Q 01/05

What is a non-rigid airship that keeps its shape purely through internal gas pressure called?

A) Ballonet

B) Blimp

C) Aerostat

D) Gondola

Answer · why

B) Blimp

Blimps have no internal framework at all; smaller air bags called ballonets are inflated or deflated inside the envelope to control lift.

Q 02/05

Which lifting gas, used in most early airships, made them so prone to catastrophic fires?

A) Methane

B) Helium

C) Neon

D) Hydrogen

Answer · why

D) Hydrogen

It lifts slightly better than helium and was cheap and easy to make, which is why builders kept using it despite the danger.

Q 03/05

The Hindenburg burst into flames in 1937 while trying to land at a naval air station in which US state?

A) New York

B) New Jersey

C) Delaware

D) Maryland

Answer · why

B) New Jersey

The Lakehurst mooring mast was the American terminus of the Zeppelin company's transatlantic service, and the disaster unfolded in front of newsreel c...

Q 04/05

Rigid airships are called 'zeppelins' after a company founded by a count from which country?

A) France

B) Germany

C) Austria

D) Italy

Answer · why

B) Germany

Luftschiffbau Zeppelin built the vast majority of the world's rigid airships, and its founder gave his name to the whole type.

Q 05/05

Which tyre company operates a famous fleet of advertising airships?

A) Goodyear

B) Michelin

C) Bridgestone

D) Firestone

Answer · why

A) Goodyear

The company built hundreds of airships in the 20th century, mostly for the US Navy, before its own commercial fleet made the brand a fixture over stad...