Fine ArtVintageFootageSubscriptionBoardsFree ResearchPricing
  • Fine Art
  • Vintage
  • Footage
  • Subscription
  • Boards
  • Free Research
  • Pricing

Historical Airships

Black and white photographs of early 20th-century airships in flight and during preparations, showcasing aviation history.

U.S. Army dirigible
U.S. Army dirigible
143 assets in this story
6145-52948963
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The army airship Gamma being attached to a portable mooring mast. Note the different tail arrangement on the airship and the covering on the rear half of the gondola.
6145-52949410
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War A good view of Nulli Secundus I taking off with Cody at engine controls. Along with a good number of Army handlers there are several civilians watching. The rigging and control surfaces can be clearly seen. It was in this airship that Cody and Colonel Capper of the Balloon School at Aldershot made their record breaking flight from Farnborough to London. The journey of 40 miles took three hours twenty five minutes and included circling St Paul's Cathedral. It finished at the cycle stadium next to Crystal Palace. At the time this was a world record for a non-rigid airship. Cody was responsible for the design of the nacelle and spar frame that attached the nacelle to the airship envelope and kept the latter rigid. The construction of the frame from hickory, spruce and bamboo followed similar lines to the methods used for his kites and gliders. Colonel Capper was instrumental in the War Office deciding to use Cody's man carrying kites and appo
6145-52948966
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The naval airship Beta II in flight.
6145-52951019
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The army airship Beta I being pulled by a group of handlers.
6145-52948880
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The army airship Baby just about to take off.
6145-42908400
Balloon in Veneto 4.4.18. Partly these are recordings that can not be assigned directly to the IsonzoFront, but for admission from the conquered Venetian areas
4409-50121462
10/31/1913. Testing a shock absorber in Issy-Les-Molineaux. M. Aram's balloon, with the shock absorber hanging from the nacelle.
6145-52948692
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War Gamma airship tethered to the ground next to the airship sheds at Farnborough. Note the contruction of a new shed in the background and the portable shed beyond that.
6145-50475061
U.S. Army dirigible
6145-52950353
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.
1899-20253436
Germany. Aerostation flight test with an aluminum airship, held at Tempelhof, near Berlin, on November 3, 1897. David Schwarz (1850-1897) designed and built it. The airship was 134 feet long and 46 feet high. The test did not give the expected results, although the ship reached an altitude of 400 meters, it crashed. Engraving by Matute. La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana, 1898.
6145-52951688
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The original Nulli Secundus airship in flight. It was in Nulli Secundus that Cody and Colonel Capper of the Balloon School at Aldershot made their record breaking flight from Farnborough to London The journey of 40 miles took three hours twenty five minutes and included circling St Paul's Cathedral. It finished at the cycle stadium next to Crystal Palace. At the time this was a world record for a non-rigid airship. Colonel Capper was instrumental in the War Office deciding to use Cody's man carrying kites and appointing him as instructor. They remained good friends throughout Cody's life and on 15th August 1909 he became the first passenger to be carried by an aircraft in Britain. Colonel Capper was instrumental in the War Office deciding to use Cody's man carrying kites and appointing him as instructor. After this their relationship soured, due partly to Capper's bias towards airships rather than aeroplanes and his support of a rival avia
6145-52948926
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War 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 lack of an upper fin on the envelope and the uncovered gondola. The image is rather grainy.
6145-52948928
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The army airship Baby on the ground with a party of handlers, 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 lack of an upper fin on the envelope and the uncovered gondola. The image is rather grainy.
6145-50474962
Willow Dirigible
4220-21831063
 GRAF ZEPPELIN  People mill around as the  Airship prepares for take off.      Date: 1938
6145-29591492
Elsevier photo collection. safe return airship Zeppelin 33 Fulham airport, 2 pm North Sea drainlessly removed. heavy damage caused landing tower seen. January 1925. Fulham
6145-52949406
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War A good view of Nulli Secundus I on the ground in the middle of the cycle track at Crystal Palace (visible in the background), the same venue where Cody used to carry out his horse against cycle races (Cody riding a horse verses a professional cyclist of the day). This is the end of the record breaking flight from Farnborough to London made by Cody and Colonel Capper of the Balloon School at Aldershot. The journey of 40 miles took three hours twenty five minutes and included circling St Paul's Cathedral. At the time this was a world record for a non-rigid airship. Cody was responsible for the design of the nacelle and spar frame that attached the nacelle to the airship envelope and kept the latter rigid. The construction of the frame from hickory, spruce and bamboo followed similar lines to the methods used for his kites and gliders. Colonel Capper was instrumental in the War Office deciding to use Cody's man carrying kites and appointing h
5513-18767772
Miss Liberty Views A New Queen -- Way down below you can see the statue of liberty gazing upwards at the U.S. Navy Dirigible Akron as the newest queen of the skies passed over-read for its first look at New York. The picture was taken from a plane high above the Akron one of the many heavier than craft which accompanied the airship to the metropolis. November 2, 1931.  (Photo by International News Photos).
4186-13765
1900S 1910S Lincoln Beachey Airship Appearance Is Cross Between Hot Air Balloon And Blimp
1035-197
Control room  Dirigible Hindenburg  Lakehurst New Jersey  USA
6145-43469897
Airship "Bodensee," making daily flight from Berlin to Friedrichschafen, Oct. 1919
6145-52950608
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The Gamma airship on the ground with a Farman biplane in the air in the forground. This could be a montage.
6145-46695141
Skiopticone image with motifs of airships.
6145-52948755
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War DERA FARNBOROUGH (ROYAL AIRCRAFT ESTABLISHMENT). The army airship Baby near to the ground with its tethering ropes being held by several soldiers.
6145-52949358
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War A Maurice Farman pusher biplane in flight over Farnborough.
4409-50129313
November 1919. The American airship "F-1", escorting the ocean liner "George Washington", during the return trip of the Kings of Belgium.
6145-52949424
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War Nulli Secundus I leaving the airship shed at the start of its maiden voyage, only the first part of the envelope is visible. Cody is in the gondola with a group of handlers keeping the airship steady. Cody was responsible for the design of the nacelle and spar frame that attached the nacelle to the airship envelope and kept the latter rigid. The construction of the frame from hickory, spruce and bamboo followed similar lines to the methods used for his kites and gliders. It was in this airship that Cody and Colonel Capper of the Balloon School at Aldershot made their record breaking flight from Farnborough to London. The journey of 40 miles took three hours twenty five minutes and included circling St Paul's Cathedral. It finished at the cycle stadium next to Crystal Palace. At the time this was a world record for a non-rigid airship. Colonel Capper was instrumental in the War Office deciding to use Cody's man carrying kites and appointing
4220-20419566
Captain T S Baldwin in Airship No.4 "California Arrow" at the Forest Park Airship Race, St. Louis, Missouri, USA on 23rd October 1907. A race meeting of the James Gordon Bennett International Aeronautic Club.  1907
6145-52949066
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The Beta airship in flight in the middle distance.
6145-51470422
Extensive preparations underway at Roosevelt Field on Long Island to receive, anchor, and repair the British dirigible R-34. The photograph depicts a general view of the R-34. Taken on July 1, 1919, it shows the efforts made to accommodate the arrival of the massive airship. (Additional information: Photograph taken by photographer S.C. Steniger, received on July 17, 1919)
6145-52948895
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War A de Havilland biplane on the ground.
1788-22059606
Take-off of the Italian Elfe hot air balloon, piloted by Alfred Vonwiller and Ettore Cianetti, during the first Gordon-Bennett aviation competition, Tuileries Garden, September 30, 1906, Paris, France, photograph from L'Illustration, No 3319, October 6, 1906.
6145-50470316
Baldwin balloon (dirigible), in flight over spectators
6145-52949444
Aircraft and Balloons Used by Some of the Air Pioneers Who Were Contemporary With Samuel Franklin Cody. Members of the balloon factory aero club watching the use of a tethered observation balloon.
5513-75521194
New Year Maiden Voyage "Caronia" for Atlantic Service :Workmen busy painting the mammoth funnel of the "Coronia" during the final stages of preparation for her maiden voyage, at Mesars John Brown and Co's fitting out basin, Glasgow.Launched by her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth, at Clydebank on October 30th, 1947, the Cunard white star liner "Caronia", largest passenger ship built this year, is to make her maiden voyage on January 4th 1949 when she leaves Southampton for New York, via Cherbourg. November 16, 1948. (Photo by Reuterphoto).
486-5066
Germany, Graf Zeppelin shortly before completion
1788-21789899
Departure of the balloons participating in the Gordon Bennett Cup in Schmargendorf park in Berlin, October 11, 1908, Germany, photograph by Fiorilli, from L'Illustrazione Italiana, Year XXXV, No 42, October 18, 1908.
4409-50122732
06/30/1908. A new Airship balloon. Count Zeppelin's aerostat over Lake Constance where it has been tested with excellent success.
4409-17396673
Gaston Tissandier (1843-1899). French aeronaut and science communicator. Albert-Charles Tissandier (1839-1906). French architect, aeronaut, publisher and archaeologist. In 1881, the Tissandier brothers made the world's first electric-powered flight at an electricity exhibition by fitting an electric motor to an airship. After their first flight experiments, they built a large-scale model which they exhibited, for which Albert drew up the plans. The airship was 28 metres long and over 9 metres in diameter at its centre. The first airship powered by an electric motor took place on 8 October 1883, at Auteuil, a suburb of Paris (France). A second successful attempt was made in Paris on 26 September 1884. Tissandier electric airship. Engraving by Bernardo Rico (1825-1894). The Spanish and American Illustration (La Ilustración Española y Americana). October 15, 1884. Author: Bernardo Rico (1825-1894). Spanish painter and engraver.
6145-50448032
Assman's Balloon
6145-52949108
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War An observation balloon outside building Q 3. Three workers are in the basket of the balloon with seven more stood either side of it.
1838-21074521
Goodyear Blimp, USA, circa 1940
4443-73203037
France, Stereo photo of Henri Farman's airplane in flight, photograph, photo, photos, height mm, width mm, photographer, 1910 - 1910, daylight collodion silver print
6145-52951729
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War A medium close up of the gondola of Nulli Secundus II with Cody aboard and ground handlers holding on to it. 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.
6145-42600460
A kite balloon tethered to the balloon barge NORMAN WADE on the River Humber, at No. 17 Balloon Centre at Sutton-on-Hull in Yorkshire, January 1943. A kite balloon tethered to the balloon barge NORMAN WADE on the River Humber, ready to be taken ashore for inspection and maintenance at No. 17 Balloon Centre, Sutton-on-Hull, Yorkshire.
5513-66633344
Jet 579. September 30, 1954.
6145-48842939
Blimp coming out of hanger. Fédèle Azari (Italian, 1895 - 1930)
1788-21791769
The P2 military airship in the Piazza d'Armi hangar in Milan, Italy, from L'Illustrazione Italiana, Year XXXVIII, No 33, August 13, 1911.
6145-50474649
Zeppelin Passenger airship
6145-29370729
Anefo photo collection. Balloon race Amsterdam stunt flies. September 2, 1950. Amsterdam, Noord-Holland
1788-21797067
An airship of the Italian Royal Navy back from a mission beyond the Adriatic, Italy, World War I, from L'Illustrazione Italiana, Year XLIII, No 49-50, December 3-10, 1916.
6145-44760687
USS AKRON at Moffett Field, Mr. & Mrs. Charles T. Johnson of San Jose and their daughter Ruth. It was possible for the public to park on the shoulder of Bayshore Freeway and walk out on the field to inspect the 'AKRON'. No fences or security guards!
6145-52948992
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War Several airships on the ground Delta is in the foreground Willow C in the middle distance and Beta in the background.
6145-50463204
Zeppelin airship, 6:05 AM Aug. 4 '08
6145-45803111
The third Gordon Bennett balloon race. A pair of inflated balloons ready for takeoff. Spectators around it. On one of the balloons partially legible The name Graudenz
6176-67060046
Balloon, 1888. Artist: Unknown
6145-52948624
Aviation in Britain Before the First World War The partially inflated army airship Beta being moved out of the airship shed note the white overalls of most of the handlers..
6145-29328003
Elsevier photo collection. The balloon comes down with an empty man to get new parachute springs
6145-50630312
Photograph of Airship L-8 Before Crashing on Moffet Field, California Over Billboard"Airship L-8 before crashing in Daly City, California over billboard." Photograph taken by: NAS Moffet Field.
6145-29370730
Anefo photo collection. Balloon race Amsterdam stunt flies. September 2, 1950. Amsterdam, Noord-Holland
6177-V53859311
6145-29442049
Anefo photo collection. Skutsilen on the Frisian waters, it goes the skuts for the wind. July 23, 1964
6145-50455597
British Military Dirigible
4408-1878
Dirigible in hanger over water, Aviation
6145-29423806
Anefo photo collection. Tube transport by air per helicopter. Helicopter with the tube. May 24, 1961
4409-50107096
08/31/1909. The "Santos Dumont" airplane. Harvest festival in Bordeaux. Very notable flight made by Santos Dumont from Saint-Cyr A Buc.
1899-28701434
The German Dirigible L20 After Ditching In The North Sea, 1916.
4048-10128
1912 'helicopter' designed by German engineer, Otto Baumgaerte. It can rise without a start, remain motionless in the air a longer time, and be turned in desired direction. Two propellers, with six blades each, set upon the same axle. By means of the angles at which the rotors are set, they serve for raising and lowering purposes.
6145-43207139
Hot Italian "Caproni" Bomber The company Caproni, named after her founder, produced three-motor bombers for the Italian Air Force. In the picture a heavy bomber of the Type Caproni Ca 3
4409-50069463
09/04/1914. From England to Belgium. An English airship passing through Ostend on Saturday Last. Photo: Mail.
6145-52293264
Hr.Ms fly camp vessel. Karel Doorman (1948-1968). The new island.
6145-29494078
Anefo photo collection. Image of "St. Elisabeth and the Rozenwonder" (from Mari Andriessen) is placed by helicopter at Nieuw St. Elisabeth Gasthuis in Haarlem /. December 7, 1971. Haarlem
4048-9511
The French-built Concorde takes off on a trial flight at Toulouse, France. Dec. 6, 1975.
6145-30098376
Railing of Nadars Air balloon from site at Palace for Volksvlijt Amsterdam, September 14, 1865 ..
6145-45231617
The Little Joe launch vehicle for the LJ1 mission on the launch pad at the wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia, on January 21, 1960. This mission achieved the suborbital Mercury cupsule test, testing of the escape system, and biomedical tests by using a monkey, named Miss Sam.
1899-65659340
This photograph shows the New York 'World' airship - starting from Sportsman's Park, St. Louis at 4:28 p.m. on June 17, 1887 - route to New England or Canada (Atlantic coast). It appeared in  St. Nicholas, Volume XV, Part I Nov 1887-Apr 1888.
6145-29494077
Anefo photo collection. Image of "St. Elisabeth and the Rozenwonder" (from Mari Andriessen) is placed by helicopter at Nieuw St. Elisabeth Gasthuis in Haarlem /. December 7, 1971. Haarlem
6145-29276704
International Airship Exhibition, Frankfurt, 1909: a Zeppelin airship, an aeroplane and two balloons airborne over the exhibition site. Process print.
6145-29703995
Anefo photo collection. Airplane disaster Rotterdam, Zestienhoven. December 28, 1962. Rotterdam, South Holland
4409-50095681
09/28/1911. Military ballooning in Spain. The airship Spain Making Evolutions. On the Carabanchel road.
6145-29404427
Anefo photo collection. Evening balloon competition T.G.V. Lustrum in Leiden. June 18, 1960. Leiden, South Holland
7192-70581953
Aerostat. Engraving in 'The Illustration', 1887.
5513-19946644
Helicopter Motorcycle In Flight -- The Air Forces' New Helicopter motorcycle, powered by ram jet units to spin the rotor blades, makes a test flight at the St. Louis, Mo., plant of the McDonnel Aircraft corporation. The craft eights only 310 pounds but has lifted an additional load of 300 pounds and moved at a speed of 50 miles an hour. November 15, 1947. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).
1788-21793585
The Zeppelin L Z 120 in Stolp hangar, Germany, waiting to leave for Italy, from L'Illustrazione Italiana, Year XVLII, No 50, December 12, 1920.
1788-22059985
Hubert Latham flying with a monoplane over the field of Chalons, France, photo from L'Illustration, No 3462, July 3, 1909.
6176-67060055
Aerostat, 1887. Artist: Gaston Tissandier
6176-67069330
'In January 1927, Major Malcolm Campbell in his famous Bluebird broke the world's land speed recor Artist: Unknown.
6145-53190796
Telemast in Skogstorp.
4266-21631310
Presentation of Vladimir Tatlins Letatlin in Moscow, Anonymous
6145-29138408
A Dirigible. Alfred Stieglitz (United States, 1864-1946). United States, 1910, printed 1911. Photographs. Photogravure
4409-50105032
11/30/1939. Track Cars That Transport the Juicy Must to the Railway.
6145-52277733
German Dornier duck plug with on the tail number 35, possibly during the flight competition held in 1910 on Johannisthal near Berlin.
5513-18667229
Wireless Masts & Towers - Radio. July 19, 1949.
255-59894613
Vintage Photograph. Man flying a model plane.
6176-67064082
Ascent of M. Poiteven, on Horseback, in a Balloon, from the Champ de Mars, Paris, 1850. 'Upwards of 10,000 persons paid for admission...to witness the ascent...It was a matter of considerable difficulty to fill the balloon with gas, owing to the violent wind...it was beaten to and fro...so strongly, that several of the spectators had to assist in holding it...a stout cloth was placed round the body of the horse, and...the animal was attached by cords to the network of the balloon...The aeronaut was dressed as a jockey, and had with him several bottles of wine and some bread....The emotion of t
900-4791
"Venetian Blind" Plane Of Phillips, 1893  Artist Unknown
4220-21899853
The Zeppelin LZ-7 is the first  designed to carry passengers,  but on its first flight it is  forced down by a storm and  breaks in two in a forced  landing in Teutoberg forest.     Date: July 1910
4409-50040764
12/31/1919. A funicular installed in a mountainous area.
6145-29423895
Anefo photo collection. Tube transport by air per helicopter. Helicopter with the tube. May 24, 1961
PREVIOUS
of 2
NEXT
2401 S. Ervay, Suite 206
Dallas, Texas 75215
United States
Browse
CategoriesGalleriesFree Research
For Creators
License Your ContentSuperStock For StudentsFrame of Mind BlogContributor PortalNew Image SpotlightLicense AI Imagery
Resources
About UsLicensingTerms & ConditionsAPI AccessPrivacyPricing
Contact
+1 866 236 0087help@superstock.com Contact form
©2026 SuperStock. All Rights Reserved. -A
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.