On September 24, 1852, French engineer Henri Giffard piloted his airship almost 17 miles at an average speed of 5 mph. This is regarded as the first powered and manned flight in aviation history. The airship consisted of a gas-filled envelope, resembling a thin football. The airship was 144 feet long and featured a suspended car that contained the pilot and a 3-horsepower steam engine.
Designed and built by Captains Charles Renard and A.C. Krebs of the French Corps of Engineers, the La France spanned 165 feet and was powered by a 9-horsepower electric motor. On August 9, 1884, the airship completed a 5-mile circular course, reaching a maximum speed of 14.6 mph. This flight is considered the first fully-controlled powered flight by a manned airship.
Designed and built by Count Zeppelin, the German Luftshiff Zeppelin I represented the first successful construction of a rigid airship. The airship was 420 feet long and featured 17 gas cells, the first time an airship utilized separate cells for the gas. On July 2, 1900, the Zeppelin completed its maiden flight. However, powered by two Daimler petrol engines that produced only 30 horsepower, the 1,700-lb. airship lacked power, achieving a maximum speed of only 16 mph.
Designed by Captain Thomas S. Baldwin, the California Arrow completed the first powered dirigible flight in the United States on August 3, 1904, at Oakland, California. The airship, 52 feet long, was powered by a two-cylinder motorcycle engine. A 96-foot version became the one and only U.S. Army dirigible; its engine and propeller remain on display in the Smithsonian Institution.
Officially designated the LZ127, the Graf Zeppelin was 774 feet long and was powered by five 530-horsepower Maybach engines. The Zeppelin carried up to 20 passengers and 12 tons of cargo. The airship completed a round-the-world flight in August 1929 and would go on to complete 500 flights, totaling 1,053,396 miles and logging 17,178 hours of flight time.
The Hindenburg, big sister of the Graf Zeppelin, was completed in March 1936. At nearly 804 feet in length, she was the world's largest rigid airship. The Hindenburg was powered by four 1,000-horsepower Daimler diesel engines and could carry 75 passengers and 25 crewmen. She entered service in 1936, completing a number of North and South Atlantic crossings. On May 6, 1937, the ship burst into flame while attempting to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey, becoming one of aviation's most infamous disasters. Miraculously, 62 of the 97 onboard were able to escape, but the tragedy ended the German dream of creating a worldwide fleet of commercial airships.
