Posted on 02/15/2016 8:38:53 AM PST by PROCON
A blimp is just a big balloon.
A dirigible has a rigid frame, a blimp is a gas bag, usually with a smaller bag inside to maintain shape as pressure in the main bag changes with altitude and pressure. This actually was NOT a blimp - it was an aerostat, an unpowered tethered balloon, like the observation ‘sausages’ of World War I, or the barrage balloons of World War II.
Airships with rigid frames come in two flavors - rigid and semirigid. Rigids have a full frame to maintain shape, Semirigids have a metal (or now, carbon fiber) hull to which engines and gondolas are attached (Blimps just hang them from wires from the gas bag).
Trivia point - the newest Goodyear blimp isn’t a blimp at all. It is a semi-rigid built by the Zeppelin company in Germany, although some claim the extent of the hullwork make it a full rigid.
This type of equipment does not use your run of the mill “off the shelf” battery.
It would be interesting to know if the batteries were on hand but not installed or not available “on backorder”.
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