best airlines in 2024? A new WalletHub report ranks the best U.S. airlines.

To rank the airlines for 2024, WalletHub analyzed flight data from the U.S. Department of Transportation and using a strategic methodology that compared key metrics, including cancellation, delays, baggage mishaps and in-flight comfort.

This year’s report unveils Alaska Airlines as the best airline in the U.S., earning the highest WalletHub score and beating out Delta Air Lines, which ranked first in 2023 and 2022. Alaska Airlines has ranked at the top of the list in a number of past WalletHub rankings, including 2021, 2019 , 2018 and 2017. For 2024, a track record of consistent performance and a commitment to passenger satisfaction propelled Alaska Airlines back to the top of the list.

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“Alaska Airlines has regained the top position owing to its consistent and remarkable performance across multiple metrics,” says Happe. “The airline has exceeded expectations in in-flight comfort and cost, providing passengers with amenities such as ample legroom, a range of entertainment options and complimentary refreshments. Moreover, it has demonstrated robust safety measures, ranking first in safety-related categories, such as the number of injuries in aviation incidents and accidents. The airline’s balanced performance across various aspects of air travel has contributed to its return to the top position.”

Following closely behind is Alaska Airlines SkyWest Airlines, followed by Spirit Airlines in the number three spot. “It’s quite surprising to see Spirit Airlines ranking so high on the list,” says Happe. “This is notable because Spirit is usually associated with budget travel and may not be considered as competing in terms of overall service quality. However, it seems that Spirit has made significant progress in areas beyond affordability, such as safety. This is evident by the airline being ranked as the safest airline, which is increasingly valued by travelers.”

Coming in last on the list for the third year in a row is Southwest Airlines. “Although the airline shows satisfactory performance in baggage and departure metrics such as cancelled flights and delays, it falls short in terms of mishandled baggage reports and denied boardings,” says Happe. “When considering in-flight comfort and cost, the airline ranks low in price affordability, which is a crucial factor for many travelers. Furthermore, Southwest’s safety scores are notably low compared to its competitors. Overall, it appears that Southwest needs to address its mishandled baggage and denied boarding issues, as well as work on improving its safety measures and price competitiveness, in order to improve its ranking.”

In addition to ranking the best airlines, WalletHub also reveals the most reliable airline, the most comfortable airline, the most affordable airline and the safest airline.

In terms of dependability, Delta Air Lines emerges as the most reliable airline for the second year in a row, due to the lowest rates of cancellations, delays, mishandled luggage and denied boardings. At the opposite end is Frontier, which is named the least reliable airline for the second year in a row, due to high levels of denied boardings and delayed flights. “Delta Airlines is widely regarded as the most dependable option when it comes to air travel. This is primarily because of their exceptional track record in minimizing cancellations, delays, denied boardings, and mishandled luggage,” says Happe. “However, Frontier Airlines falls short in most reliability metrics, although it does surpass Delta by securing the second overall rank for mishandled baggage.”

Delta Air Lines and JetBlue tied as the most comfortable airlines in the WalletHub rankings. According to WalletHub, they excelled by offering free amenities. The least comfortable airline? Frontier. “Delta Airlines and JetBlue Airways provide a comfortable flight experience with amenities such as Wi-Fi, extra legroom and complimentary snacks and beverages,” says Happe. “Frontier Airlines, on the other hand, does not offer the same level of comfort during the flight, as they lack many of the complimentary benefits provided by their competitors.

When it comes to safety, Spirit Airlines takes the win as the safest airline, boasting a commendable safety record including no fatalities and fewer than 15 injuries between 2018 and 2023. Alaska Airlines earns the runner-up position in terms of safety, highlighting its commitment to passenger well-being. Spirit Airlines has been recognized as the safest airline due to its superior performance in various safety metrics, including incident and accident rates,” says Happe. “On the other hand, Alaska Airlines, despite its good overall performance, has a lower ranking in safety metrics when compared to Spirit Airlines. Since 2018, Alaska Airlines has had a higher rate of incidents and accidents per total number of flights.”

The most affordable airline in 2024 is Spirit Airlines. At the opposite end of the list is American Airlines, which is named the most expensive airline. “Spirit Airlines is the most affordable airline, offering budget-friendly options” says Happe. “Conversely, American Airlines lags behind its competitors in affordability based on our study.”

Read on for the overall list of the best airlines in America, as well as the other key findings.

Alaska Airlines was named the best airline in the U.S. in a new report.

Overall Rankings: The Best Airlines in the U.S.

• Alaska Airlines
• SkyWest Airlines
• Spirit Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• United Airlines
• JetBlue Airways
• Hawaiian Airlines
• American Airlines
• Frontier Airlines
• Southwest Airlines

Delta Air Lines was named the most reliable airline.

The Most Reliable Airlines in the U.S.

Delta Air Lines was named the most comfortable airline.

The Most Comfortable Airlines in the U.S.

*Note that SkyWest is not represented in this list because it is a regional carrier and serves other major airlines, which may dictate what amenities are provided.

• Delta Air Lines (tie)
• JetBlue Airways (tie)

Spirit ranked as the safest airline in the U.S.

The Safest Airlines in the U.S.

Spirit Airlines was named the most affordable airline.

The Most Affordable Airlines in the U.S.

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6 arrested, 3 on run in what police call biggest gold theft in Canada’s history

Six people, including a jeweler and a commercial airline employee, are under arrest and police said they have issued warrants for three other suspects in connection to what they called the single-largest gold heist in Canadian history.

According to Peel Regional Police in Ontario, a joint investigation with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) led to nearly two dozen charges being filed against the suspects in connection to the nearly $20 million Canadian dollar ($14.5 million) heist that took place a year ago.

During news conference Wednesday in Ontario, Peel Regional Police Detective-Sergeant Mike Mavity told reporters 400 kilograms of gold bars weighing more than 900 pounds, along with about CA$2.5 million ($1.8 million) in stolen bank notes were hijacked from the Toronto Pearson International Airport after arriving on a commercial flight from Europe.

In all, 6,600 gold bars ranging in size were stolen and each gold bar was "99.9% pure and contained individualized serial numbers," Mavity said.

The items, officials reported, had been ordered from a refinery in Zurich.

Here's how police said the heist went down:

Gold and currency transported in Air Canada flight to Toronto airport

On April 17, 2023, the gold and currency were transported in the hull of an Air Canada flight in "an approved airline container" destined for Toronto.

At 3:56 p.m. that day, the flight arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport and, shortly after, the gold and cash were offloaded from the air craft and brought into an Air Canada facility.

At 6:32 p.m. a male suspect arrived at air can cargo driving a 5-ton truck, and approached the compound carrying what police called a fraudulent airway bill − a document used by carriers with details about shipments.

A short time later a forklift arrived and loaded the item into the suspect's truck.

The suspect then drove away.

The items are discovered missing

At 2:43 a.m. the next day, officials discovered the document bill was a duplicate of an airline bill for a legitimate shipment of seafood delivered and picked up the previous date, according to a press release from police.

The forged bill was printed within the Air Canada facility, Mavity said, and when officials realized the items were missing, they used security footage to track part of the subsequent route driven by the suspect before losing track of the truck in north Milton, an Ontario suburb.

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An inside job: Here are the suspects

Police confirmed the heist was an inside job and said a former Air Canada manager was wanted in the case.

So far police said they have arrested the following suspects in connection to the case:

• Air Canada employee Parmpal Sidhu, 54, of Ontario
• Jewelry store owner Ali Raza, 37, of Toronto
• Amit Jalota, 40, of Ontario
• Ammad Chaudhary, 43, of Ontario
• Prasath Paramalingam, 35, of Ontario

All five were released on bail and are scheduled to appear in court at a later date, Mavity said.

The truck driver who allegedly picked up the gold, Durante King-Mclean, 25 of Ontario, is currently in custody in the U.S. on firearms and trafficking related charges.

Here are the suspects at large:

• Air Canada manager Simran Preet Panesar, 31, of Ontario
• Archit Grover, 36, of Ontario
• Arsalan Chaudhary, 42, of Ontario

Peel Regional Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich said only CA$90,000 ($65,000) of the more than CA$20 million has been recovered.

According to U.S. ATF Special Agent Eric DeGree, King-Mclean was arrested in Pennsylvania after a traffic stop lead to police seizing 65 illegal firearms slated to be smuggled into Canada. King-Mclean tried to flee, DeGree said, after police discovered the firearms in a rental car he reportedly drove.

Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick confirmed to CBC Canada , two of the suspects identified by the police worked for Air Canada in the cargo division at the time of the heist.

"One left the company prior to the arrests announced today and the second has been suspended," he said according to the outlet reported. "As this is now before the courts, we are limited in our ability to comment further."

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So far only one kilo of gold recovered, police say

A year later, according to the release, only about CA $90,000 (one kilo of the gold) has been recovered , melted down into bangle bracelets. The rest of the gold, police said, was likely melted down and used to buy illegal firearms.

"I commend the incredible work done by our investigators, the ATF, other law enforcement partners, and our community for working together to identify and arrest those responsible for this brazen crime," Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah released in a statement this week.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Peel Regional Police. 

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.

Emirates is dealing with a 30,000 bag backlog as it grovels to customers about its handling of Dubai floods

• Severe flooding caused by the heaviest rain in 75 years brought travel chaos to Dubai Airport last week.
• The ongoing fallout has prompted Emirates boss Tim Clark to issue an apology to customers. 
• 30,000 bags still need to be returned to customers, he said.

Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline, is still trying to return 30,000 leftover bags to customers affected by the torrential rains and flooding that brought Dubai Airport to a standstill last week.

Over the weekend, the airline's president, Tim Clark, acknowledged that Emirates' response to the disruption had been "far from perfect" and apologized to customers.

"I would like to offer our most sincere apologies to every customer who has had their travel plans disrupted during this time," Clark wrote in an open letter posted online on Saturday.

Calling the previous week "one of the toughest for Emirates operationally," he said that the airline had been forced to cancel nearly 400 flights and delay many more after storms brought the region's highest rainfall in 75 years.

"Flooded roads impeded the ability of our customers, pilots, cabin crew, and airport employees to reach the airport, and also the movement of essential supplies like meals and other flight amenities," Clark wrote.

In total, 1,478 flights had been canceled at the world's second busiest airport by Friday morning, according to Reuters.

While planes remained stuck on flooded taxiways, submerged roads surrounding the airport left some passengers stranded in the airport.

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To accommodate disrupted passengers, Emirates said it had secured 12,000 hotel rooms and issued 250,000 meal vouchers.

Despite the chaos and a government warning telling people to stay at home, Emirates flight attendants in Dubai were also told to report for duty.

However, Clark acknowledged that many passengers had been frustrated by the congestion, lack of information, and confusion at terminals.

In an effort to handle the ongoing fallout, he said that a task force had been created to sort and return 30,000 pieces of left-over luggage to its owners.

The airline officially resumed regular flight operations at Dubai Airport on Saturday, but warned it would still take several days to clear the backlog.

Non-UAE-based carriers were still facing restrictions over the weekend. Foreign airlines with more than two flights in 24 hours were issued with a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) instructing them to reduce operations by 50%, Indian news agency PTI reported.

According to FlightRadar 24's data , all arrivals and departures were largely running to schedule again on Monday morning.

The oil-rich United Arab Emirates has become one of the most attractive economic hubs in the Gulf region.

Its efforts to diversify its economy away from oil, centered on Dubai as a tourism hot spot, have helped the country position itself as a major player on the world stage. In a sign of its growing popularity, the number of passengers traveling to Dubai Airport increased by 31.7% in the last year.

Watch: Thousands of bags pile up at US airports after flight cancellations

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FAA lifts temporary ground stop of Alaska Airlines flights after technical issue is resolved

The Federal Aviation Administration lifted a ground stop for all Alaska Airlines flights Wednesday after grounding the planes earlier as a result of a computer problem at the carrier.

The Seattle-based airline said in a statement that an issue arose “while performing an upgrade to the system that calculates our weight and balance.”

The FAA initially approved a ground stop for all Alaska and Horizon flights starting at approximately 10:50 a.m. ET.

It was lifted just before 11:45 a.m. ET.

It wasn't immediately clear how many flights were affected. An Alaska spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rob Wile is a breaking business news reporter for NBC News Digital.

Jay Blackman is an NBC News producer covering such areas as transportation, space, medical and consumer issues.