Blimps and balloons were the first man-made vehicles to stay in the air! In 1783 the Montgolfier brothers sent the first hot air balloon into the air. Ever since then, inventors have been trying to make balloons and blimps better and better.

First were hot air balloons, which were round. Then the earliest blimp designs took a round balloon and stretched it at both ends to make an egg shape. They stayed this shape by filling them with gas (not hot air). This was called the non-rigid design.

The problem with both balloons and blimps was they would buckle (bend) if there was a heavy weight on them or in bad weather. By adding a wooden keel along the bottom of the blimp this problem was solved and larger blimps could be built.

Later, a man named Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin designed and built a blimp with a steel frame all around it. This made it possible to make much larger blimps. These larger blimps were able to lift many people and much more weight.

The second part is called the "gondola". This is found below the blimp for carrying passengers. These can be simple or very fancy. They are sometimes small, 1 or 2 passengers or large enough for more than 100 people. Today, most gondolas do not carry more than 7 or 8 people.

The fourth part of a blimp is the controls. The controls of the blimp allow it to go up, down and forward smoothly. Controls include propellers, rudders (horizontal movements) and elevators (vertical movements). These controls were developed over many years.

Because blimps were filled with hydrogen gas, that could burn, there were many catastrophes (blimps destroyed by fire). Later, blimps were filled with helium, that does not burn.

Blimps had two main uses:
1. Military - bombing, lookout, submarine watching, escorting convoys.
2. Carrying passengers - The first successful paid passenger flight was in 1911 in Germany. The Zeppelin made many passenger flights from that time until about 1937.

Today, blimps are mainly used for advertising, aerial photography, sight-seeing, and as a TV platform for sporting events.

Today, people mainly think about blimps flown by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and more recently Fuji Camera Film. There have been no major blimp disasters this decade. More people are taking an interest in watching and riding in blimps and balloons.

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Last modified: Mon Mar 23 22:49:02 PDT 1998