Originally published in 1927, this volume was intended to fill the dual role of textbook for the student of airship design and handbook for the practical engineer. The design of airships, particularly of the rigid type, is mainly a structural problem; and theoretical aerodynamics has nothing like the relative importance which it bears in airplane design. This is to be expected when we consider that the gross lift of an airship depends solely on the specific gravity of the gas and the bulk of the gas container, and not at all on shape or other aerodynamic characteristics which determine the lift of airplanes.