George Patterson wrote in
news:MF4te.6191$EH1.2881@trndny03:

Stubby wrote:

Not clear.

Yes, it is.

My understanding is the attitude of an airship is set by
small "ballonettes" with the gas bag. These are controlled by levers
on the ceiling of the pilot's area.

That's correct.

It is not necessary to point the ship
up in order to climb because climbing is accomplished by dumping
balast, water or sand.

They don't dump anything. They point the nose up and use the engine
thrust to climb.

Based solely on first hand observation, I agree.

Many years ago I was attending an airshow at Fullerton Mun. (KFUL)
and the Goodyear blimp did some passes as well as a touch & go. It
came in slow and mostly level. When it bounced on it's wheel, the
pilot pitched that thing to what appeared from us on the ground
seemingly under the thing as a 45 degree angle and powered those
engines right up to what was probably full power.

It 'flew' in the direction it was pointing and not 'floated'.

My not 100% educated guess would be that the blimp is trimmed to
neutral buoyancy just like a submarine. Then the engines and control
surfaces are used to 'fly' the vehicle.

I've got pics somewhere....

Brian
--
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