From the History of the Development of Controlled Aerostats (Airships) in the XIX - early XX centuries

The article deals with the history of development of controlled aerostats (airships) in the XIX - early XX centuries. Emphasis is given to three main modifications of airships: with a rigid, semi-rigid and semi-soft body. There were used as materialsthe specialized literature on the history of airships, as well as reference and scientific literature. The study applied a set of scientific methods: multifactority and integration, chronology, typology, comparison, etc., which together provide reliability of the results on the problem under study. So, for example, studying the experience of developing controlled balloons, the authors paid attention to the features of their designs, which allowed the airships to be used for civil and military purposes. The authors concluded that the dynamic development of airships in the XIX - early XX century led to the creation of several types of products with a rigid, semi-rigid and semi-soft body. Each of the modifications had its pluses and minuses. If the product with a rigid body was more suited to the needs of civil aviation due to the need for stationary hangars, the balloons with semi-rigid and semi-soft shells were more practical and could be deployed in the field quickly. This predetermined a fairly wide use of the latest on the fronts of the First World War.