Editing Airship (section)

====17th–18th century====
In 1670, the [[Jesuit]] Father [[Francesco Lana de Terzi]], sometimes referred to as the "Father of [[Aeronautics]]",<ref>{{cite web | title = Francesco Lana-Terzi, S.J. (1631–1687); The Father of Aeronautics | url = http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jmac/sj/scientists/lana.htm | access-date = 24 July 2010 | archive-date = 24 April 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210424104423/http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jmac/sj/scientists/lana.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref> published a description of an "Aerial Ship" supported by four copper spheres from which the air was evacuated. Although the basic principle is sound, such a craft was unrealizable then and remains so to the present day, since external air pressure would cause the spheres to collapse unless their thickness was such as to make them too heavy to be buoyant.<ref>{{cite web | title = Would a balloon filled with vacuum instead of helium float? | date=April 2000 | url=http://science.howstuffworks.com/question194.htm | access-date = 24 July 2010}}</ref> A hypothetical craft constructed using this principle is known as a ''[[vacuum airship]]''.

In 1709, the Brazilian-Portuguese Jesuit priest [[Bartolomeu de Gusmão]] made a hot air balloon, the Passarola, ascend to the skies, before an astonished Portuguese court. It would have been on August 8, 1709, when Father Bartolomeu de Gusmão held, in the courtyard of the [[Casa da Índia]], in the city of Lisbon, the first Passarola demonstration.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chronology of Aviation History from 1700 to 1799|url=https://www.skytamer.com/1700-1799.html|access-date=2021-02-20|website=www.skytamer.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Science Source Stock Photos & Video – Passarola, Bartolomeu de Gusmao's Airship, 1709|url=https://www.sciencesource.com/archive/Image/Passarola--Bartolomeu-de-Gusmao-s-Airship--1709-SS2732612.html|access-date=2021-02-20|website=www.sciencesource.com}}</ref> The balloon caught fire without leaving the ground, but, in a second demonstration, it rose to 95 meters in height. It was a small balloon of thick brown paper, filled with hot air, produced by the "fire of material contained in a clay bowl embedded in the base of a waxed wooden tray". The event was witnessed by King [[John V of Portugal]] and the future [[Pope Innocent XIII]].<ref name="Sousa 2014">{{cite conference <!-- Citation bot bypass--> |last=Louro |first=F.V. |last2=Melo De Sousa |first2=Joao M. |title=Father Bartholomeu Lourenço de Gusmão: a Charlatan or the First Practical Pioneer of Aeronautics in History |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |publication-place=Reston, Virginia |date=2014-01-10 |isbn=9781624102561 |doi=10.2514/6.2014-0282 |oclc=1237189987 |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2014-0282 |page= |conference=52nd Aerospace Sciences Meeting |conference-url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/book/10.2514/masm14}}</ref>

A more practical dirigible airship was described by Lieutenant [[Jean Baptiste Marie Meusnier]] in a paper entitled "{{lang|fr|Mémoire sur l'équilibre des machines aérostatiques}}" (Memorandum on the equilibrium of aerostatic machines) presented to the [[French Academy]] on 3 December 1783. The 16 water-color drawings published the following year depict a {{convert|260|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} streamlined envelope with internal ballonets that could be used for regulating lift: this was attached to a long carriage that could be used as a boat if the vehicle was forced to land in water. The airship was designed to be driven by three propellers and steered with a sail-like aft rudder. In 1784, [[Jean-Pierre Blanchard]] fitted a hand-powered propeller to a balloon, the first recorded means of propulsion carried aloft. In 1785, he crossed the [[English Channel]] in a balloon equipped with flapping wings for propulsion and a birdlike tail for steering.<ref>Winter & Degner (1933), pp. 26–27.</ref>