![]() ![]() The other, more narrow and technical meaning of aerostat refers only to tethered balloons. In this sense, airships are a type of aerostat. One meaning of aerostat refers to all craft that remain aloft using buoyancy. This confusion arises because aerostat has two different meanings. There is often some confusion around the term aerostat with regard to airships. In contrast to airships, balloons are buoyant aircraft that generally rely on wind currents for movement, though vertical movement can be controlled in both. The term airship is sometimes informally used to mean any machine capable of atmospheric flight. In modern technical usage, however, airship is the term used for all aircraft of this type, with zeppelin referring only to aircraft of that manufacture, and blimp referring only to non-rigid airships. In modern common usage, the terms zeppelin, dirigible and airship are used interchangeably for any type of rigid airship, with the terms blimp or airship alone used to describe non-rigid airships. The term zeppelin is a genericised trademark that originally referred to airships manufactured by the Zeppelin Company. Over time, the word balloon was dropped from the phrase. In many countries, airships are also known as dirigibles from the French dirigeable, meaning "steerable." The first airships were called dirigible balloons. Today they are used in a variety of niche applications, particularly advertising. In addition they suffered a series of high profile accidents - most notably the burning of the Hindenburg. However, their use decreased over time as their capabilities were surpassed by those of airplanes. Their widest use took place from roughly 1900 through the 1930s. ![]() airplanes and helicopters) which stay aloft by moving an airfoil through the air in order to produce lift, aerostatic craft such as airships (and balloons) stay aloft primarily by means of a cavity (usually quite large) filled with a gas of lesser density than the surrounding atmosphere.Īirships were the first aircraft to make controlled, powered flight. USS Akron (ZRS-4) in flight, November 2, 1931Īn airship or dirigible is a buoyant aircraft that can be steered and propelled through the air. ![]()
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