Historical Airships

Vintage images of early airships in flight, showcasing various designs and historical contexts, with a focus on grainy black-and-white photography.

1900S 1910S Lincoln Beachey Airship Cross Between Hot Air Balloon And Blimp

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The gondola of the army airship Baby in flight, note the differences between this version of the airship and probably later photographs (e.g. RAE-O 447 and RAE-O 453) in particular the uncovered gondola. The image is rather grainy.

Photograph of the first airship (R34) to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Dated 20th Century

This photo dates to the early 1920s. The caption reads:The British Dirigible R-34 which flew across the Atlantic, July 6, 1919.

Alberto Santos-Dumont's Airship No 6 (1873-1932) in flight at Saint-Cloud, October 1901, France, photo by Juven, from L'illustrazione Italiana, Year XXVIII, No 44, November 3, 1901.

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The army airship Delta flying over the Royal Aircraft Factory. The balloon sheds can be seen on the left hand side of the photograph.

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The army airship Beta being pulled by a group of handlers into the airship shed. To the left of the shed is an observation balloon possibly being moved with the aid of a pair of horses.

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The Spencer airship near the ground in Croydon. A large crowd is watching below.

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The army airship Beta in flight.

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War Nulli Secundus II tethered, with soldiers holding several side ropes. This was an enlarged version of the original Nulli Secundus and used the same Antoinette Engine. The airship was only operated for around two months before being scrapped.

1900S 1910S Lincoln Beachey Airship Cross Between Hot Air Balloon And Blimp

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War Army airship Beta in flight.

transport transportation airships Zeppelin LZ 5 landing near Goppingen Germany 2.6.1909,

Aeronautics. balloon 1920.

Metal-clad airship (non-rigid). Slate Aircraft Corporation 'City of Glendale' which collapsed on its first flight attemp, 1929.

USS MACON AT NORTH CIRCLE NASA SUNNYVALE, MT VIEW, CA

Britain's New Airship -- The take-off, watched by a great crowd. The "Bournemouth," first airship to be built in Britain since the ill-fated R101 crashed in 1930, took off on its maiden flight today July 19 from the RAF Balloon Station at Cardington. The non-rigid vessel, 108 feet long and 27 feet in diameter, was built under the direction of Lord Ventry, who made the flight, for the airship club. It is planned to take the airship on demonstration flights to various parts of Great Britain. July 19, 1951. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The Lebaudy airship in flight near the ground.

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War Nulli Secundus II emerging from the airship shed being pulled by several Army and Navy handlers. This was an enlarged version of the original Nulli Secundus and used the same Antoinette Engine. The airship was only operated for around two months before being scrapped.

Macon Airship

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The Gamma airship being pulled out of one of the airship sheds..

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War DERA FARNBOROUGH (ROYAL AIRCRAFT ESTABLISHMENT). Beta airship number 2 with handlers and crowd of onlookers. The balloon sheds are in the background.

Elsevier photo collection. International competition hot air balloons Brussels "Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett". September 1921. Belgium, Brussels

Aloft On Stratosphere Flight -- The wind had died to absolute calm as the balloon of Prof. and Mrs. Jean Piccard was cast off on its flight into the upper air Oct 23. The picture shows the big bag, which had a capacity of 600,000 cubic feet of hydrogen gas, as it left the ground at the ford Airport, near Detroit. The balloonists landed several hours later near Cadiz Ohio, unhurt. October 23, 1934. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).

The military airship 2-Bis flying over Venice, 1910, Italy, photo by Tivoli, from L'Illustrazione Italiana, Year XXXVII, No 47, November 20, 1910.

Airship Norge during the landing maneuver, from L'Illustrazione Italiana, Year LII, No 20, May 16, 1926.

Balloons on field prior to start of race, Indianapolis

Observation balloon -- U.S.A.

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The Lebaudy airship in flight in the middle distance.

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The Lebaudy airship in flight.

The airship designed by Enrico Forlanini leaving the hangar for the first time, Crescenzago, near Milan, July 22, 1909, from L'Illustrazione Italiana, Year XXXVI, No 31, August 1, 1909.

12/31/1905. Berlin Hot Air Contest.

The airship Graf Zeppelin. Hoffmann Photographs 1933 Adolf Hitler's official photographer, and a Nazi politician and publisher, who was a member of Hitler's intimate circle.

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The Army Airship Gamma II in flight .

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The Army Airship Eta with a large group of army handlers.

The Dirigible Italy Umberto Nobile'S Expedition To The North Pole, 1928.

Balloon. 1900-10.

First outing of the Republique airship, 24 June, photo from L'Illustration, No 3409, June 27, 1908.

Balloon. .

"N3," Japan

Fotocollectie Eerste Wereldoorlog. Canadian official photographs taken at the front. Kite balloon with windlass lorry about to make an ascent. 1914-1918}

USA, New Jersey, Hindenberg, Airship on a landscape

France, June 1913. An aeronautical festival in France. Appearance of the Saint Cloud hot air park, moments before the departure of the balloons that competed for the grand prize.

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The army airship Beta II flying low over a group of handlers.

Ascension with the air balloon "Svea" 1894

Naval Airship, Parseval

Airship LZ 5 (built in 1908) in the room Malter - Dippoldiswalde

the airship Hindenburg in Lakehurst, New Jersey 1936

Anefo photo collection. Evening balloon competition T.G.V. Lustrum in Leiden. June 18, 1960. Leiden, South Holland

Vancouver, Washington. First Airship

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War Nulli Secundus II in flight overhead. This was an enlarged version of the original Nulli Secundus and used the same Antoinette Engine. The airship was only operated for around two months before being scrapped.

Balloons ready for take off, hot air balloon competition in Vincennes, Universal Exhibition, Paris, France, illustration from L'Illustration, No 3008, October 20, 1900.

Dirigible balloon on Baron E. DeMarcay

T.E. LAKE Aeroplane

''La "Saucisse" ; l'ascensiond'un ballon d'observation: Longue de 25 a 30 metres, large de 7 a 10, la "saucisse", a qui sa silhouette a valu de nos hommes ce nom irrevencieux, est reliee a un treui automobile qui en permet le deplacement rapide', 1916. From "L'Album de la Guerre 1914-1919, Volume I" L'Illustration, Paris, 1924.

12/31/1899. Kite balloon in the air. Anonymous photography from the early 20th century.

The third Gordon Bennett balloon race. Two half and a completely inflated balloon on the ground. In the foreground only dozens of people audiences.

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War Nulli Secundus II tethered, with handlers stood around. This was an enlarged version of the original Nulli Secundus and used the same Antoinette Engine. The airship was only operated for around two months before being scrapped.

Ictineo I was a pioneering submarine constructed in Barcelona, Spain in 1858ñ1859 by engineer NarcÌs Monturiol i Estarriol.

Launch of Japanese Cruiser "Myoko"

World War 1 - R34, Britains titanic airship, 670 feet long and 1,250 h.p, launched at Inchinnan, near Glasgow, March 14th, 1919.

Giant balloon 'Le Géant' van Nadar is released in Amsterdam, September 14, 1865, Pieter Oosterhuis (attributed to), 1865 stereograph Amsterdam cardboard. paper albumen print balloon (aviation) Amsterdam

Engraving depicting Gabrien Yon's design for an airship powered by steam. Dated 20th Century

Nordenfelts submarine on Slip at Ekenberg.

Panorama of the southern part of Utrecht with the Dom Tower and the German airship De Graf Zeppelin in transit.

Landing of the Zeppelin, Anonymous, 1924 photograph Landing of the Zeppelin. Part of a folder of twenty product photos of the Zeppelin air ship LZ 126. Germanypublisher: Friedrichshafen cardboard. photographic support gelatin silver print 46C35 airship, zeppelin

A symbol of three kingdoms: the pontoons "Thistle", "Rose" and the yacht "Shamrock II". The Illustrated London News claimed that at the time of publication this was the only published picture showing the keel and supporting pontoons before launching. Date: 1901

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War Naval airship Willow II having just been pulled out of one of the airship sheds.

Berlin Balloon Race 1908

Landing of the Zeppelin in the US, Anonymous, 1924 photograph Landing of the Zeppelin in Lakehurst, in the United States, on October 15, 1924. Part of a Map twenty product photos of the Zeppelin airship LZ 126. Lakehurst publishers: Friedrichshafen cardboard. photographic support gelatin silver print 46C35 airship, zeppelin. hangar Lakehurst

Jacques left the wharf Sitka, vintage engraving. Jacques left the wharf Sitka, vintage engraved illustration. Journal des Voyage, Travel Journal, 1880-81. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10657184

Giant balloon 'Le Géant' van Nadar is released in Amsterdam, September 14, 1865, Pieter Oosterhuis (attributed to), 1865 stereograph Amsterdam cardboard. paper albumen print balloon (aviation) Amsterdam

Elsevier photo collection. international balloon race Amsterdam. Flight demonstration Major Sonderman balloons prepared. September 2, 1950. Amsterdam, Noord-Holland

A German Zeppelin Airship destroyed off the English coast. The airship had participated in a raid on England on the night of May 2 to 3 1916.

Gas-Filled Airship c. 1878 Artist Unknown Engraving Culver Pictures Inc.

407D R.100 - English Dirigible - Aviation. May 01, 1948.

Differentiating the zeppelin came to the coast, in the fall, before her car broke in two stretches. The airship had participated in a raid on England on the night of May 2 to 3 In return, the violence of the wind had prevented to return to the south, the road to his home port.

Photo collection Government information service. Series Print Anefo RVD Own Without Caption. Collection Photo collection Risk information service own, photo number 156-0502. 1956

The Image shows a German Zeppelin aircraft flying over Jerusalem, on April the 11th, 1931. Just before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Travel photos Brazil. Airship "Count Zeppelin" (LZ 127) above the passenger ship Monte Rosa. Partial view

Alberto Santos-Dumont (1873-1932). Brazilian aviation pioneer. Dedicated himself to aeronautical study. Flying dirigible. Engraving by H. Thriat, Artistic Illustration, 1901. Later colouration. Author: Henri Thiriat.

Astro Balloon, Hot Air Balloons & Derigibles

Charles Henri Dupuy de Lome (1816-1885). French naval architect. The airship developed by Dupuy de Lome in 1872. Engraving. "La Ilustracio_n Espan_ola y Americana", 1872.

Ballooning fantasy: Idea for balloon carrying a mounted horseman. From Histoire des Ballons by Gaston Tissandier, Paris, 1887. Aviation Aeronautics

Anefo photo collection. Landing balloon "Dutch Viking" successful flight Atlantic Ocean Polder Almere. September 2, 1986. Almere, Flevoland

Fotocollectie Eerste Wereldoorlog. One of the wrecked Zeppelins. A view of the bow of the airship. september 1916

Hot air balloon with tethered gondola, London, United Kingdom, illustration by P Blanchard from L'Illustration, Journal Universel, No 1369, Volume LIII, May 22, 1869.

Henry Giffard's steam-powered dirigible - a major step towards the achievement of powered aerial navigation. Date: 25 September 1852

Zeppelin LZ 1, 1900, (1932). Creator: Unknown.

Gelatin silver print - View of a dirigible airship flying over Montreal, Quebec, 1930 Sam Preval (born 1903)

Balloon bursting: a new contest at the RAF display. A supreme test of skill in manoeuvring: fast little 'gamecock' aeroplanes ramming elusive balloons that dart rapidly here and there at the mercy of air currents. Date: 1929

Alberto Santos-Dumont's airship No. 6 in which he won the Deutsch Prize, 19 October 1901.

New York, New York May 6, 1937The Hindenburg dirigible flying over New York City.

Eighth balloon flight of Augustin, 1807; The Agste Air Journey from Mr Augustin, on Wednesday, 3 June 1807 in Amsterdam. The eighth journey per air balloon from Mr. Augustin of Augustijn on June 3, 1807. View of the air balloon above the IJ in Amsterdam. Augustin ranges from the balloon flags down, in a second hot air balloon.

Departure of the Andee ball. (Julliet). Starten den 11/7 1897. Andres Poarexpedition.

Photograph taken during the Hindenburg disaster. A German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed whilst attempting to dock at the Naval Air Station Lakehurst. Dated 20th Century

Photographic print of the World's largest dirigible near completion. Dated 1930s

French military airship La Republique on her maiden flight from Paris to Compiegne. From 'Le Petit Journal' Paris, 20 September 1908.

The Hindenburg disaster took place on Thursday, May 6, 1937, as the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States

Prof. Piccard's Gondola, Arrives In Brussels -- Prof. Piccard with his gondola on arrival in Brussels. Prof. Piccard's gondola, in which he landed in the alps after flying 10 miles high; arrived in Brussels today, to be placed in the Brussels University. May 21, 1932. (Photo by Keystone).

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