Santos Dumont startled Paris in 1910, when he let an American girl fly one of his airships over the city. To descend she threw her weight forward, to climb she moved back a step.
A dramatic meeting of two rivals for the honor of making the first Atlantic crossing. The Navy’s NC flying boats and the non-rigid C-5, photographed shortly before their take-off.
Blimps too may use masts aboard surface ships as anchorage point on long cruises, as the U.S.S. Los Angeles successfully demonstrated when moored to the U.S.S. Patoka. (U. S. Navy photo)
The Army’s TC-7 demonstrates the first airplane pick-up at Dayton. Army pilots found that at flying speed the plane weighed nothing, was sustained by dynamic forces. (U. S. Army photo)
Flight was here, though it would be a long time becoming practical. Dr. Charles and many others contributed, even at that early day. Knowing that hydrogen expanded as the air pressure grew less, at higher altitudes, Charles devised a valve at the top of the balloon, so that the surplus gas could be released, not burst the balloon. He devised a net from which the basket could be suspended, distributing its load over the entire bag.
The drag rope was evolved, an ingenious device to stabilize the balloon’s flight in unstable air. If the balloon tended to rise it would have to carry the entire weight of the rope. If it grew sluggish and drifted low, it had less weight to carry, as much of the rope now lay on the ground. These ballooning principles, early found, are still in use. But the “dirigible” balloon, or airship must wait for light weight, dependable motors, despite the hundreds of ingenious experiments made by men over a full century.
Since this is an airship story, we should first make clear the difference between the airship and the airplane.