View of the Zeppelin I, with portion of the aluminum shell and external fabric removed to show the internal framing and separate balloons. In the distance is shown the great balloon shed.
In 1901, an inventor named Roze built an airship in Colombo, having two gas envelopes with the engines and car placed between them. He expected to do away with the rolling and pitching of single airships by the double form, but the ship did not work satisfactorily, ascending to barely 50 feet.
In 1902, Augusto Severo, a Brazilian, arranged an airship with the propelling screws at the axis of the gas-bag, one at each end of the ship. Instead of a rudder, he provided two small propellers to work in a vertical plane and swing the ship sideways. Soon after ascending it was noticed that the propellers were not working properly, and a few minutes later the car was seen to be in flames and the balloon exploded. Severo and his companion Sache were killed, falling 1,300 feet.
Sketch of the Severo airship, showing arrangement of the driving propellers on the axis of the gas-bag, and the steering propellers.
End view of Severo’s airship, showing the longitudinal division of the gas-bag to allow the driving shaft of the propellers to be placed at the axis of the balloon.
In the same year Baron Bradsky-Leboun built an airship with partitions in the gas-bag which was just large enough to counterbalance the weight of the ship and its operators. It was lifted or lowered by a propeller working horizontally. Another propeller drove the ship forward. Through some lack of stability the car turned over, throwing out the two aeronauts, who fell 300 feet and were instantly killed.
