Lighter-than-Air
Summary
- Overview
- The Balloon
- The Airship
- Selected References
|
I have been wondering, and I would like you to let me know one way or the other,
whether Dr. Ferguson really did cross Africa on a balloon.
[Ref. 1] |
 |
Lighter-than-air vehicles consists of balloons and dirigibles (or airships).
The balloon qualifies has the first successful lighter-than-air flying machine, with
over 200 years of history. The first manned flight is attributed to the Montgolfier
brothers in 1783. Yet the appeal of flying on a balloon has not diminished. According
to some estimates over 1000 balloons, Ref. 2, are built every year.
Over the years the balloon has fascinated writers and dreamers. The French writer
Jules Verne wrote the adventure book "Five Weeks in a Balloon" (1870). After
dozens of attempts only recently (March 26, 1999) the first successful non-stop
flight around the world was made (Breitling Orbiter III). The flight lasted over 19
days to cover a distance of 42,610 Km.
Balloons are nowdays employed for scientific exploration in the lower and upper
atmosphere (telemetry, ocean circulation, cosmic radiation, solar physics, ozone
depletion). balloons and airships appear often fair shows.
Other lighter-than-air vehicles are the airships ...
They are now days employed for military and scientific flight operations,
unmanned recoinnassance, as TV platforms, lift transport, and other commercial
exploitation. Gone are the days of the gigantic airships used for exploration
(Arctic regions) and transatlatic flight. Worth mentioning are the Zeppelins and
Hindenburgs of the 1920s and 1930s.
The Balloon
The Airship
References
Copyright ©
A. Filippone (1999-2004). All Rights Reserved.