A rigid airship constructed with a lightweight internal framework, typically made of duralumin, which dictates its shape and houses multiple separate gas cells for buoyancy. Originally named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the term is now widely used for any large rigid dirigible. Unlike blimps, zeppelins maintain their aerodynamic shape even if the lifting gas pressure drops.
Heard on the job
The museum has an original piece of the duralumin frame from an early military zeppelin.
Also heard as
- rigid airship
Do not mix it up with
- Blimp: A blimp relies entirely on internal gas pressure to keep its shape, whereas a zeppelin has a rigid metal skeleton.