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CHAPTER IV
AIRSHIPS OF WAR
So much has been said and written concerning the Zeppelin
airship, particularly in its military aspect, that all other
developments in this field have sunk into insignificance so far
as the general public is concerned. The Zeppelin dirigible has
come to be generally regarded as the one and only form of
practical lighter-than-air type of aircraft. Moreover, the name
has been driven home with such effect that it is regarded as the
generic term for all German airships.
These are grievous fallacies. The Zeppelin is merely one of a
variety of types, even in Germany, although at the moment it
probably ranks as the solitary survivor of the rigid system of
construction. At one time, owing to the earnestness with which
the advantages of this form of design were discussed, and in view
of the fact that the Zeppelin certainly appeared to triumph when
all other designs failed, Great Britain was tempted to embrace
the rigid form of construction. The building of an immense
vessel of this class was actively supported and it was aptly
christened the "May-fly." Opponents of the movement tempered
their emphatic condemnatory criticism so far as to remark that it
MAY FLY, but as events proved it never did.
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