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A History of Blimps and Airships
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The first time a person rose into the skies was on November
21, 1783, in a hot-air balloon. It had been built by the Montgolfier
brothers, who were paper makers. On December 1, just days
after that first flight, people took to the skies again, this
time in a rubberized silk balloon built by the Robert brothers.
It was filled with a lighter-than-air gas called hydrogen.
Hydrogen is like helium. When we fill balloons with these
gases, they float, because the gases weigh less than the air.
The next flights were in dirigibles and blimps. The first
dirigible ever built was the Giffard Airship. A dirigible
has a rigid frame that gives it the shape of an enormous football.
A blimp is another kind of airship. It has a football shape,
too, but it does not have a frame. Instead, like a balloon,
it uses internal pressure from the gas to hold its shape.
The Giffard Airship flew in 1852. A steam engine propelled
it through the air. By the 1900s, there were many gigantic
airships flying all over the world.
Click here for more history.
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