ZMC-2
airships, circa 1930, ZMC-2 is at far right The Aircraft Development Corporation ZMC-2 was the first and only rigid metal skinned airship ever built. It was first flown in 1929, and flew safely for over ten years. As a sub-scale test vehicle, it was considered to be very successful, but the company that built it did not weather the Great Depression well, and by the time a successor might have been built, there was little interest in pursuing it. The US-Navy classified it as a blimp. The ZMC-2 was nicknamed the "Tin Bubble" and was also sometimes called a "tinship". It was not made of tin, but of duraluminum, an aluminum alloy. It had roughly a teardrop-shape, and had eight small stabilizer fins, four of which had rudders. It was scrapped in 1941 for its metal content, especially for its aluminum. Other blimps did go on to serve in the World War 2 however, specializing in protecting convoys.
See also List of airships of the United States Navy
External links Lakehurst: International Airport (a picture of the ZMC-2 is near the bottom of the page) ZMC-2 in hangar, under the nose of the Hindenburg (large version of picture above) The ZMC-2 shown here on a flight over Washington, DC This has a short history of the ZMC-2 along with pictures of construction and flights of the ZMC-2
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