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Air Ships
 “Air
Ships,” later called blimps, were cigar-shaped balloons
popularized by Alberto Santos Dumont, an affluent Brazilian living
in Paris. Silk, cotton, and linen fibers comprised the main fibers.
Next, Count Von Zeppelin promoted dirigibles or “rigidair-ships,”
new mechanical birds with steel skeletons and natural fiber skin.
Gases lighter than those of the Earth's atmosphere were used
to make these larger, heavier blimps fly. Among the most famous
were the Los Angeles and the Hindenberg; both made of rubber-covered
cotton. During both World Wars I and II, blimps were used by
the military. Today, these rigidairs are mostly used for advertising
and TV coverage and constructed with polyester,
a synthetic fiber lighter and stronger than cotton.
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