may be stated that air-ships are included in the great
constructive programme now being carried out. It is not long
since the citizens of Glasgow were treated to the spectacle of a
full-sized British "Zep" circling round the city prior to her
journey south, and so to regions unspecified. And use, too, is
being found by the naval arm for that curious hybrid the "Blimp",
which may be described as a cross between an aeroplane and an
air-ship.



CHAPTER VIII
The First Attempts to Steer a Balloon

For nearly a century after the invention of the Montgolfier and
Charlier balloons there was not much progress made in the science
of aeronautics. True, inventors such as Charles Green suggested
and carried out new methods of inflating balloons, and scientific
observations of great importance were made by balloonists both in
Britain and on the Continent. But in the all-important work of
steering the huge craft, progress was for many years practically
at a standstill. All that the balloonist could do in controlling
his balloon was to make it ascend or descend at will; he could
not guide its direction of flight. No doubt pioneers of
aeronautics early turned their attention to the problem of
providing some apparatus, or some method, of steering their
craft. One inventor suggested the hoisting of a huge sail at the
side of the envelope; but when this was done the balloon simply
turned round with the sail to the front. It had no effect on the
direction of flight of the balloon. "Would not a rudder be of