Lighter Than Air Craft

We are excited to wellcome this newst blog to the Friends of Aviation family of Blogs. An exciting part of experimental aviation is - Lighter than air aviation. This blog is dedicated to this noble and fun endeavor, much knowledge to benefit man kind can be gleaned from this exciting subject. By way of a summary, Lighter than air refers to gases which are buoyant (float) in air because they have densities lower than that of air. Some of these gases are used as lifting gases in lighter-than-air craft, which include free balloons, moored balloons, and airships, to make the whole craft, on average, lighter than air. A popular word by which this sport is also known is areostat, as in aerostatic balloons. The word aerostat was originally French and is derived from the Greek aer (air) + statos (standing). Numerous festivals and societies have been created around this sport, and this continues to grow around the world. Other uses for aerostats include lifting military airborne radar equipment, parachute training, for advertising, lifting meteorological equipment, raising antennas, gaining line of sight for ad hoc radio relay stations, lifting video equipment and digital cameras, for jungle marker balloon use and bird-scaring. In 1975 NASA, FAA, DOT ( department of transportation) and the NAVY met to reassess lighter-than-air flight, which had suffered a severe set back after the Hindenburg accident 39 years earlier. The conclusion of that meeting uncovered a vast potential for the aerostatic industry and it’s future to quote John Lienhard, at the University of Houston, “The 1975 workshop didn't just ask whether these gentle monsters should be made to fly again. It also brought to light a stunning array of potential extensions of the old technology -- hybrid airships with airfoil-shaped bodies to add lift in flight; small blimps for urban transport; airships with different shapes; blimps to move large, heavy items that won't fit in airplanes. It dealt with airships for all payloads, ranges, and speeds.”