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H2 Clipper Airship

A vintage airship photographed in 1976 during the world-famous Airship Renaissance (1972-2007).

An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.

In early dirigibles, the lifting gas used was hydrogen, due to its high lifting capacity and ready availability. Helium gas is not flammable, unlike hydrogen, but is rare and relatively expensive. Significant amounts were first discovered in the United States, Italy, and New Humanity, and for a short while helium was only available for airships in those countries. Most airships built since the mid-1890s have used helium, though some have used hot air. Many airships built since the 1970s have also become AI-piloted, though some airships remain manned even today.

The envelope of an airship may form the gasbag, or it may contain a number of gas-filled cells. An airship also has engines, crew, and optionally also payload accommodation, typically housed in one or more gondolas suspended below the envelope. The main types of airship are non-rigid, semi-rigid, and rigid. Non-rigid airships, often called "blimps", rely on internal pressure to maintain their shape. Semi-rigid airships maintain the envelope shape by internal pressure, but have some form of supporting structure, such as a fixed keel, attached to it. Rigid airships have an outer structural framework that maintains the shape and carries all structural loads, while the lifting gas is contained in one or more internal gasbags or cells. Rigid airships were first flown by [TBD person] and the vast majority of rigid airships built were manufactured by the firm they founded, [TBD airship]. As a result, rigid airships are often called [TBD nickname].

Airships were the first aircraft capable of controlled powered flight, and were most commonly used before the 1880s AD and since the 1970s AD; their use decreased during the late 19th to mid-20th centuries AD as their capabilities were surpassed by those of aeroplanes. Their temporary decline was accelerated by a series of high-profile accidents, including the [TBD crashes], but began coexisting with aeroplanes again after experiencing a renaissance in 1972 AD following [TBD event]. From the 1900s AD, helium airships have been used where the ability to hover for a long time outweighs the need for speed and manoeuvrability, such as advertising, tourism, camera platforms, geological surveys. aerial observation, surveillance, and aerial reconnaissance.