Transport Modelling


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Transport Modelling

Transport Modelling

When blimps of United States Navy Blimp Squadron ZP-14 made the first transatlantic crossing of non-rigid airships in 1944, locating and destroying German U-boats was their only main concern. Retrospectively however, these first transatlantic blimp flights actually demonstrated that long-range, transoceanic flight by non-rigid, lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicles was not only possible but also extremely practical. The first Navy blimps crossed the ocean with surprising ease, effectiveness, and safety.

Although the famous German Zeppelins had made many transatlantic flights prior to 1944, these larger, stronger, rigid airships were filled with highly flammable hydrogen gas. The Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst, NJ in 1937 suggested that this wasn't the best way to run an airline. While it actually took nearly the entire world's supply of safe helium gas to inflate the rigid airship USS Shenandoah in 1923, helium soon became more available and the USN was able to operate hundreds of blimps filled with helium gas during and after World War II.

Airships for Transportation Today

Most people have seen a blimp at one time or another because they are so frequently used for aerial photography at major sporting events, etc. LTA ships are also used for advertising, sightseeing, surveillance, and research. Today, Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH (ZLT), a company in Friedrichshafen, Germany has begun producing a fleet of semi-rigid airships that they hope will become a viable means of transporting people and/or cargo.