Customer Reviews

Airship Technology (Cambridge Aerospace Series)

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I would strongly recomend this book to those who are more interested in the Airship construction than in a history of airships itself. As an aerospace student, I've been looking for such a book for a long time. This book brings very sensitively all basic (and more) information about the structure and design. I really recomend, it's worth that money.

I work as an aeronautical engineer for a company that builds and sells airships and I can testify that this is an essential volume for airship enthusiasts and engineers. I use this book a lot as a good overview of the airship. For more technical detail though, Airship Design by Burgess is tops for rigid airships, Pressure Airships is another great one for the non-rigid type. Airship books come few and far between so definitely pick this one up.

Rather than being a traditional textbook that covers the design of an aircraft from initial mission planning to detail design, Airship Technology is a collection of individually written chapters that cover in total the same breadth of material. This causes the tone to change from chapter to chapter due to the different authors, but each author is clearly an expert on the subject matter in the chapter and all write quite lucidly. Some understanding of fabric design and terminology (such as "gores") is assumed, but if you go into it blind like I did there are more than enough context clues to aid you. This is one of the few textbooks I've actually read cover-to-cover.

NOTE: It does emphasize blimp design rather than zeppelin design; this is because for most applications airships currently do blimps are the better choice. It does have some data on zeppelins, however.

This is a fascinating book about airship technology. It has lots of technical data and practical advice. It shows examples of contemporary airships and it even has a chapter on future developments of airship technology.

The vast majority of books on airship design date back to the first half of the 20th Century. Airship Technology, edited by Gabriel Khoury, is the only recent technical/engineering manual on airship design. Each chapter is written by a recognized expert on that specific area of airship design and operation. The book covers all the bases, including materials, aerostatics, ground handling, piloting, and even solar power.

Airship Technology is a must have for any airship enthusiast or aeronautical engineer. When it came out in 1999, I paid more than US$100 for the book -- worth every penny. As of November 2004, the book sells for US$75 -- an honest bargain. Make sure to add "Airship Technology" to your library!