The first airship was created c. Airships. invention and development. They are flying now

The airship belongs to the class of aircraft and is identical in design to the hot air balloon. Among its distinctive features is a large carrying capacity, the ability to stay in the air for a long time, low cost and mooring at any site. The only disappointment is the low speed km / h, limited to 20 units. With the development of powerful models of air vehicles, in modern society there is an increasing interest in who created the first airship and where they can be used. These are very beautiful and powerful machines that are experiencing a rebirth today. In the photo - a modern domestic airship.

How it all began

As follows from the chronicle, the first airship in the world, operated by the Frenchman Henri-Jacques-Girard, took to the skies over Versailles in September 1852. The length of the spindle-shaped form, equipped with a steam engine, reached 4.4 m. At that time, many countries began to create their own airship, the first flight of their miracle vehicles was recorded in history:

• Dupont de Lom's airship was launched in 1872.
• Henlein, a mechanic from Germany, equipped the aircraft with a gas engine, thanks to which the speed increased to 19 km / h.
• "France" is one of the first airships built in Europe, on which the Tissadier brothers installed batteries.

Airship "France"

• In Germany, the embodiment of the idea belongs to the intelligence officer Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who presented a new development in 1900. Throughout his life, Count Zeppelin improved his projects, and in 1911 he created the Ersatz Deutschland passenger airship, capable of accommodating 20 people on board. Since then, the count's airship has become known as the zeppelin.
• For the first time, an internal combustion engine was installed by Captain Kostovich on the Rossiya airship. The engine itself is in the Monino Museum.

Airship building in Russia

The daring dream of flying warmed the souls of more than one generation of people living on earth. Long before the era of aeronautics, Peter the Great, he was sure that his grandchildren would conquer the blue dome.

The first airship in Russia "Krechet"

The impetus for the development of aircraft was the Crimean War, after which in 1869 a special commission was created to oversee the invention of a balloon used for military purposes. August 1, 1970 is considered to be the birthday of military aeronautics, however, the first airship in Russia under the name "Krechet" appeared only in 1909. Then the "Hawk", "Falcon" and "Dove" were created. In 1911, the country ranked third in this area.

Airship building in the USSR actively developed in the 20-30s, in those years Osoaviakhim appeared, which was controlled by Umberto Nobile himself. Its speed reached 113 km / h, capacity - 20 people.

With the advent of aircraft, the demand for clumsy models dropped sharply. However, during the Second World War, dozens of them hovered over cities, cutting off the wings of enemy attack aircraft with cables.

Airships of the First World

The prospect of airships for military purposes was so obvious that the equipment of the armies began long before the outbreak of hostilities. Entire fleets of ships were used as cargo carriers, reconnaissance aircraft and bombers. In this area, Russia was the leader (more than 20 pieces), followed by Germany (18) and Austria-Hungary (10). At the same time, Russia purchased Astra, Burevestnik and Condor from abroad, and built the rest of the ships at the Izhora and Baltic Shipyards. Domestic engineers believed that an inexpensive soft airship was better than a huge prototype, which was easier to hit from the ground and set on fire.

What filled the first airships

The devices initially worked on hydrogen, which is lighter than air, and later it was replaced by helium. It was hydrogen that caused death of the Hindenburg, flying with passengers across the Atlantic and was considered the largest ship in Germany.

Once having abandoned airships, today humanity finds more and more advantages and benefits in these aircraft. But the sight of a mighty ship sailing across the sky attracts you so much that just for the sake of this majestic spectacle, you want them to return ...

As a rule, articles about modern airships begin with memories of how, almost 70 years ago, the giant German Hindenburg zeppelin died in a fire at the American Lakehurst airbase, and three years later Hermann Goering ordered the remaining airships to be dismantled for scrap metal and blow up the hangars. The era of airships then ended, journalists usually write, but now interest in controlled balloons is again actively reviving. However, the vast majority of our fellow citizens, if where they see the "reborn" airships, then only at various kinds of air shows - there they are usually used as original advertising media. Is that really all these amazing airships are capable of? To find out who and why airships are needed today, I had to turn to specialists building airships in Russia.

Pros and cons

An airship is a controlled self-propelled balloon. Unlike a conventional "balloon that flies" exclusively in the direction of the wind and can only maneuver in height in an attempt to catch the wind of the desired direction, the airship is able to move relative to the surrounding air masses in the direction chosen by the pilot. For this purpose, the aircraft is equipped with one or more engines, stabilizers and rudders, and also has an aerodynamic (“cigar-shaped”) shape. At one time, airships were "killed" not so much by a series of catastrophes that terrified the world, but by aviation, which developed at an ultra-fast pace in the first half of the 20th century. The airship is slow - even a piston-engine aircraft flies faster. What can we say about turboprop and jet machines. The large windage of the hull prevents the airship from accelerating to aircraft speeds - the air resistance is too high. True, from time to time they talk about projects of ultra-high-altitude airships that will rise to where the air is very rarefied, which means that its resistance is much less. This supposedly will allow to reach speeds of several hundred kilometers per hour. However, so far such projects have been worked out only at the concept level.

On August 17, 2006, pilot Stanislav Fedorov reached a height of 8180 meters on a Russian-made thermal airship "Avgur" AU-35 ("Polar Goose"). So the world record was broken, which lasted 90 years and belonged to the German airship Zeppelin L-55. The Polar Goose record was the first step in the implementation of the High Start program, a project of the Russian Aeronautical Society and the Metropol Group of Companies to launch light spacecraft from high-altitude airships. If this project is successful, Russia will create an advanced balloon-space complex capable of economically launching private satellites weighing up to 10-15 kilograms into orbit. One of the intended uses of the High Start complex is the launch of geophysical rockets to explore the subpolar regions of the Arctic Ocean.

Losing to aviation in speed, controlled balloons at the same time have a number of important advantages, thanks to which, in fact, the airship industry is being revived. Firstly, the force that lifts the balloon into the air (the Archimedes force known to everyone from the school bench) is completely free and does not require energy, unlike the wing lift, which directly depends on the speed of the device, and therefore on engine power. The airship, on the other hand, needs engines mainly for moving in a horizontal plane and maneuvering. Therefore, aircraft of this type can get by with motors of much lower power than an aircraft would require with an equal payload. Hence, and this is secondly, it follows that, in comparison with winged aviation, the environmental cleanliness of airships is greater, which is extremely important in our time.

The third advantage of airships is their almost unlimited carrying capacity. The creation of super-lifting aircraft and helicopters has limitations on the strength characteristics of structural materials. For airships, there are no such restrictions, and an airship with a payload of, for example, 1000 tons is not a fantasy at all. Add here the ability to stay in the air for a long time, the absence of the need for airfields with long runways and greater flight safety - and we get an impressive list of advantages that quite balance the low speed. However, low-speed, as it turned out, can be attributed to the merits of airships. But more on that later.

In the airship industry, there are three main types of construction: soft, rigid and semi-rigid. Almost all modern airships are of the soft type. In English literature, they are referred to by the term "blimp". During World War II, the American army actively used "blimps" to monitor coastal waters and escort ships. Rigid airships are often called "zeppelins" after the inventor of this design, Count Friedrich von Zeppelin (1838 - 1917).

Helicopter competitor

Our country is one of the world centers of the resurgent airship industry. The industry leader is the Rosaerosystems group of companies. After talking with its vice-president Mikhail Talesnikov, we found out how modern Russian airships are arranged, where and how they are used, and what awaits us ahead.

Today, two types of airships, created by the designers of Rosaerosystem, are in operation. The first type is the double airship AU-12 (shell length 34 m). Devices of this model exist in three copies, and two of them are used from time to time by the Moscow police to patrol the Moscow Ring Road. The third airship was sold to Thailand and is used there as an advertising medium.

Semi-rigid airships are distinguished by the presence, as a rule, of a metal truss in the lower part of the shell, which prevents deformation of the shell, however, as in a soft design, the shape of the shell is maintained by the pressure of the lifting gas. The semi-rigid type includes modern German Zeppelin NT airships, which have a carbon fiber support frame inside the shell.

Much more interesting work for the airships of the AU-30 system. The devices of this model are distinguished by larger dimensions (the length of the shell is 54 m) and, accordingly, a higher carrying capacity. The AU-30 gondola can accommodate ten people (two pilots and eight passengers). As Mikhail Talesnikov told us, negotiations are currently underway with interested parties on the possibility of organizing elite air tours. Flying at low altitude and at low speed (here it is - the advantage of low speed!) Over beautiful natural landscapes or architectural monuments can really become an unforgettable adventure. Similar tours take place in Germany: airships of the revived Zeppelin NT brand ride tourists over the picturesque Lake Bodensee, in the very regions where the first German airship once flew. However, Russian airship builders are sure that the main purpose of their devices is not advertising and entertainment, but the performance of serious industrial tasks.

Here is an example. Power companies that have power lines at their disposal should regularly monitor and diagnose the condition of their networks. The best way to do this is from the air. In most countries of the world, helicopters are used for such monitoring, but the rotorcraft has serious drawbacks. In addition to the fact that the helicopter is uneconomical, it also has a very modest range - only 150-200 km. It is clear that this is too little for our country with its many thousands of kilometers and extensive energy facilities. There is another problem: the helicopter experiences strong vibration in flight, as a result of which sensitive scanning equipment malfunctions. A slow and smooth airship capable of covering thousands of kilometers on a single gas station, on the other hand, is ideal for monitoring tasks. At the moment, one of the Russian firms that developed laser-based scanning equipment, as well as software for it, uses two AU-30 airships to provide services to power engineers. An airship of this type can also be used for various types of monitoring of the earth's surface (including for military purposes), as well as for mapping.

The Au-30 multi-purpose airship (a multi-purpose patrol airship with a volume of more than 3,000 cubic meters) is designed to perform flights for a long time, including at low altitude and at low speed. Cruising speed 0-90 km / h // Power of the main engine 2x170 hp // Maximum flight range 3000 km // Maximum flight altitude 2500 m.

How do they fly?

Almost all modern airships, unlike the zeppelins of the pre-war era, are of the soft type, that is, the shape of their shell is maintained from the inside by the pressure of the lifting gas (helium). This is explained simply - for devices of relatively small sizes, a rigid structure is inefficient and reduces the payload due to the weight of the frame.

Despite the fact that airships and balloons are classified as lighter than air vehicles, many of them, especially when fully loaded, have a so-called constriction, that is, they turn into vehicles heavier than air. This applies to the AU-12 and AU-30 as well. We have already said above that an airship, unlike an airplane, needs engines mainly for level flight and maneuvering. And that's why "mostly". The “constriction”, that is, the difference between the force of gravity and the Archimedean force, is compensated for by a small lift force that appears when the oncoming air flow runs into the airship’s shell, which has a special aerodynamic shape – in this case it works like a wing. As soon as the airship stops, it will begin to descend to the ground, because the Archimedean force does not fully compensate for the force of gravity.

The double airship AU-12 is intended for training aeronautical pilots, patrolling and visual control of roads and urban areas in the interests of environmental monitoring and traffic police, emergency control and rescue operations, security and surveillance, advertising flights, high-quality photography, film, television and video filming in the interests of advertising, television, cartography. On November 28, 2006, for the first time in the history of Russian aeronautics, the AU-12 was issued a type certificate for a two-seater airship. Cruising speed 50 - 90 km / h // Power of the main engine 100 hp // Maximum flight range 350 km // Maximum flight altitude 1500 m.

Airships AU-12 and AU-30 have two take-off modes: vertical and short-range. In the first case, two screw engines with a variable thrust vector go into a vertical position and thus push the vehicle off the ground. After gaining a small height, they move to a horizontal position and push the airship forward, resulting in a lifting force. When landing, the engines again go into a vertical position and turn on the reverse mode. Now the airship, on the contrary, is attracted to the ground. Such a scheme makes it possible to overcome one of the main problems in the operation of airships in the past - the difficulty with timely stopping and precise mooring of the device. In the days of the mighty zeppelins, they literally had to be caught by the cables lowered down and fixed to the ground. The mooring teams at that time numbered tens and even hundreds of people.

During takeoff with a run, the engines initially operate in a horizontal position. They accelerate the apparatus until sufficient lift occurs, after which the airship rises into the air.

Sky Yacht ML866 Aeroscraft Interesting new generation airship projects are being developed on the North American continent. Wordwide Eros Corporation intends to create a "heavenly super-yacht" ML 866 in the near future. This airship is designed according to a hybrid scheme: in flight, about 2/3 of the machine's weight will be compensated by the Archimedean force, and the device will rise up due to the lifting force that occurs when the air flows around the ship's shell. To do this, the shell will be given a special aerodynamic shape. Officially, the ML 866 is intended for VIP tourism, however, given that Wordwide Eros receives funding, in particular from the state defense technology agency DARPA, the use of airships for military purposes, such as surveillance or communications, cannot be ruled out. And the Canadian company Skyhook, together with Boeing, announced the JHL-40 project, a cargo airship with a payload of 40 tons. This is also a “hybrid”, but here the Archimedean force will be supplemented by the thrust of four rotors that create thrust along the vertical axis.

The pilot performs altitude maneuvering and lift control, in particular, by changing the pitch (angle of inclination of the horizontal axis) of the airship. This can be achieved both with the help of aerodynamic rudders fixed to the stabilizers, and by changing the centering of the apparatus. Inside the shell, inflated with helium under slight pressure, there are two balloonets. Balloonets are bags made of airtight material into which outside air is forced. By controlling the balloonet volume, the pilot changes the lift gas pressure. If the balloonet inflates, the helium contracts and its density increases. In this case, the Archimedean force falls, which leads to a decrease in the airship. And vice versa. If necessary, air can be pumped, for example, from the bow ballonet to the stern. Then, when the centering changes, the pitch angle will take a positive value, and the airship will go into a pitching position.

It is easy to see that a modern airship has a rather complex control system, which involves the operation of rudders, varying the mode and thrust vector of the engines, as well as changing the centering of the apparatus and the magnitude of the pressure of the lifting gas using balloonets.

Heavier and higher

Another direction in which domestic airship builders work is the creation of heavy cargo-passenger airships. As already mentioned, there are practically no restrictions on carrying capacity for airships, and therefore, in the future, real “air barges” can be created that will be able to transport almost anything by air, including super-heavy oversized cargo. The task is simplified by the fact that with a change in the linear dimensions of the shell, the carrying capacity of the airship grows in a cubic proportion. For example, the AU-30, which has a shell 54 m long, can take on board up to 1.5 tons of payload. A new generation airship, currently being developed by Rosaerosystem engineers, with a shell length of only 30 m more, will take a payload of 16 tons! The long-term plans of the group of companies include the construction of airships with a payload of 60 and 200 tons. Moreover, it is in this segment of airship building that a small revolution should take place. For the first time in many decades, an airship made according to a rigid scheme will rise into the air. Lifting gas will be placed in soft cylinders, rigidly attached to the frame, covered from above by an aerodynamic shell. A rigid frame will add safety to the airship, since even in the event of a serious helium leak, the device will not lose its aerodynamic shape.

The death of giants

The history of air disasters with a large number of victims originates in the era of airships. The British airship R101 set off on its maiden flight on 5 October 1930. On board, he was carrying a state delegation led by Air Transport Minister Christopher Birdwell Lord Thompson. A few hours after launch, R101 descended to a dangerous height, crashed into a hill and burned out. The cause of the disaster was a miscalculation in the design. Of the 54 passengers and crew, 48 were killed, including the minister. 73 US Navy sailors were killed when the Akron airship crashed into the sea off the coast of New Jersey, caught in a storm. It happened on April 3, 1933. It was not the impact of the fall that killed people, but the icy water: there was not a single lifeboat on the airship and only a few cork vests. Both dead airships were pumped with explosive hydrogen. Helium airships are much safer.

Another interesting project, on which R&D has already been carried out in the Rosaerosystems group of companies, is the Berkut geostationary stratospheric airship. The idea is based on the properties of the atmosphere. The fact is that at an altitude of 20-22 km, the wind pressure is relatively small, and the wind has a constant direction - against the rotation of the Earth. Under such conditions, it is quite easy to fix the apparatus at one point relative to the surface of the planet using the thrust of the engines. The stratospheric geostationary station can be used in almost all areas in which geostationary satellites are currently used (communications, transmission of television and radio programs, etc.). At the same time, the Berkut airship will, of course, be significantly cheaper than any spacecraft. In addition, if a communications satellite fails, it can no longer be repaired. "Berkut" in case of any malfunctions can always be lowered to the ground in order to carry out the necessary preventive maintenance and repairs. And finally, Berkut is an absolutely environmentally friendly device. The airship will take energy for engines and relaying equipment from solar batteries located on the top of the shell. At night, power will be provided by batteries that have accumulated electricity during the day.

Airship "Berkut" Inside the Berkut shell are five woven helium containers. At the ground surface, the air pumped into the shell will compress the containers, increasing the density of the lifting gas. In the stratosphere, when the Berkut is surrounded by rarefied air, the air from the shell will be pumped out, and the tanks under helium pressure will swell. As a result, its density will drop and, accordingly, the Archimedean force will increase, which will keep the apparatus at a height. "Berkut" was developed in three modifications - for high latitudes (HL), for middle latitudes (ML), for equatorial latitudes (ET). The geostationary characteristics of the airship make it possible to carry out the functions of observation, communication and data transmission over a territory with an area of ​​more than 1 million km2.

Even closer to space

All the airships discussed in this article are of the gas type. However, there are also thermal airships - actually controlled hot air balloons, in which heated air serves as lifting gas. They are considered less capable than their gas counterparts, mainly due to slower speed and poor handling. The main scope of thermal airships is airshows and sports. And it is in the sport of Russia that the highest achievement belongs.

On August 17, 2006, pilot Stanislav Fedorov reached a height of 8180 m on the Russian-made thermal airship "Polar Goose". However, practical applications will probably be found for sports airships. "Polar goose", having risen to a height of 10-15 km, can become a kind of first step in the system of space launches. It is known that during space launches a significant amount of energy is spent precisely at the initial stage of ascent. The farther from the center of the Earth the launch pad is, the greater the fuel savings and the greater the payload can be put into orbit. That is why they try to place spaceports closer to the equatorial region in order to win (due to the flattened shape of the Earth) several kilometers.

Airship drawn by Albert Robida in the steampunk style.

First flights

The inventor of the airship is Jean Baptiste Marie Charles Meunier. Meunier's airship was to be made in the shape of an ellipsoid. Handling was to be carried out with the help of three propellers, manually rotated by the efforts of 80 people. By changing the volume of gas in the balloon by using a balloonet, it was possible to adjust the flight altitude of the airship, and therefore he proposed two shells - the outer main and the inner.

The steam-powered airship designed by Henri Giffard, who borrowed these ideas from Meunier more than half a century later, did not make its first flight until September 24, 1852. Such a difference between the date of the invention of the balloon and the first flight of the airship is due to the absence at that time of engines for an aerostatic aircraft. The next technological breakthrough came in 1884, when the first fully controlled free flight was made in the electric-powered French military airship La France by Charles Renard and Arthur Krebs. The length of the airship was 52 m, the volume was 1900 m³, in 23 minutes a distance of 8 km was covered using an 8.5 hp engine.

However, these devices were short-lived and extremely fragile. Regular controlled flights did not take place until the advent of the internal combustion engine.

On October 19, 1901, the French balloonist Alberto Santos-Dumont, after several attempts, flew around the Eiffel Tower at a speed of just over 20 km / h on his Santos-Dumont apparatus number 6. Then this was considered an eccentricity, but later the airship became one of the most advanced for several decades Vehicle. At the same time that soft airships began to gain popularity, the development of rigid airships also did not stand still: later they were able to carry more cargo than airplanes, and this situation remained for many decades. The design of such airships and its development are associated with the German count Ferdinand von Zeppelin.

Zeppelins

Zeppelin over the Summer Garden

Construction of the first Zeppelin airships began in 1899 at a floating assembly plant on Lake Constance in Manzell Bay, Friedrichshafen. It was organized on the lake in order to simplify the launch procedure, since the workshop could sail with the wind. The experimental airship "LZ 1" had a length of 128 m and was balanced by moving weight between two gondolas; it was equipped with two Daimler engines with a power of 14.2 hp.

The first flight of the Zeppelin took place on July 2, 1900. It lasted only 18 minutes as the LZ 1 was forced to land on the lake after the weight balance mechanism broke down. After the refurbishment of the apparatus, the rigid airship technology was successfully tested on subsequent flights, breaking the speed record of the French airship La France by 3 m/s, but this was still not enough to attract significant investment in airship construction. The count received the necessary funding in a few years. Already the first flights of his airships convincingly showed the promise of their use in military affairs.

By 1906, Zeppelin managed to build an improved airship that interested the military. For military purposes, at first semi-rigid, and then soft Parseval airships, as well as rigid Zeppelin airships were used; in 1913, the rigid airship "Schütte-Lanz" was adopted. Comparative tests of these aeronautic vehicles in 1914 showed the superiority of rigid airships. The latter, with a length of 150 m and a shell volume of 22,000 m³, lifted up to 8000 kg of payload, having a maximum lifting height of 2200 m. With three 210 hp motors. each they reached a speed of 21 m / s. The payload included 10 kg bombs and 15 cm and 21 cm grenades, as well as radiotelegraphy equipment. In 1910, the first air passenger line Friedrichshafen-Dusseldorf was opened in Europe, along which the airship "Germany" ran. In January 1914, Germany, in terms of the total volume and combat qualities of its airships, had the most powerful aeronautic fleet in the world.

Tsiolkovsky project

The first technically sound project of a large cargo airship was proposed in the 80s of the XIX century by the great Russian scientist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky.

Model of the Tsiolkovsky balloon

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Tsiolkovsky proposed to build a huge, even by today's standards - with a volume of up to 500,000 m³ - a rigid airship with a metal sheathing.

Design studies of Tsiolkovsky's idea, carried out in the 1930s by employees of the USSR Airshipstroy, showed the validity of the proposed concept. However, the airship was never built: for the most part, work on large airships was curtailed not only in the USSR, but throughout the world due to numerous accidents. Despite the numerous projects for the revival of the concept of large airships, they still, as a rule, do not leave the drawing boards of designers.

German naval zeppelin L 20 after a forced landing near the coast of Norway, 1916

Baptism of fire

View from the gondola of a French airship in 1918.

Airship raid on Calais

The prospect of using airships as bombers was understood in Europe long before airships were used in this role. G. Wells in his book "War in the Air" described the destruction of entire fleets and cities by combat airships.

Unlike airplanes, airships were already a formidable force at the start of the World War. The most powerful aeronautical powers were Russia, which had a large Aeronautical Park in St. Petersburg with more than two dozen devices, and Germany, which had 18 airships. Of all the countries participating in the World War, the Austro-Hungarian air force was one of the weakest. On the eve of the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian air force consisted of only 10 airships. Military airships were directly subordinate to the main command; sometimes they were attached to fronts or armies. At the beginning of the war, the airships performed combat missions under the leadership of the officers of the general staff sent to the airships. In this case, the commander of the airship was assigned the role of a watch officer. Thanks to the success of the design solutions of Count Zeppelin and Schütte-Lanz, Germany had in this area a significant superiority over all other countries of the world, which, if used correctly, could be of great benefit, in particular for deep exploration. German devices could overcome a distance of 2-4 thousand km at a speed of 80-90 km / h and bring down several tons of bombs on the target. For example, on August 14, 1914, as a result of a raid by one German airship on Antwerp, 60 houses were completely destroyed, another 900 were damaged. However, by September 1914, having lost 4 devices, the German airships switched only to night operations. Huge and clumsy, they were an excellent target for armed enemy aircraft, although to protect against attack from above, a platform with several machine guns was placed on the upper part of their hull, and besides, they were filled with extremely flammable hydrogen. It is obvious that they were inevitably to be replaced by cheaper, more maneuverable and resistant to combat damage devices.

"Golden Age" of airships

LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin

restaurant on the Hindenburg

Salon at the Hindenburg

After the end of the First World War in the USA, France, Italy, Germany and other countries, the construction of airships of various systems continued. The years between the First and Second World Wars were marked by significant advances in airship technology. The first lighter-than-air craft to cross the Atlantic was the British airship R34, which flew in July 1919 with a crew from East Lothian, Scotland to Long Island, New York, and then returned to Pulham, England. In 1924, the transatlantic flight of the German airship LZ 126 took place.

In 1926, a joint Norwegian-Italian-American expedition led by R. Amundsen on the airship "Norway" designed by Umberto Nobile made the first transarctic flight of the island. Svalbard - North Pole - Alaska. By 1929, airship technology had advanced to a very high level; The airship Graf Zeppelin began its first transatlantic flights in September and October. In 1929, the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin made its legendary round-the-world flight with three intermediate landings. For 20 days, he covered more than 34 thousand kilometers with an average flight speed of about 115 km / h.

German zeppelins were of great interest in the 1920s and 1930s, and in 1930 the US Post Office issued special stamps of airship mail for use on the Pan-American flight of the airship Graf Zeppelin.

In the summer of 1931, his famous flight to the Arctic took place, and soon the airship began to perform relatively regular passenger flights to South America, which continued until 1937. Traveling in an airship of this era was much more comfortable than the aircraft of that time. The hull of the passenger airship often had a restaurant with a kitchen and a saloon. Of course, they tried to reduce the weight of this equipment, so a shower was offered instead of baths, and everything that was possible was made of aluminum, and the piano on the Hindenburg was also made of it. The British rigid airship R101 had 50 single, double and quadruple passenger cabins with berths located on two decks, a dining room for 60 people, two promenade decks with windows along the walls. Passengers used mainly the upper deck. On the lower floor there were kitchens and toilets, and also housed the crew. There was even an asbestos-lined smoking room for 24 people. There was a smoking ban on the Hindenburg. Everyone on board, including passengers, was required to hand over matches, lighters and other devices that could cause a spark before boarding. One of the largest airships in the world - the American "Akron" with a nominal volume of 184 thousand m³ - could carry up to 5 small aircraft, several tons of cargo and theoretically was able to overcome about 17 thousand km without landing.

Airship "USSR-V6"

In the Soviet Union, the first airship was built in 1923. Later, a special organization "Airshipstroy" was created, which built and put into operation more than ten airships of soft and semi-rigid systems. In 1937, the largest Soviet airship "USSR-B6" with a volume of 18,500 m³ set a world flight duration record - 130 hours 27 minutes. The last Soviet airship was the SSSR-V12 bis built in 1947.

The sunset of the airship era

It is believed that the era of airships ended in 1937, when the German passenger airship Hindenburg burned down while landing in Lakehurst. The Hindenburg, as well as the earlier Winged Foot Express airship crash on July 21, 1919 in Chicago, which killed 12 civilians, negatively affected the reputation of airships as reliable aircraft. Airships filled with explosive gas rarely burned and suffered accidents, but their catastrophes caused much more destruction compared to aircraft of the time. The public outcry from the airship crash was incomparably higher than from aircraft crashes, and the active operation of the airships was discontinued. Perhaps this would not have happened if the Zeppelin company had access to enough helium.

K class airship gondola

K-class airship

At that time, the United States had the largest reserves of helium, but the German company at that time could hardly count on the supply of helium from the United States. However, ambitious soft airships, such as the 18,000 m³ and 12,000 m³ soft airships of the M class and K class, were actively used by the US Navy during World War II as reconnaissance aircraft designed to combat German submarines. . Their tasks included not only the detection of submarines, but also the destruction of them with depth charges. In this role, they were quite effective and were used before the advent of reliable helicopters. These airships developed a speed of up to 128 km / h and could be in flight for up to 50 hours. The last K-43 airship was withdrawn from service in March 1959. The only airship shot down in World War II was the American K-74, which, on the night of July 18-19, 1943, attacked the submarine U-134, which was sailing on the surface, off the northeast coast of Florida. The submarine spotted the airship and opened fire first. The airship, without dropping depth charges due to operator error, fell into the sea and sank a few hours later, 1 crew member out of 10 drowned. During the Second World War, the following types of airships were used in the US Navy

• ZMC: airship, with metallized shell
• ZNN-G: G-type airship
• ZNN-J: Type J airship
• ZNN-L: L-type airship
• ZNP-K: K-type airship
• ZNP-M: Type M airship
• ZNP-N: N-type airship
• ZPG-3W: Patrol Airship
• ZR: Rigid Airship
• ZRS: Rigid Reconnaissance Airship

In the years 1942-1944, about 1,400 airship pilots and 3,000 auxiliary crew members were trained in military schools, the number of people serving in units engaged in the operation of airships increased from 430 to 12,400. In the USA, airships were produced at the Goodyear company's plant in Akron, Ohio . From 1942 to 1945, 154 airships were produced for the US Navy and, in addition, five L-class airships for civilian customers.

ZPG-3W in 1960 Volume: 23648 m³

In the late 1950s, the US Navy received the ZPG-3W, the largest soft airship in history. It was used to fill the radar gap between ground-based radar stations in the North American early warning network during the Cold War. The ZPG-3W is a rare example of the use of the airship's internal space - a huge radio antenna was located inside a helium balloon. Four of these airships were delivered to the US Navy. The first flight of the ZPG-3W took place in July 1958. The skin of the airship was used as a radome for a 12.8 m radar antenna, thus making the airship aerodynamic. The airship was over 121.9 meters long and almost 36.6 meters high. The airship could be in flight for many days. The ZPG-3W was the last of the airships built for the US Navy and was scrapped in November 1962 when the US Navy stopped using airships. It is believed that the AN/APS-70 type radar, with its huge antenna, is still the best airborne radar system for detecting aircraft, because due to the use of low frequency radio waves, it did not depend on good weather for optimal operation.

The Soviet Union used only one airship during the war. The V-12 airship was built in 1939 and entered service in 1942 to train paratroopers and transport equipment. Until 1945, he made 1432 flights. On February 1, 1945, the second class B airship, the Pobeda airship, was built in the USSR - it was used as a minesweeper in the Black Sea. It crashed on January 21, 1947. Another airship of this class, the V-12bis Patriot, was put into operation in 1947 and was mainly used for crew training, parades and propaganda events.

catastrophes

The collapse of the Hindenburg

The creators of airships neglected elementary safety measures, filling them with unsafe, but cheap hydrogen instead of inert, but expensive and inaccessible helium.

In March 1936, the successor to the aging Graf Zeppelin was created - the airship LZ 129 Hindenburg, designed to use safe helium. However, the required quantities of helium were at that time only in the United States, which imposed an embargo on the export of military materials to Nazi Germany. I had to fill the Hindenburg cylinders with available hydrogen.

The incessant series of accidents and disasters seriously undermined faith in the reliability and expediency of using airships. On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg burned down in front of the audience, killing 35 people on board and one on the ground. In peacetime, in disasters that claimed many human lives, the American rigid airships Shenandoah, Akron and Macon, the British R.38 and R.101, and the French Diksmünde were killed. While dealing with the causes of disasters, further progress in aviation left the era of airships behind.

Among the experts who studied the causes of the death of large airships, in particular the Akron and the Hindenburg, an opinion was expressed about the destruction of the shell or gas tanks that led to the catastrophe, which occurred during the maneuver with a small circulation radius.

Russia, USSR

On the territory of large countries there are many places where it is extremely problematic to deliver goods by land or using other types of aircraft. Airships can be useful, for example, in the study of the Arctic, in geo-prospecting in Siberia and the Arctic. The Arctic has long attracted the attention of courageous naturalists, who have been studying it especially intensively since the end of the 19th century. Important oceanographic observations were made by the expedition of the Norwegian polar explorers F. Nansen on the sailing ship Fram and R. Amundsen on the ship Maud. The latter also led in 1926 the first flight on the airship "Norway" over the North Pole from Svalbard to America. The commander of the airship was the Italian engineer U. Nobile. In 1928, U. Nobile led the Italian expedition to the North Pole on the airship "Italy", which crashed.

“... There is at least one more country in the world where airships could be developed and widely used with benefit. This is the Soviet Union with its vast territory, for the most part flat. Here, especially in the north of Siberia, huge distances separate one settlement from another. This complicates the construction of highways and railways. But the meteorological conditions are very favorable for airship flights.”
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Commemorative coin of the Bank of Russia dedicated to the exploration of the Russian Arctic. At the top left is an airplane, on the right is an airship, in the center is a sailing ship in the ice, to the right of it is a portrait of R. Amundsen, below are the dates in two lines: “1918 1926”.

In the second half of the 19th century, aeronautics gradually took its place in the Russian army - balloons were in service. At the end of the century, a separate aeronautical park operated, which was at the disposal of the Commission for Aeronautics, Pigeon Mail and watchtowers. At the maneuvers of 1902-1903 in Krasnoe Selo, Brest and Vilna, methods of using balloons in artillery and for aerial reconnaissance were tested. Convinced of the advisability of using tethered balls, the War Ministry decided to create special units at the fortresses in Warsaw, Novgorod, Brest, Kovno, Osovets and the Far East, which included 65 balls. The manufacture of airships in Russia began in 1908.

At the end of 1931, the Airshipstroy organization was created under the Main Directorate of the Glavvozdukhflot. The airshipstroy was supposed to design, manufacture and operate airships, as well as improve the methods of their operation. In April 1932, the territory of the Central Aeronautical Base of Osoaviakhim in the area of ​​Dolgoprudnaya station was transferred to Airshipstroy, where the construction of a wooden slipway, a hydrogen production plant and other buildings began.

The enterprise began to work on May 5, 1932 under the name "Airshipstroy". In May 1932, the Dirigiblestroy received three soft-type airships from Leningrad: the USSR V-1, the USSR V-2 and the USSR V-3. They were intended for training and propaganda flights and testing their use in the national economy. On November 7, 1932, four Soviet airships passed over Red Square: V-1, V-2, V-3 and V-4. By 1933, the USSR had mastered the technique of designing, building and operating soft-type airships. The dirigible construction was given the task of organizing the production of semi-rigid airships. For this, the Italian airship designer Umberto Nobile was invited to the USSR. Nobile, together with a group of Italian specialists, arrived in Dolgoprudny in May 1932. At the end of February 1933, Nobile, together with Soviet engineers, created the first Soviet semi-rigid airship of the USSR V-5. April 27, 1933 B-5 made its first flight lasting 1 hour and 15 minutes. In 1933, the B-5 made over 100 flights.

In 1940, the Airshipstroy USSR plant that existed before the war was mothballed. During the war, some work was carried out at its base on the preparation of barrage balloons, as well as the modification of existing aeronautical equipment, including soft airships. From 1940 to 1956, all work related to the creation and construction of aeronautical equipment was supervised by the 13th TsAGI Laboratory from the city of Zhukovsky. In 1956, massive penetrations of unmanned reconnaissance balloons into the airspace of the USSR were recorded, which, in the mode of permanent drift at altitude, carried out aerial photography of Soviet objects. By a special decision of the Government of the USSR, it was decided to recreate the industrial potential for the development and creation of a variety of aeronautical equipment. The base enterprise OKB-424 was formed on the territory of the former Dirigiblestroy in the city of Dolgoprudny. M.I. was appointed head of OKB-424. Gudkov. In the post-war period, airships were created on the basis of DKBA as prototypes and experimental samples. In 1958, this Design Bureau created a large staratostat for testing equipment and preparing pilots for space flights SS-Volga. On November 1, 1962, Andreev and Dolgov made record parachute jumps on it. In the late 1970s, by order of the Air Force, a lenticular-shaped airship was developed at the DCBA. As part of this project, a 15-meter lens-shaped airship prototype was created, which even passed a series of tests.

In the early 1980s, calculations were made for the airship for the needs of the Navy, but due to funding problems that began during the perestroika reforms, the project was mothballed.

After the collapse of the USSR, the state-owned enterprise DKBA received the status of a “federal unitary state enterprise” and headed the Russian aeronautical technology industry, or rather, became the core enterprise of the emerging industry.

In the 1990s, the DKBA was developing a project for a soft airship 2DP with a carrying capacity of about 3 tons, and after revising the terms of reference and indicating the need to create an apparatus with a higher carrying capacity, the project continues under the name "airship DC-3". In 2007, a preliminary design of this apparatus was prepared.

Today, on the basis of FSUE DKBA, airships with a carrying capacity of 20, 30, 55, 70, 200 tons are being developed. A significant part of the work has been carried out on the project of the “lens-shaped” airship DP-70T, which is designed to transport cargo with boat-free year-round operation in all climatic zones. On the constructive basis of this airship, variants of an airship with a carrying capacity of 200-400 tons have been worked out.

Also, the development of a multifunctional semi-rigid airship DP-4 with a carrying capacity of 4-5 tons is underway. For greater competitiveness, FSUE DKBA is working on airship projects using standard aviation components and assemblies, including landing gear, engines, avionics, which ensures high product quality with a significant reduction in production costs.

), which creates aerostatic lift. The propellers rotated by the engines give the airship a forward speed of 60-150 km/h. The aft part of the hull has - stabilizers and. The body of the airship in flight creates additional aerodynamic lift, thus the airship combines the performance characteristics of a balloon and an aircraft.

The airship is characterized by a large carrying capacity, flight range, the possibility of vertical takeoff and landing, free drift in the atmosphere under the influence of air currents, and a long hover over a given place. It is attached to the lower part of the hull (sometimes several gondolas), in which the control cabin, rooms for passengers and crew, fuel and various equipment are located. Airships usually fly at an altitude of up to 3000 m, in some cases - up to 6000 m. The takeoff of the airship occurs as a result of ballast discharge, and the descent is due to the partial release of lifting gas. In parking lots, they are attached to special mooring masts or driven into for storage and maintenance. Airship frames are usually assembled from flat triangular or polyhedral trusses; it can be fabric (impregnated for gas tightness) or from a polymer film, or typed from thin metal sheets or plastic panels. The external volume of the airship (body) is up to 250 thousand m3, the length is up to 250 m, the diameter is up to 42 m.

The first draft of a controlled balloon was proposed in 1784 by J. Meunier (France). But only in 1852, the Frenchman A. Giffard, for the first time in the world, made on an airship of his own design with a steam engine that rotated. In 1883, G. Tissandier and his brother built an airship with a 1.1 kW electric motor, which received current from galvanic batteries. From con. 19th century up until the early 1990s. airships were built in Germany, France, USA, Great Britain, USSR. The largest airships LZ-129 and LZ-130 were created in Germany in 1936 and 1938. They had a volume of 217 thousand m³, four engines with a total capacity of 3240 and 3090 kW, developed a speed of up to 150 km / h and could carry up to 50 passengers over a distance of 16 thousand km.

Encyclopedia "Technology". - M.: Rosman. 2006 .

Airship

Aviation: Encyclopedia. - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia. Chief editor G.P. Svishchev. 1994 .

Synonyms:

See what "airship" is in other dictionaries:

AIRSHIP A lighter-than-air aircraft equipped with an engine and a motion control system. A rigid airship, or zeppelin, has an internal frame of struts on which a fabric or aluminum alloy shell is attached. lifting… … Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

airship- I, m. dirigeable m. 1. air. An aeronautical apparatus lighter than air, equipped with engines and propellers, a controlled balloon. Ush. 1934. The first aeronate, which managed to be controlled in the air, received the title of an airship .., not at all due to ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

A controlled balloon, an airship, an aircraft (Dirigible) an aircraft lighter than air (as opposed to an aircraft, an apparatus heavier than air). D. stays in the air due to the fact that his body is filled with a gas lighter than air ... Marine Dictionary

- (fr. managed). Guided flying projectile. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. airship (French dirigeable lit. controlled) controlled balloon, New Dictionary of Foreign Words. by EdwART,… … Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Aerostat, zeppelin, balloon Dictionary of Russian synonyms. airship see balloon Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language. Z. E. Alexandrova. 2011 ... Synonym dictionary

Airship- Airship. An aircraft lighter than air, driven by a power plant ... Source: Order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation dated September 12, 2008 N 147 (as amended on December 26, 2011) On the approval of the Federal Aviation Rules Requirements for aircraft crew members ... ... Official terminology

- (from French dirigeable controlled) a controlled balloon with an engine. It has a streamlined hull, one or more gondolas, plumage. The first flight in a controlled balloon with a steam engine was made by A. Giffard (H. Giffard, 1852, France). Up to 50… … Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

AIRSHIP, airship, husband. (French dirigeable, lit. controlled) (aviation). An aeronautical apparatus lighter than air, equipped with engines and propellers, a controlled balloon. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

AIRSHIP, me, husband. A cigar-shaped controlled balloon equipped with engines. | adj. dirigible, oh, oh. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

airship- A balloon moving in the atmosphere with the help of a power plant and controlled in height, direction, speed, range and flight duration. [FAR dated March 31, 2002] Aviation regulations topics… Technical Translator's Handbook

AIRSHIP- an aircraft lighter than air with an engine and propellers for horizontal movement. For control in the horizontal plane are the rudders. Movement in the vertical direction is controlled by elevators, and large ... ... Great Polytechnic Encyclopedia

Books

• Martha and the Fantastic Airship, Nikolskaya A.. Imagine that somewhere in the world next to us lives an amazing creature - a huge, shaggy, clawed and toothy. Fearfully? But in vain! After all, this creature is very kind, with the most gentle, sympathetic ...

Despite the fact that in the Russian Federation, in contrast to the developed world economies, almost no funding is allocated for bold and relevant projects, the main achievements of domestic developers of aeronautical equipment in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, although lagged behind foreigners, were not fatal. Given the fact that the long historical boycott of the airship industry affected all countries, the return to the creation of controlled aerostatic systems began with approximately the same start. And this return of the airship did not begin with zeppelins, which once transported tens of tons of payload, but with blimps - soft-circuit aircraft that can even today take on board a ton and a half maximum.
Today's skies are dominated by blimps and thermal airships, working in the field of advertising and tourism. And the best airship in the world - the German semi-rigid 14-seater Zeppelin NT - was created almost 15 years ago, so what? - and rides tourists, but breakthrough technologies in the field of aeronautics have not yet been heard, projects of transport ships based on a German ship are not even discussed ..
In a number of countries, work is underway (including with the participation of the state) to create the latest airship systems of two types. These are unmanned stratospheric platforms with a long period of permanent duty at an altitude of 19-21 km and cargo-passenger air transport systems. In both these project areas, work is also underway in the Russian Federation.

Russian airships that knew the sky
In the Russian Federation, on the yet unformed aeronautical equipment market, the airship segment is actively developed by only a few domestic teams.
These are the state-owned enterprise Dolgoprudnensk Design Bureau of Automation (FSUE DKBA), which is the profile successor to the Soviet Airship Plant, the Avgur-RosAeroSystems company (Avgur Aeronautical Center), the Lokomosky company (from the Metaprocess holding), Aerostatics, a team of enthusiasts at the Siberian Road Institute (SibADI), based at the Moscow Aviation Institute... That's all the "applicants" for the manufacture of airships.
Based on the information of the Russian Aeronautical Society (RVO), it is easy to get an idea of ​​the achievements of Russian airship operators since 1991. Moreover, we are talking about “live” aeronautical systems that have been in the sky or at least under the sky ...
So, since 1991, only 12 airships have been built in the Russian Federation.

the legendary airship project of the Termoplan design bureau was implemented at the Ulyanovsk aircraft factory by a group of real enthusiasts ... and Yeltsin was informed in detail about this project ...

Thermoplan. The first controlled balloon, created at the end of perestroika, was the lenticular combined gas-thermal airship ALA-40 Rossiya, created by the Thermoplan Design Bureau at the production site of the Ulyanovsk Aircraft Building Plant. This "flying saucer" had a shell volume of 10,660 cubic meters. m, disk diameter - 40 m. Inside the rigid body were placed two compartments for helium and spent hot exhaust gases - from all five engines involved in the design (M-14P / 360 hp + 2 × GTD-350 / 400 hp. + 2 × EDWT/ 50 HP). Created by a team of enthusiasts, the device is just a prototype of the upcoming airship, comparable in size to a football field and capable of taking on board more than 500 tons of payload.
It was planned that after successful tests of the ALA-040, a pre-production model of the ALA-600 thermoplan would be created, designed to transport a load of 600 tons (or 1,500 passengers) over a distance of 5,000 km at a cruising speed of 140 km/h. It was planned to conduct the first tests of such a "saucer" airship by 1995. In the event of a successful run-in, the designers intended to develop a whole line of thermoplanes with different carrying capacities - 100, 300, 600 and 1500 tons (or 500, 800,1200 and 2000 passengers, respectively) and speed flight up to 200 km/h. To reduce the cost of vehicles in KB "Termoplan" proposed by using the fuselages of used transport aircraft.

in 1993, the prototype thermoplan was taken out for the first and last time for field tests, which he never started, showing his incapacity ...

In 1993, an experimental model of the ALA-040 thermoplane with an estimated carrying capacity of 3 tons was taken to the airfield of the aviation enterprise. However, the device did not rise into the air. At the same time, from the wind and inappropriate actions of technicians, the structure was deformed, and the shell ruptured ...
Soon the project was closed, and the remains of the apparatus were breastfed for many years at the Ulyanovsk aircraft factory ...

2 “Aerostatica” blimps, designed by Alexander Kirilin, a designer from the Moscow Aviation Institute, ended up, after intensive overflights, at the warehouse of the aeronautical division of the Air Force in the city of Volsk (Saratov region) in a non-working condition ... but in the development of domestic airship building, these airships, certainly played a significant role...

soft airships "Aerostatics-01" and "Aerostatics-02". By and large, the era of the “new” airship building in Russia opened thanks to the modest devices of the designer and tester A. Kirilin, who in 1994, as part of the research commissioned by the Ministry of Defense on the basis of the Aerostatics Research and Production Company, at the Moscow Aviation Institute and the airship design bureau (at the DCBA) created the first flying 1-seat blimp "Aerostatics - 01". This apparatus was built according to the proven “GOST” technology of “Airshipstroy”: rubberized fabric was sewn together and the seams were glued. The shell, equipped with a balloonet, had a volume of 370 cubic meters. m and a length of 22 meters.
The aircraft was powered by one 27-horsepower RMZ-640 engine.
The next apparatus - "Aerostatics-02" - was built taking into account the experience gained during the creation and testing of the "unit". The volume of the "two" shell is 650 cubic meters. m, length 27.6 m, maximum speed 97 km/h.
Both devices had a developed 8-plan plumage made of metal plates. The cabin of a 1-seater Aviatika aircraft was used as a gondola, which, thanks to a number of engineering solutions, became a 2-seater.
Behind the pilot's seat was a 65-horsepower Rotax-582 engine (Austria).
The first flight of this airship took place in 1995 - at the LII airfield in Zhukovsky ... The appearance of the Aerostatics-02 airship at the MAKS-95 air show was a notable event in the world of aviation. This blimp subsequently often appeared over Moscow, and even made several long-distance flights.
Launched on September 12, 2000 from the air base of the Air Force in the city of Volsk, the Aerostatica-02 aircraft set a flight duration record - 18 hours; the device flew along the route Volsk-Saratov-Volgograd-Akhtubinsk, the length of which was 650 km. For a low-volume experimental aeronautical system, this was simply an excellent result.
The Aerostatica-02 airship was exhibited at the next aerospace show - MAKS-97, and also participated in the air parade in Tushino (Moscow, 1999); he was filmed in 2 films of the Mosfilm studio ...
Currently, the airships "Aerostatica-01" and "Aerostatica-02" belonging to the RF Ministry of Defense are in a non-operating condition and are stored on the territory of the 13th VRC of the Air Force (Volsk, Saratov Region).

Blimps of the company "Augur - RosAeroSystems". For more than 20 years of practice in the field of aeronautics, the private Russian company "Avgur - RosAeroSystems" (ex - "Aeronautic Center" Augur ") has created 8 modern gas airships of a soft scheme (with a balloon system). Namely, a 1-seat aircraft AU-11 "Aist" (2001), four 2-seat devices of the AU-12 series ("Voliris - 900" / 2002, "Sych" / 2004, "Sterkh "/2005, "Thai"/2006) and 3 large blimps of the AU-30 series.

the first full-fledged manned Russian airship of the new century from the Augur Aeronautical Center - AU-11 Aist, its demonstration at several MAKS air shows delighted the public ...

The company began with the development of small radio-controlled models of airships, and, based on the experience gained, already in 2001 created its first full-fledged 1-seat airship - AU-11 "Aist". And a year later, a more advanced device was created - a multi-purpose 2-seater airship AU-12.
In 2006, tests of a large 10-seat blimp AU-30 with a shell volume of 5,200 cubic meters have already begun.
If we objectively evaluate the historical significance of the devices from the Augur Aeronautical Center (which were deservedly criticized for the quality of workmanship and constructive approaches), then we must admit that Russia, thanks to enthusiastic developers of a private company, was recognized as a country with airship building developed on a scientific and industrial basis. And this is a national contribution. Moreover, the “AU-shki” that appeared from time to time in the sky forced the public to discuss airship issues ...

AU-11.. The volume of the shell of this 1-seat gas controlled balloon is 669 cubic meters. m, length - 27.5 m, payload mass - 160 kg, maximum speed - 80 km / h, cruising range - 300 km, service ceiling - 1500 m. made on the basis of an 8-layer synthetic material, which was welded with high frequency currents (HF). “The Aeronautical Center “Avgur”, thus, prescribed a new technology for the manufacture of shells for aerostatic systems in the Russian Federation.
On February 10, 2005, the AU-11 blimp set a world speed record - 50.03 km / h, which fell into the FAI registration files.
Participation in several aerospace shows (MAKS) of this modest blimp attracted the attention of the authorities to airship-building technologies... At present, the Aist airship is operated for experimental purposes by the Ukrainian Research Institute of Aeroelastic Systems.

nothing can be done, the AU-12 2-seater blimp has taken its place in the history of modern Russian airship building

AU-12.“Aeronautic center “Augur”, which has set a course for the creation of devices of a larger volume and carrying capacity, soon - in 2002 - presented a 2-seat blimp.
The length of the apparatus is 31 m, the speed is up to 90 km/h, the maximum flight duration is up to 6 hours, and the flight range is about 350 km. On board such an airship is capable of taking a payload of 300 kg.
The propulsion of the aircraft is based on a 100-horsepower Rotax-912 ULS engine.

the AU-12 shell for the Voliris-900 project was sold to France ... the assembly of the airship was carried out in the historic boathouse Y Chalet Meudon - in the vicinity of Paris ...

The first shell for the airship was created by CJSC Aeronautical Center Augur as part of the joint Russian-French project Voliris-900 (specially commissioned by the National Aeroclub of France). The volume of the shell of this 31-meter apparatus was 996 cubic meters. m. Operating altitude from 10 to 1000 m.
In accordance with the project, French craftsmen hung a gondola from a converted helicopter cabin to the Russian-made shell ... and the result was the Voliris-900 airship, which was supposed to be used for sports and training events.
The second and third devices of the AU-12 series were built by Aeronautical Center Avgur in 2004-2005. by order of the capital's traffic police - as part of a project to prevent traffic congestion using aeronautical systems. It was about the integration of aerostatic systems into the current system of "traffic" monitoring "Start". Police blimps were given proper names: "Sych" and "Sterkh". The shells of these two devices, compared to the relative sold to France, had a large dimension: length 34 m, volume 1250 cubic meters. m. And, therefore, the letter "M" was added to the vessel index - AU-12M.
... The devices given to the traffic police were never used as an element of the Start road monitoring system. The lone traffic police blimp AU-12M was seen several times over the Moscow Ring Road and in the sky of the Moscow region, but this airship never fulfilled its direct mission of a champion of traffic jams on the routes.
And this airship also pleased music lovers, appearing above the Luzhniki stadium, where the concert of the pop diva Madonna took place, and thereby gave the show a flavor.
...The fourth blimp of the AU-12 series was also made in a larger dimension. The AU-12M "Thai" was commissioned by a pro-government firm in Thailand. The Russian blimp delivered to Thailand was little used. This was due to production and technical shortcomings of Russian manufacturers during the construction of the vessel, which, for example, underestimated the country's humid climate ...
The device today is in a non-working condition, perhaps even disposed of ...
... On November 28, 2006, a historical precedent occurred - for the first time in history, a Russian airship was officially certified. The Blimp AU-12 was issued a Type Certificate by the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC). And this allowed Russian airship operators to update their apparatus in the existing air transport system.

records were set on the AU-30 10-seat blimp... RAO UES operated these devices for its own purposes for some time... not a single such airship flies in the sky today... two non-working devices are waiting for their fate in the hangar of the Kirzhach airship ...

AU-30. The 10-seat (2 man crew + 8 passengers) multi-purpose soft airship AU-30, created by the Augur Aeronautical Center, is a really serious achievement not only of domestic, but, probably, of world blimp construction. Today it is one of the largest blimps in the world, which is on a par with the best foreign devices of this class.
The development and production of this airship took the company 3.5 years. Such well-known Russian enterprises of the aerospace industry as MAI, NPO im. Lavochkin, EMZ im. Myasishcheva, KBPA Saratov and many others, the developers also turned to the experience of developing aeronautical systems in the DKBA ... Manufacturers from the USA, France, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Germany were suppliers of the most modern materials and assemblies for the creation of this aircraft.
The volume of the shell of the apparatus is 5,200 cubic meters. m, length 54 m, payload weight 1500 kg, maximum speed 90-110 km / h, power of two main engines (Lom-Prague M332C) - 170 hp each. s, maximum flight duration 24 hours, flight range with a cruising speed of 70 km / h 1600 km.
The first two devices as air laboratories were created by order of RAO UES so that power engineers could effectively monitor the integrity of power lines and ensure uninterrupted operation of power grids.
In the Vladimir region (Kirzhach) specially for the operation of two AU-30 blimps, a specialized aeronautical base "Kirzhach-D" was built (today this facility is owned by the Locomosky company).

the airship in Kirzhach is owned by Lokomosky, it complies with all operational standards and, possibly, will become a haven for new Russian-made airships in the foreseeable future

The airship infrastructure consists of a hangar for two AU-30 airships (building height 25 m, length 70 m), as well as a take-off platform, security and control towers, a meteorological complex, etc. The base also has mobile and stationary masts.
Today, 2 blimps standing in the boathouse have exhausted their resource, and they still do not fly without a major overhaul...

Blimp AU-30 was ordered an Arctic mission, but there was a sign from above that it was impossible to fulfill it ... all for the better ...

Airship AU-30 No. 3 was delivered to the French traveler and polar explorer Jean Louis Etienne, who was preparing in 2008 for a scientific expedition to the Arctic. Unfortunately, Etienne's team, due to non-compliance with the operating rules, destroyed the device. Non-standard fasteners, on which the blimp was parked for the night, could not withstand the gust of wind, and the device was “thrown” at a residential building nearby from acceleration. It was in the south of France.
The remains of the airship were subsequently delivered to the MAI hangar, where it is supposed to be restored and modernized for use as a prototype of the Atlant transport airship.

... On September 14, 2008, a world flight distance record was set on the airship AU-30. The crew led by L. Tyukhtyaev (consisting of L. Putintsev, I. Chaika, Yu. Ivanchenko) proceeded non-stop along the 626-kilometer air route St. Petersburg - Vladimir. This record was recorded by the FAI.

Russian thermal airships. Thermal airships are the "youngest" class of aircraft. The first aeronautical vessel of this type went into flight only in 1975. The sky of the Russian Federation today "has settled" 5-6 thermal airships, a kind of motorized hot air balloons. Some of them are foreign-made, however, there are devices made in Russia.
…About the thermal airship AV-1 "Owl" manufactured by Kubicek Balloons (Czech Republic), as an exception, it is worth saying something.
This aeronautical vessel was built in Brno by order of the Aeronautical Center "Augur" - in the year of the celebration of the 850th anniversary of the Russian capital.

the thermal airship "Filin" has long been considered a native of the Russian Federation, although it was created in the Czech Republic ... and there are reasons for this: it was on this device that Russian aeronauts set 4 world records ...

As an advertising medium, the device was used for a long time to advertise the Coca-Cola trademark.
Then the airship "switched" to the sport-record path.
In total, four world records were set on the Filin airship.
- February 20, 2004 pilot Nikolai Galkin lasted 6 hours in a permanent flight. 01 min (longest record).
- On February 24, 2005, FAI representatives recorded two women's records set by Russians Natalia Volodicheva and Ekaterina Kochetkova: duration (3 hours 22 minutes 44 seconds) and speed (16.9 km / h).
- February 25, 2007 Nikolai Galkin and Yulia Svetlova set a world distance record - overcoming a distance of 104.9 km.

So, domestic samples of thermal airships.

The Aeronautical Center "Avgur" company experimentally created several thermal airships.

the thermal airship "Woodpecker", which for some reason was first called "Zyablik", did not fly so hot as high, it happened that the shell burst from internal pressure, however, there were no tragedies ...

In 2003, a 1-seat 16-meter apparatus was built AU-31 Woodpecker with a shell volume of 340 cu. m and a 15-horsepower engine. It was tested in the winter in the fields ... it flew badly, but it was spectacular. The airship did not take off high, but more and more near the ground. Due to design flaws, the airship's shell burst several times during testing. After testing, the device practically does not appear in public, although, according to the RVO, the AU-31 is still in operation by the ROSTO Aeronautical Sports and Technical Club.

The Finch is a good airship, outwardly ... records were made on it, and, sometimes, the aeronaut piloting the apparatus was on the verge of death ... there was even an attempt to sell this thermal airship for $ 40,000 via the Internet - they did not buy it ...

Where the thermal airship became more famous AU-29 Finch , which was created a year after AU-31 - in 2005. This 1-seat 23-meter apparatus with a shell volume of 855 cu. m manufacturers initially prepared for a sports-record career, and for this they equipped the device with a powerful 50-horsepower MZ-35 engine. Three world records were set on this airship.
On March 1, 2006, pilot Valery Shkulenko achieved a speed record for this class of aircraft (BX-02 - according to the FAI classification), and Nikolai Galkin on February 20, 2007 set records - altitude (458 m) and range (18.5 km).
According to the information of the RVO (possibly outdated), at present this device is also operated by the Aeronautical Sports and Technical Club ROSTO.

our aeronauts had high hopes for the thermal airship "Merciless" in terms of sports heroism ... L. Tyukhtyaev installed 2 world records: range - 99.136 km (February 3, 2009) and flight duration - 05 hours. 05 min. (February 24, 2009), registered by the FAI... but in aeronautical competitions, for some reason, this high-speed aircraft does not take first places... maybe everything is ahead?

The largest and, probably, the most structurally advanced domestic thermal airship is the apparatus AU-37 "Merciless".
The apparatus was built by CJSC Aeronautical Center Avgur on the special order of the banker and pilot L. Tyukhtyaev, who planned to participate in various competitions and set records on a high-speed vessel.
The main volume of the shell of this 29-meter airship is 1600 cubic meters. m. A 65-horsepower Rotax-582 engine (Austria) is installed on board.

AU-35 "Polar Goose" ... the idea of ​​​​setting an absolute record on a thermal airship is closely related to the High Start project, which involves launching missiles from an aerostatic platform at high altitude ... only in the Russian Federation they managed to propose using non-gas for missile launches, and a thermal airship - like, cheap and affordable ...

In 2005, by order of CJSC Aeronautical Center Avgur, NPP Rusbal built a hot air balloon with a shell volume of 2950 cubic meters. m, which was later equipped with a 15-horsepower Raket-120 aero engine.
The motorized hot air balloon was registered as the AU-35 "Polar Goose" thermal airship. This device (BX-04 - according to the FAI classification), which is currently operated by the Augur-Aerostat Systems company (according to the RVO), was originally positioned as a substratospheric airship. On August 17, 2006, the polar goose thermal airship, piloted by the famous aeronaut Stanislav Fedorov, rose to 8180 m, thus setting an absolute altitude record for airships.

the unregistered and flightless Pantech airship is probably just waiting in the wings, the main thing is that the shell resource does not run out from storage ...

The Trinas company in 2004 built a 2-seat thermal airship of its own design - 130DT "Pantech".. Apparatus with a shell 41.5 m long, with a volume of 3600 cubic meters. m was almost never used, since the airship (to this day) is in the process of being finalized, without registration ...
For test flights, the creators borrowed a gondola from the AV-1 Filin airship, and only designed their cabin. Today, this device is not publicly used, and there are plans to hang a more powerful engine than the AV-1 on the converted shell.
... This, in fact, is the entire list of domestic airships flying in the sky.