Editing Aviation (section)

===Lighter than air===
[[File:Hindenburg at lakehurst.jpg|thumb|[[LZ 129 Hindenburg|LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'']] at [[Lakehurst Naval Air Station]], 1936]]

The modern age of aviation began with the first untethered human lighter-than-air flight on November 21, 1783, of a [[hot air balloon]] designed by the [[Montgolfier brothers]].<ref name="Ballon Flight">{{Cite web|title=Balloon flight {{!}} aviation|url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/balloon-flight|access-date=June 6, 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=June 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628232219/https://www.britannica.com/technology/balloon-flight|url-status=live}}</ref> The usefulness of balloons was limited because they could only travel downwind. It was immediately recognized that a steerable, or [[Airship|dirigible]], balloon was required. [[Jean-Pierre Blanchard]] flew the first human-powered dirigible in 1784 and crossed the English Channel in one in 1785.

[[Rigid airship]]s became the first aircraft to transport passengers and cargo over great distances. The best-known aircraft of this type were manufactured by the German [[Zeppelin]] company.

The most successful Zeppelin was the ''[[LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin|Graf Zeppelin]]''. It flew over one million miles, including an around-the-world flight in August 1929. However, the dominance of the Zeppelins over the airplanes of that period, which had a range of only a few hundred miles, was diminishing as airplane design advanced. The "Golden Age" of the airships ended on May 6, 1937. That year the ''[[LZ 129 Hindenburg|Hindenburg]]'' caught fire, killing 36 people. The cause of the ''Hindenburg'' accident was initially blamed on the use of hydrogen instead of helium as the lift gas. An internal investigation by the manufacturer revealed that the coating used in the material covering the frame was highly flammable and allowed static electricity to build up in the airship.{{sfn|De Angelis|2001|pages=87–101}} Changes to the coating formulation reduced the risk of further ''Hindenburg'' type accidents. Although there have been periodic initiatives to revive their use, airships have seen only niche application since that time.<ref name="Civil Transport Aircraft">{{Citation|last1=Torenbeek|first1=Egbert|title=Civil Transport Aircraft|date=December 15, 2010|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9780470686652.eae379|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Aerospace Engineering|pages=eae379|editor-last=Blockley|editor-first=Richard|place=Chichester, UK|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|language=en|doi=10.1002/9780470686652.eae379|isbn=978-0-470-75440-5|access-date=June 6, 2021|last2=La Rocca|first2=Gianfranco|editor2-last=Shyy|editor2-first=Wei}}</ref> There had been previous airship accidents that were more fatal, for instance, a [[R38-class airship|British R38]] on {{date|23 August 1921}},<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1922/1922%20-%200139.html |title=The Accident to H.M. Airship R. 38|magazine=[[Flight International|Flight]]|date= 2 March 1922| page= 139}}</ref> but the ''Hindenburg'' was the first to be captured on newsreel.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Hindenburg, Before and After Disaster|website=Britannica|date=August 25, 2023 |url=https://www.britannica.com/story/the-hindenburg-before-and-after-disaster}}</ref>