Helium fill and floatation mark new milestones for Airlander’s return to flight

Posted on November 2, 2015 by LighterThanAirSociety

2051169_AirlanderSource: The Engineer – theengineer.co.uk

The world’s largest aircraft reached another milestone over the weekend when it received its first helium fill and was floated for the first time.

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Model maker spent $47,000 building a fully-functional zeppelin

Posted on October 28, 2015 by LighterThanAirSociety

5 Dream come trueSource: Daily Mail – dailymail.co.uk

By Qin Xie

A man from Ningling, central China, has successfully built a zeppelin so he could make his childhood dream of flying a reality.

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Rare Archival Airship Films Have Been Digitized and Are Available for Viewing

Posted on October 28, 2015 by LighterThanAirSociety

USS Akron test flight 1931The Archival Services of the University of Akron have digitized four nitrate films that form part of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. records stored at the university.

The videos were first transferred from highly combustible nitrate to safety film and then digitized. They are now available for public viewing. Continue reading →

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Giant Surveillance Blimp Untethers And Drifts Over Pennsylvania

Posted on October 28, 2015 by LighterThanAirSociety

AerostatSource: NPR – npr.org

By Eyder Peralta

A giant surveillance “blimp” that had been tethered to a mooring at an Army installation in Maryland is now loose and drifting over Pennsylvania.

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Airship Autopsy – Before the Hindenburg, there was the Shenandoah

Posted on October 20, 2015 by LighterThanAirSociety

The Shenandoah in Oct 1923, 2 years before it broke up over SE OhioSource: MIT News Magazine/MIT Technology Review – technologyreview.com

By Michael Greshko and SM ’15

Just before dawn on September 3, 1925, the Shenandoah, an airship that was over two football fields long and constructed from an alloy of copper and aluminum, was engulfed in a violent squall as it floated over southeastern Ohio. For 30 frantic minutes, Lieutenant Commander Zachary Lansdowne and his crew tried mightily to control the ship. By sunrise, 14 of its 43 crew members were dead, and the Shenandoah – only two years old – was in pieces on the ground.

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