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45-568: The American Blimp MZ-3A is a blimp owned by the United States Navy from 2006 to 2017. It is a modified American Blimp Corporation A-170 series commercial blimp and given the USN type/model/series (T/M/S) designation MZ-3A and Bureau Number (BuNo) 167811. After delivery to the Navy, the airship began operations as an advanced flying laboratory used to evaluate affordable sensor payloads,

90-505: A lifting gas highly impractical. Diborane is slightly lighter than molecular nitrogen with a molecular mass of 27.7. Being pyrophoric it is however a major safety hazard, on a scale even greater than that of hydrogen. Theoretically, an aerostatic vehicle could be made to use a vacuum or partial vacuum. As early as 1670, over a century before the first manned hot-air balloon flight, the Italian monk Francesco Lana de Terzi envisioned

135-749: A maximum cruise speed of just under 50 kn (93 km/h). The crewed 178-foot LTA craft has an operational payload capability of up to 2,500 lb (1,100 kg) and can remain aloft and nearly stationary for more than twelve hours, performing various missions in support of technology development for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) concepts. In May 2006, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron TWENTY, Lighter-than-Air Vehicle (LTAV) Detachment ( VX-20 LTAV Det) began regular flight operations from Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst located in Lakehurst, New Jersey. In 2007 flight operations were halted and

180-483: A result, a certain volume of gas has a lower density as the temperature is higher. The temperature of the hot air in the envelope will vary depending upon the ambient temperature, but the maximum continuous operating temperature for most balloons is 250 °F (121 °C). Hydrogen , being the lightest existing gas (7% the density of air, 0.08988 g/L at STP), seems to be the most appropriate gas for lifting. It can be easily produced in large quantities, for example with

225-415: A ship with four vacuum spheres. In a theoretically perfect situation with weightless spheres, a "vacuum balloon" would have 7% more net lifting force than a hydrogen-filled balloon, and 16% more net lifting force than a helium-filled one. However, because the walls of the balloon must remain rigid without imploding, the balloon is impractical to construct with any known material. Despite that, sometimes there

270-697: A sound that he mimicked and pronounced as "blimp"; and that the word then caught on as the nickname for all small non-rigid airships. A 1943 etymology, published in The New York Times , supports a British origin during the First World War when the British were experimenting with lighter-than-air craft. The initial non-rigid aircraft was called the A-limp; and a second version called the B-limp

315-490: A type of deep-sea submersibles that use gasoline as the "lifting gas". A balloon can only have buoyancy if there is a medium that has a higher average density than the balloon itself. In 2002, aerogel held the Guinness World Record for the least dense (lightest) solid. Aerogel is mostly air because its structure is like that of a highly vacuous sponge . The lightness and low density is due primarily to

360-426: Is 7% lighter than air, is technically capable of being used as a lifting gas at temperatures above its boiling point of 25.6 °C. Its extreme toxicity, low buoyancy, and low boiling point have precluded such a use. Neon is lighter than air (density 0.900 g/L at STP, average atomic mass 20.17 g/mol) and could lift a balloon. Like helium, it is non-flammable. However, it is rare on Earth and expensive, and

405-425: Is among the heavier lifting gases. Pure nitrogen has the advantage that it is inert and abundantly available, because it is the major component of air. However, because nitrogen is only 3% lighter than air, it is not a good choice for a lifting gas. Ethylene is an unsaturated hydrocarbon that's 3% less dense than air. Unlike nitrogen however, ethylene is highly flammable and far more expensive, rendering use as

450-540: Is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins ), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium , rather than hydrogen ) inside the envelope and the strength of the envelope itself to maintain their shape. Blimps are known for their use in advertising, surveillance, and as observation platforms due to their maneuverability and steady flight capabilities. Since blimps keep their shape with internal overpressure, typically

495-407: Is at sea level at 0 °C. For higher altitudes, or higher temperatures, the amount of lift will decrease proportionally to the air density, but the ratio of the lifting capability of hydrogen to that of helium will remain the same. This calculation does not include the mass of the envelope need to hold the lifting gas. At higher altitudes, the air pressure is lower and therefore the pressure inside

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540-420: Is discussion on the topic. While not a gas, it is possible to synthesize an ultralight aerogel with a density less than air, the lightest recorded so far reaching a density approximately 1/6th that of air. Aerogels don't float in ambient conditions, however, because air fills the pores of an aerogel's microstructure, so the apparent density of the aerogel is the sum of the densities of the aerogel material and

585-433: Is lighter than air and could theoretically be used as a lifting gas. However, it is extremely corrosive, highly toxic, expensive, is heavier than other lifting gases, and has a low boiling point of 19.5 °C. Its use would therefore be impractical. Acetylene is 10% lighter than air and could be used as a lifting gas. Its extreme flammability and low lifting power make it an unattractive choice. Hydrogen cyanide , which

630-470: Is non-flammable and much cheaper than helium. The concept of using steam for lifting is therefore already 200 years old. The biggest challenge has always been to make a material that can resist it. In 2003, a university team in Berlin, Germany, has successfully made a 150 °C steam lifted balloon. However, such a design is generally impractical due to high boiling point and condensation. Hydrogen fluoride

675-579: Is not appropriate for use in passenger-carrying airships. It is also relatively dense and a potent greenhouse gas . It is also possible to combine some of the above solutions. A well-known example is the Rozière balloon which combines a core of helium with an outer shell of hot air. The gaseous state of water is lighter than air (density 0.804 g/L at STP, average molecular mass 18.015 g/mol) due to water's low molar mass when compared with typical atmospheric gases such as nitrogen gas (N 2 ). It

720-587: Is the owner and operator of 8 of these active ships, including the Hood Blimp, DirecTV blimp, and the MetLife blimp. This blimp is a type of airborne early warning and control aircraft, typically as the active part of a system which includes a mooring platform, communications and information processing. Example systems include the U.S. JLENS and Israeli Aeronautics Defense Skystar 300 . Surveillance blimps known as aerostats have been used extensively in

765-408: Is very strong. The type of gas used is largely inconsequential because the relative differences between gases is negligible in relation to the density of water. However, some gases can liquefy under high pressure, leading to an abrupt loss of buoyancy. A submerged balloon that rises will expand or even explode because of the strong pressure reduction, unless gas is allowed to escape continuously during

810-689: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill recovery operation. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony on 26 October 2011 at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division , NAES Lakehurst , New Jersey, and in recognition of the Centennial of Naval Aviation , the Navy unveiled a fresh identity for the MZ-3A. Emblazoned with red, white and blue striped rudders reminiscent of the Navy's airships just prior to World War II ,

855-403: The water-gas shift reaction or electrolysis , but hydrogen has several disadvantages: Helium is the second lightest gas (0.1786 g/L at STP). For that reason, it is an attractive gas for lifting as well. A major advantage is that this gas is noncombustible. But the use of helium has some disadvantages, too: In the past, coal gas , a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide , and other gases,

900-634: The Blimps ;... this afternoon at Capel ". In 1918, the Illustrated London News said that it was "an onomatopœic name invented by that genius for apposite nomenclature, the late Horace Short". The B-class blimps were patrol airships operated by the United States Navy during and shortly after World War I . The Navy learned a great deal from the DN-1 fiasco. The result was the very successful B-type airships. Dr. Jerome Hunsaker

945-592: The Middle East by the United States military , the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait . Manufacturers in many countries have built blimps in many designs. Some examples include: Lifting gas Heated atmospheric air is frequently used in recreational ballooning . According to the ideal gas law , an amount of gas (and also a mixture of gases such as air) expands as it is heated. As

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990-542: The US Navy on its dirigible fleet, attempted to design and build a four-place blimp called the "family air yacht" for private fliers which the inventor claimed would be priced below $ 10,000 and easier to fly than a fixed-wing aircraft if placed in production. It was unsuccessful. In 2021, Reader's Digest said that "consensus is that there are about 25 blimps still in existence and only about half of them are still in use for advertising purposes". The Airsign Airship Group

1035-529: The air contained within. In 2021, a group of researchers successfully levitated a series of carbon aerogels by heating them with a halogen lamp, which had the effect of lowering the density of the air trapped in the porous microstructure of the aerogel, allowing the aerogel to float. Hydrogen and helium are the most commonly used lift gases. Although helium is twice as heavy as (diatomic) hydrogen, they are both significantly lighter than air. The lifting power in air of hydrogen and helium can be calculated using

1080-477: The airship also carries the insignia of the VXS-1 Warlocks and the banner of the U.S. Navy . In February 2012, four months after its formal acceptance by the Navy, the MZ-3A airship was at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst , New Jersey. It was planned to be deflated and stored, and the program suspended until future missions warranted its re-activation. In March 2012, days after the decision to suspend,

1125-437: The amount of mass that can be lifted by hydrogen in air at sea level, equal to the density difference between hydrogen and air, is: and the buoyant force for one m of hydrogen in air at sea level is: Therefore, the amount of mass that can be lifted by helium in air at sea level is: and the buoyant force for one m of helium in air at sea level is: Thus hydrogen's additional buoyancy compared to helium is: This calculation

1170-534: The ascent or the balloon is strong enough to withstand the change in pressure. Divers use lifting bags (upside down bags) that they fill with air to lift heavy items like cannons and even whole ships during underwater archaeology and shipwreck salvaging . The air is either supplied from diving cylinders or pumped through a hose from the diver's ship on the surface. Submarines use ballast tanks and trim tanks with air to regulate their buoyancy , essentially making them underwater " airships ". Bathyscaphes are

1215-443: The balloon is also lower. This means that while the mass of lifting gas and mass of displaced air for a given lift are the same as at lower altitude, the volume of the balloon is much greater at higher altitudes. A balloon that is designed to lift to extreme heights ( stratosphere ), must be able to expand enormously in order to displace the required amount of air. That is why such balloons seem almost empty at launch, as can be seen in

1260-420: The development of semi-rigids and rigid airships . Modern blimps are launched somewhat heavier than air (overweight), in contrast to historic blimps. The missing lift is provided by lifting the nose and using engine power, or by angling the engine thrust. Some types also use steerable propellers or ducted fans . Operating in a state heavier than air avoids the need to dump ballast at lift-off and also avoids

1305-448: The development of new lighter-than-air (LTA) technologies and general flight support for other related research and development/science and technology (R&D/S&T) projects. As of 2023, it was the last airship to be operated by the U. S. military. The airship now occasionally can be spotted around Boston, sporting a Dick's Sporting Goods livery. The airship is propeller-driven by two 180 hp (130 kW) Lycoming engines, providing

1350-428: The first time, Horace Short , already noted for his very apt and original vocabulary, named it "Blimp", adding, "What else would you call it?" Dr. A. D. Topping researched the origins of the word and concluded that the British had never had a "Type B, limp" designation, and that Cunningham's coinage appeared to be the correct explanation. The Oxford English Dictionary notes its use in print in 1916: "Visited

1395-441: The gondola, and in some models are partly steerable. Blimps are the most commonly built airships because they are relatively easy to build and easy to transport once deflated. However, because of their unstable hull, their size is limited. A blimp with too long a hull may kink in the middle when the overpressure is insufficient or when maneuvered too fast (this has also happened with semi-rigid airships with weak keels). This led to

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1440-516: The gondolas for all of those 14 ships. Connecticut Aircraft contracted with U.S. Rubber for its two envelopes and with Pigeon Fraser for its gondolas. The Curtiss-built gondolas were modified JN-4 fuselages and were powered by OX-5 engines . The Connecticut Aircraft blimps were powered by Hall-Scott engines . In 1930, a former German airship officer, Captain Anton Heinen, working in the US for

1485-431: The main component of natural gas , is sometimes used as a lift gas when hydrogen and helium are not available. It has the advantage of not leaking through balloon walls as rapidly as the smaller molecules of hydrogen and helium. Many lighter-than-air balloons are made of aluminized plastic that limits such leakage; hydrogen and helium leak rapidly through latex balloons. However, methane is highly flammable and like hydrogen

1530-491: The need to lose costly helium lifting gas on landing (most of the Zeppelins achieved lift with very inexpensive hydrogen, which could be vented without concern to decrease altitude). The origin of the word "blimp" has been the subject of some confusion. Lennart Ege notes two possible derivations: Colloquially non-rigid airships always were referred to as "Blimps". Over the years several explanations have been advanced about

1575-536: The only solid parts are the passenger car (gondola) and the tail fins . A non-rigid airship that uses heated air instead of a light gas (such as helium) as a lifting medium is called a hot-air airship (sometimes there are battens near the bow, which assist with higher forces there from a mooring attachment or from the greater aerodynamic pressures there). Volume changes of the lifting gas due to temperature changes or to changes of altitude are compensated for by pumping air into internal ballonets (air bags) to maintain

1620-546: The origin of this word. The most common is that in the military vernacular the Type ;B was referred to as "limp bag", which was simply abbreviated to "blimp". An alternative explanation is that on 5 December 1915, Commander A. D. Cunningham, R.N. , of the Capel-Le-Ferne Air Ship Station , flicked the envelope of the airship SS.12 with his fingers during an inspection, which produced

1665-471: The overpressure. Without sufficient overpressure, the blimp loses its ability to be steered and is slowed due to increased drag and distortion. The propeller air stream can be used to inflate the ballonets and so the hull. In some models, such as the Skyship 600 , differential ballonet inflation can provide a measure of pitch trim control. The engines driving the propellers are usually directly attached to

1710-406: The photo. A different approach for high altitude ballooning, especially used for long duration flights is the superpressure balloon . A superpressure balloon maintains a higher pressure inside the balloon than the external (ambient) pressure. Because of the enormous density difference between water and gases (water is about 1,000 times denser than most gases), the lifting power of underwater gases

1755-550: The program got a reprieve for at least another 3–6 months of operations. The MZ-3A was still in operation as of March 2013, providing C4ISR capabilities demonstrations in Florida for U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/ U.S. 4th Fleet . In October 2017, the Navy sold the MZ-3A to the Florida-based AirSign Airship Group. Blimp A non-rigid airship , commonly called a blimp ( /blɪmp/ ),

1800-774: The ship stored in Hangar Six at NAES Lakehurst. In October 2009, the MZ-3A was transferred to the United States Naval Research Laboratory Military Support Division's Scientific Development Squadron One (VXS-1) , formerly known as the Flight Support Detachment, located at Naval Air Station Patuxent River , Maryland. The airship resumed flight operations in March, 2010 with test flights at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma , Arizona. The MZ-3A

1845-435: The theory of buoyancy as follows: Thus helium is almost twice as dense as hydrogen. However, buoyancy depends upon the difference of the densities (ρ gas ) − (ρ air ) rather than upon their ratios. Thus the difference in buoyancies is about 8%, as seen from the buoyancy equation: Where F B = Buoyant force (in newton ); g = gravitational acceleration = 9.8066 m/s = 9.8066 N/kg; V = volume (in m ). Therefore,

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1890-545: Was a government owned / contractor operated (GOCO) airship operated by a civilian contractor, Integrated Systems Solutions, Inc. (ISSI) of California. ISSI maintained and operated the blimp employing Navy approved, highly qualified, commercial blimp pilots to command the airship. On 5 July 2010, the MZ-3A was re-deployed to the Jack Edwards National Airport in Gulf Shores, Alabama to assist in

1935-520: Was also used in balloons. It was widely available and cheap. Disadvantages include a higher density (reducing lift), its flammability and the high toxicity of the carbon monoxide content. Ammonia has been used as a lifting gas in balloons, but while inexpensive, it is relatively heavy (density 0.769 g/L at STP, average molecular mass 17.03 g/mol), poisonous, an irritant, and can damage some metals and plastics. Methane (density 0.716 g/L at STP, average molecular mass 16.04 g/mol),

1980-500: Was asked to develop a theory of airship design. This was followed by then- Lieutenant John H. Towers , USN , returning from Europe having inspected British designs, and the U.S. Navy subsequently sought bids for 16 blimps from American manufacturers. On 4 February 1917 the Secretary of the Navy directed that 16 nonrigid airships of Class B be procured. Ultimately Goodyear built 9 envelopes, Goodrich built five and Curtiss built

2025-532: Was deemed more satisfactory. Yet a third derivation is given by Barnes and James in Shorts Aircraft since 1900 : In February 1915 the need for anti-submarine patrol airships became urgent, and the Submarine Scout type was quickly improvised by hanging an obsolete B.E.2c fuselage from a spare Willows envelope; this was done by the R.N.A.S. at Kingsnorth , and on seeing the result for

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