Dirigible Dreams: The Age of the AirshipForeEdge from University Press of New England, 7. okt. 2014 - 276 sider Here is the story of airshipsÑmanmade flying machines without wingsÑfrom their earliest beginnings to the modern era of blimps. In postcards and advertisements, the sleek, silver, cigar-shaped airships, or dirigibles, were the embodiment of futuristic visions of air travel. They immediately captivated the imaginations of people worldwide, but in less than fifty years dirigibleÊbecame a byword for doomed futurism, an Icarian figure of industrial hubris. Dirigible Dreams looks back on this bygone era, when the future of exploration, commercial travel, and warfare largely involved the prospect of wingless flight. In Dirigible Dreams, C. Michael Hiam celebrates the legendary figures of this promising technology in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuriesÑthe pioneering aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, the doomed polar explorers S. A. AndrŽe and Walter Wellman, and the great Prussian inventor and promoter Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, among otherÊpivotal figuresÑand recounts fascinating stories of exploration, transatlantic journeys, and floating armadas that rained death during World War I. While there were triumphs, such as the polar flight of the Norge, most of these tales are of disaster and woe, culminating in perhaps the most famous disaster of all time, the crash of the Hindenburg. This story of daring men and their flying machines, dreamers and adventurers who pushed modern technology toÑand often beyondÑits limitations, is an informative and exciting mix of history, technology, awe-inspiring exploits, and warfare that will captivate readers with its depiction of a lost golden age of air travel. Readable and authoritative, enlivened by colorful characters and nail-biting drama,ÊDirigible DreamsÊwill appeal to a new generation of general readers and scholars interested in the origins of modern aviation. |
Indhold
Introduction | 1 |
Chapter 1 | 9 |
Chapter 2 | 45 |
Chapter 3 | 74 |
Chapter 4 | 103 |
Chapter 5 | 113 |
Chapter 6 | 145 |
Chapter 7 | 174 |
Chapter 8 | 199 |
Notes | 239 |
247 | |
253 | |
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aboard Admiral aerial aeronaut Air Ministry airplane airship Akron Alberto Santos-Dumont altitude America Amundsen Andrée Andrée’s Arctic Atlantic aviation ballast balloon Bjoervig blimp boats British cabin Captain Cardington clouds coast commander control car Count Zeppelin craft crash crew dirigible Drummond-Hay duralumin Eckener engine England expedition explorer flew flying four Frænkel Friedrichshafen gasbag German Germany’s Graf Zeppelin ground guide rope hangar helium Hindenburg hundred hydrogen Ibid Island Italian journey July Kings Bay Lakehurst land later lift Luftschiffbau Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Maitland mast Mather miles per hour Moffett motor Naval Airship navigator navy’s Nobile Norge North Pole Norway Norwegian ocean officers Örnen passengers Peter Strasser polar flight pounds propellers radio reached Rosendahl sailors Santos-Dumont shed Shenandoah ship ship’s sight sledges speed Spitsbergen Strasser Strindberg Thomson tion tons took trip U.S. Navy Umberto Nobile Vaniman Vickers Virgo Harbor weather weight Wellman wind Zappi Zeppe