The Willows airships were a series of pioneering

non-rigid airship A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hydr ...

s designed and built in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

by Ernest Thompson Willows in the first decade of the 20th century. The first airship Willows No. 1 flew in 1905, and the last, the Willows No. 5 in 1913.

Design and development

Willows No. 1

First flown for 85 minutes by the nineteen-year-old Willows from East Moors, Cardiff in Wales on 5 August 1905, the No. 1 was a small semi-rigid of 12,600 cubic feet (354 m³). The 74 ft (22.55 m) long and 18 ft (5.5 m) diameter envelope was made from silk and had a framework gondola suspended beneath it. At the rear of the framework was a twin-cylinder Peugeot motorcycle engine fitted with a two-bladed 10 ft (3 m) pusher propeller. The Willows No. 1 undertook six flights with the longest lasting two hours.

Willows No. 2

Willows next airship the Willows No. 2 first flew on 26 November 1909. No. 2 was 86 ft (26.2 m) long and 22 ft (6.7 m) in diameter with a 29,000 cubic feet (820 m³) volume. On 4 June 1910 Willows landed the No. 2 outside of

Cardiff City Hall City Hall ( cy, Neuadd y ddinas) is a civic building in Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales, UK. It serves as Cardiff's centre of local government. It was built as part of the Cathays Park civic centre development and opened in October 1906. Built of ...

and then flew back to his shed at East Moors. On 11 July 1910 it flew from

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

to Cardiff and the following month on 6 August it returned to London. The flight was a record for a cross-country flight in Britain and Willows was the first aviator to cross the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...

in a powered aircraft. The No. 2 was powered by a

JAP ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word "Japanese". Today, it is generally regarded as an ethnic slur. In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term very offensive, even when used as an abbreviation. Prior to t ...

air-cooled V8 engine and had two swivelling propellers mounted either side of the suspended car. It was also fitted with a rudder for directional control.

Willows No. 3 - ''City of Cardiff''

Willows No. 2 was re-built and lengthened to 120 ft (36.56 m) with a diameter of 40 ft (12.2 m) and a volume of 32,000 cubic feet (905 m³). It retained the same JAP engine which powered two 6 ft (1,83 m) propellers. No. 3 first flew on 29 October 1910 over

White City White City may refer to: Places Australia * White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore * White City railway station, a former railway station * White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney * White City FC, a football clu ...

in London, England. Willows renamed his airship the ''City of Cardiff'' and on 4 November 1910 left from

Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough, ...

for France, thus becoming the first airship to cross the English Channel at night and the first from England to France. The journey was not without problems; the maps were dropped over the side during the night, and problems with the envelope caused the airship to land at

Corbehem Corbehem ( vls, Corbeham) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming and light industrial village located 17 miles (27 km) northeast of Arras on the D45 road. The Scarpe rive ...

near Douai at two o'clock in the morning. With the help of local French aviator

Louis Breguet Louis Charles Breguet (2 January 1880 in Paris – 4 May 1955 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Île-de-France) was a French aircraft designer and builder, one of the early aviation pioneers. Biography Louis Charles Breguet was the grandson of L ...

, the airship was repaired and arrived at Paris on 28 December 1910. Willows celebrated New Year's Eve with a flight around the Eiffel Tower.

Willows No. 4 - His Majesty's Naval Airship No. 2

The next Willows airship the Willows No.4 was slightly smaller but more streamlined than the No. 3. Completed in 1912 it had a 24,000 cubic feet (680 m³) capacity, a length of 110 ft (33.5 m) and a diameter of 20 ft (6,10 m). The envelope had a keel on which was mounted a

Anzani Anzani was an engine manufacturer founded by the Italian Alessandro Anzani (1877–1956), which produced proprietary engines for aircraft, cars, boats, and motorcycles in factories in Britain, France and Italy. Overview From his native Italy, An ...

engine driving two four-bladed steerable propellers. Below the keel was suspended a two-man gondola. After rejection by the Army, No. 4 was bought for £1,050 in September 1912 by the Admiralty and it became His Majesty's Naval Airship No. 2. In 1913 it was given a larger capacity envelope of 39,000 cu feet (11,000 m³). By 1914 the original gondola was replaced with a three-seat version with dual controls but it only made one flight in this configuration. The envelope of this airship was used for the prototype of the very successful

SS class airship SS (''Submarine Scout'' or ''Sea Scout'') class airships were simple, cheap and easily assembled small non-rigid airships or "blimps" that were developed as a matter of some urgency to counter the German U-boat threat to British shipping during ...

which was used for anti U-boat activities in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Willows No. 5

Following the sale of No. 4, Willows established a spherical gas balloon school at Welsh Harp, Hendon. During this time he developed a new airship, the Willows No. 5 with a rubberised fabric and a volume of 50,000 cubic feet (1,415 m³). First flown on 27 November 1913 the No. 5 had a gondola which could carry four people. It made a number of flights from Hendon over central London in February 1914.

Specifications (No. 4)

References

External links

* {{Admiralty airships Airships of the United Kingdom 1900s British experimental aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1905