A List Of Airship Books

This list contains books that are of intrest to Airshippers and other LTA Enthusiasts.

ABAC; Build Your Own Balloon, Volumes I - III; San Diego, California (ABAC), 19?.
A series of books describing the construction and design of experimental hot air balloons.

Allen, Hugh; The Story of the Airship (Non-Rigid); Akron, Ohio 1943
A lively book about the blimp fleet of the US Navy that was written to foster the acceptance of the blimps among the population.

Althoff, William F.; Life and Death of the Hindenburg"; (Pacifica Press), 1990.
I haven't had the time to review this book yet.

Archbold, Rick; Hindenburg - An Illustrated History; New York (Madison Press/ Warner Books), 1994
This is the most detailed and well illustrated book on rigid airship history that I have seen. The chapter about the future of the airship is comprehensive and up to date and includes recent blimps and the Zeppelin NT. A good investment for the start of a collection

Beaubois, Henry; Airships: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow; The Two Continents Publishing Group, 1973
ISBN number 0-8467-0150-2. Drawings by Carlo Demand. Translated from the French Dirigeables. A very lavishly illustrated and documented coffee-table book.

Busemeyer, Karl-Ludwig; RC Luftschiffe und Ballone; Villingen-Schwenningen (Neckar Verlag), 1982
This is the greatest resource for radio controlled airships. To my knowledge, it is the only book ever written on RC airships. It is written in German. There's newer material on RC balloons.

Jahnke, Klaus-Dieter; Ferngesteuerte Heissluft Ballone. Geschichte, Bau und Betrieb; Baden-Baden (Verlag f. Technik u. Handwerk), 1993.
This is the newest and most up to date book on RC hot air balloon technology available worldwide. It is written in German.

Jane's Information Group; Jane's All the World's Aircraft; New York (Jane's Information Group), began in 1909, latest edition 1995/96.
ISBN: 0710613776 (87th edition). Called Jane's All the World's Airships in its earlier years this reference book has a whole section dedicated to airships only. Pick any year to find out about developments at the time. Pick the current edition to see which projects you didn't hear about. An Airshippers Delight!

Robinson, Douglas Hill; Giants in the Sky: A History of the Rigid Airship; University of Washington Press, 1973

Santos-Dumont, Alberto; My Air-Ships; New York (The Century Co.), 1904.
Santos-Dumont recounts the development of his first ship, the No. 1, and how he converted automobile engines for airship use. He tells how he won the Deutsch prize proving that his airship No. 6 was very controllable. We would all love to fly down the Champs Elysees and tie our airship to a lantern post in front of a cafe like he did.

Smith, Anthony; Throw Out Two Hands; London (George Allen and Unwin Ltd.), 1963.
This book describes a gas balloon expedition over Kenya.

Also, the Association of Balloon and Airship Constructors maintains a most extensive library of over 2000 volumes many of which can be ordered as reprints.
Have you read a good airship book that is not listed here? Please tell me (webmaster@myairship.com) and I will add it to this page.

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