Balloons and Airships

Other people thought it might be possi­ble to build flying machines that were lighter than air itself. They believed they would simply float upward like an air bubble floating up through water or smoke rising from a fire.

The first successful manned flights were indeed made in the lighter-than – air craft envisaged by aviation pioneers. The French brothers Jacques-Etienne and Joseph-Michel Montgolfier had the first success with a hot air balloon in 1783. The balloon was able to fly because heated air is lighter than the surrounding air. A sheep, duck, and chicken made a flight and survived! They were the first living creatures to make a balloon flight. Two months later, also in France, Jean-Frangois Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes made the first manned flight in a hot air balloon.

In France the same year, Jacques Charles made the first manned flight in a hydrogen-filled balloon. Hydrogen gas is even lighter than hot air.

The problem with balloons is that they are carried wherever the wind takes them. They cannot be steered. The next goal, therefore, was to make a controlled flight. French engineer Henri Giffard (1825-1882) achieved this in 1852 with a steam-powered hydrogen balloon. The engine was slung under the balloon and drove a propeller. Giffard had invented the airship.

Airships developed further in the following years. In Germany, Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917) built bigger and bigger airships. They rose without effort into the air, and they were more spacious and comfortable than air­planes. For a time airships seemed to have a promising future.

In 1937, however, the world’s biggest airship, the Hindenburg, crashed in flames in New Jersey. News and images of the accident traveled around the world, marking the end of the golden age of the airship.

Airships are making a comeback today. Early airships were filled with hydrogen, a gas that catches fire and burns very easily. Modern airships are filled with helium, a gas that cannot catch fire. They are used for tasks, such as filming, which require a stable plat­form that can stay aloft for long periods.