Kite Balloons to Airships... the Navy's Lighter-Than Air Experience
Kite Balloons to Airships... the Navy's Lighter-Than Air Experience

Author: Roy Grossnick

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2012-08-01

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13: 9781478386186

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The dawn of aviation began with lighter-than-air craft and gliders. They were in the forefront of what eventually led to the Wright brothers' activities at Kitty Hawk. The Navy's early use of lighter-than-air craft may be traced back to the American Civil War. However, it was a short-lived affair and these LTA possibilities were not pursued after the war. With the advent of airplanes in naval service, the Navy again turned its interest to lighter-than-air craft. The Navy's lighter-than-air program blossomed and its fleet of airships became the largest the world has ever seen. During the era of the giant rigid airships, the Navy built some of the largest airships in the world. Many achievements were recorded by the Navy's LTA branch and new records were set, records which still remain unbroken today. This monograph is intended to provide an overview of the Navy's involvement with balloons, airships and their operations, which shows their failures and accomplishments and their contributions to the Navy's mission of guarding the sea lanes of America. It is not an in-depth study of the LTA program, but provides an overall look at the history of LTA in the Navy. Various aspects of the LTA program have had extensive coverage, especially the rigid airship era; however, the entire history of LTA in the Navy has not been told under one cover. The Navy's LTA program technically ended in the 1960s. But the evolutionary trends that can be seen in history could possibly bring back certain functions of LTA and make them viable in today's world of supersonic flight and space travel.

Battle Line
Battle Line

Author: Thomas C Hone

Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Published: 2006-04-03

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 1612513395

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A portrait in words and photographs of the interwar Navy, this book examines the twenty-year period that saw the U.S. fleet shrink under the pressure of arms limitation treaties and government economy and then grow again to a world-class force. The authors trace the Navy's evolution from a fleet centered around slow battleships to one that deployed most of the warship types that proved so essential in World War II, including fast aircraft carriers, heavy and light cruisers, sleek destroyers, powerful battleships, and deadly submarines. Both the older battleships and these newer ships are captured in stunning period photographs that have never before been published. An authoritative yet lively text explains how and why the newer ships and aircraft came to be. Thomas Hone and Trent Hone describe how a Navy desperately short funds and men nevertheless pioneered carrier aviation, shipboard electronics, code-breaking, and (with the Marines) amphibious warfare —elements that made America's later victory in the Pacific possible. Based on years of study of official Navy department records, their book presents a comprehensive view of the foundations of a navy that would become the world's largest and most formidable. At the same time, the heart of the book draws on memoirs, novels, and oral histories to reveal the work and the skills of sailors and officers that contributed to successes in World War II. From their service on such battleships as West Virginia to their efforts ashore to develop and procure the most effective aircraft, electronics, and ships, from their adventures on Yangtze River gunboats to carrier landings on the converted battle cruisers Saratoga and Lexington, the men are profiled along with their ships. This combination of popular history with archival history will appeal to a general audience of naval enthusiasts.

Sky Ships
Sky Ships

Author: William F Althoff

Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Published: 2016-02-15

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1612519016

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Originally published in 1990, Sky Ships is easily the most comprehensive history of U.S. Navy airships ever written. The Naval Institute Press is releasing this new edition— complete with two hundred new photographs—to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the book’s publication. Impressed by Germany’s commercial and military Zeppelins, the United States initiated its own airship program in 1915. Naval Air Station Lakehurst in New Jersey was homeport for several of the largest machines ever to navigate the air. The success of the commercial rigid airship peaked in 1936 with transatlantic round trips between Central Europe and the Americas by Hindenburg and by Graf Zeppelin— ending with the infamous fire in 1937. That setback, the onset of war, and the accelerated progress of heavier-than-air technology ended rigid airship development. The Navy continued to use blimps to protect Allied shipping during World War II. Following the war, the Navy persisted with efforts to integrate the airships, but the program was finally discontinued in the early 1960s.

Adventures in Archaeology
Adventures in Archaeology

Author: P.J. Capelotti

Publisher: University Press of Florida

Published: 2018-09-12

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 0813063612

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Remnants of the curious and peculiar ways humankind has marked the archaeological landscape are abundant but often ignored: wrecked aircraft, abandoned airfields, old highway billboards, derelict boats, movie props, and deserted mining operations. In this book, archaeologist P.J. Capelotti explores places and things that people do not typically think of as archaeological sites and artifacts, introducing readers to the most extreme fieldwork taking place today. Capelotti shows that even seemingly ordinary objects from the recent past hold secrets about the cultural history of humans. He investigates the site where a stunt copy of the Orca, the fishing boat used in the movie Jaws, was stripped to pieces by fans—a revelation of the ways humans relate to popular culture. He takes readers to abandoned base camps near the North Pole that are now used as destinations for Arctic tourism. Retelling the story of Thor Heyerdahl’s research expedition across the Pacific Ocean on a balsa log raft, Capelotti shows how experimental archaeology attempts to reveal cultural connections between continents. And he doesn’t stop at the limits of the planet. He discusses debris floating through outer space and equipment left behind on the surface of the moon, highlighting current efforts to preserve artifacts that exist beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. These discarded materials, says Capelotti, help archaeologists piece together the sweeping story of human cultural expansion and exploitation. He explains how the unusual sites of shorelines, sea, air, and space represent the farthest reaches of human civilization. His enthusiasm will inspire readers to set out on their own to investigate the secret meanings of treasures hiding in plain sight.

Aerial Robotics in Agriculture
Aerial Robotics in Agriculture

Author: K. R. Krishna

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2021-04-15

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 1000088618

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This important volume provides a plethora of information on aerial vehicles and their possible roles in revolutionizing agricultural procedures through spectral analysis of terrains, soils, crops, water resources, diseases, floods, drought, and farm activities. There are several semi-autonomous and autonomous (robotic) aerial vehicles that are examined for their efficiency in offering detailed spectral data about agrarian regions and individual farms. Among them, small drone aircrafts such as fixed-winged and copter models have already caught the imagination of farmers. They are spreading fast in every nook and corner of the farm world. However, there are many more aerial robots that are utilized in greater detail during farming. In this volume, the focus is on aerial vehicles such as parafoils, blimps, aerostats, and kites, and how they are being evaluated for use in experimental farms and fields. A few aerial vehicles, such as robotic parafoils, have been adopted to procure aerial spectral data and visual imagery to aid agronomic procedures. These and other aerial robots are expected to change and improve the use of the sky in agricultural endeavors and the way we conduct agronomic procedures in the very near future. This volume is a timely resource for agricultural researchers, professors and students, and the general public who are interested in aerial vehicles.

Umberto Nobile And the Arctic Search for the Airship Italia
Umberto Nobile And the Arctic Search for the Airship Italia

Author: Garth Cameron

Publisher: Fonthill Media

Published: 2017-09-09

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13:

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By the time it was over, eight of the crew and nine rescuers were dead and scores more had been put in harm’s way. The disappearance and search for the airship Italia was headline news, all over the world, for months after its last radio message on 25 May 1928. It had reported being to the north-east of its base at Kings Bay, on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, returning from a long flight to Greenland and the North Pole. Ships, aircraft and men from many countries converged on Kings Bay to participate in the rescue effort. The Italian airship designer and pilot Umberto Nobile had flown to the North Pole and beyond in 1926. He resolved to return to the Arctic with a new airship in 1928. The expedition had geographical and scientific aims, but the political environment was also an important motivator. Benito Mussolini and his fascist party had come to power in 1922 and a successful expedition to the Arctic would be excellent propaganda.