GB1453748A - Airship - Google Patents

Abstract

1453748 Airships H PAPST 21 March 1974 [21 March 1973] 12532/74 Heading B7W An airship, in which the bow and stern portions of the exterior of the envelope are subjected under flight conditions to a pressure and to suction between such portions, has an envelope 2 divided into separate compartments 3, 5, 4 by partitions 21, 22, the compartments 3 and 4 being interconnected and inflated to a pressure higher than the dynamic pressure at the bow and stern resulting from forward motion of the airship through the air. The partition 21 may be formed from an inflated annular member and a sealing diaphragm (Fig. 3, not shown). The airship may have a braced structural backbone member supporting a cabin and the portion of the envelope surrounding compartment 5 may be double-walled and inflated to the same pressure as compartments 3 and 4. The compartment 5 may be subdivided by a hollow frame continuously supplied with steam to maintain the lifting gas in the compartment at a controlled temperature, and apparatus is described for pressurizing the compartments 3 and 4 and the hollow walls of compartment 5 (Fig. 4, not shown). A rearmounted jet propulsion unit (Fig. 5, not shown) is described.