D-class blimp
{{Infobox aircraft
|name=D class
|image=U.S. Navy "D-2" in flight. 1-4 rear view. - NARA - 518865.jpg
|caption=NAVY D-2
|type=Patrol airship
|manufacturer=Various (Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation, Goodrich)
|designer=
|first_flight=13 July 1920 at Wingfoot Lake, Ohio
|introduction=
|retired=1924
|status=
|primary_user=United States Navy
|more_users=
|produced=
|number_built=6
|variants=
}}
The D class blimp was a patrol airship used by the US Navy{{Cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/lta-m.html |title=Kite Balloons to Airships...the Navy's Lighter-than-Air Experience |access-date=2009-07-05 |archive-date=2006-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927065509/http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/lta-m.html |url-status=dead }} in the early 1920s. The D-type blimps were slightly larger than the C-type and had many detail improvements. The Navy continued the practice of dividing the envelope production between Goodyear and Goodrich. The control cars were manufactured by the Naval Aircraft Factory. The major improvements over the C-type blimps were a better control car design and easier, more reliable controls and instrumentation. The engines were moved to the rear to reduce noise and allow easier communications between crew members. The fuel tanks were suspended from the sides of the envelope. The envelope was identical to the C-type, except an additional six-foot panel was inserted for a total length of {{convert|198|ft|m}} and a volume of {{convert|190000|cuft|m3}}. The last of the D-Class, D-6, had a redesigned control car by Leroy Grumman who later founded the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation.Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915–1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, {{ISBN|0-9639743-8-6}}, page 30
Operational history
On the day of its maiden fight, the D-1 caught fire and burned inside the Goodyear hangar [http://www.goodyearblimp.com/history/wingfoot.html The Goodyear Blimp: History of Wingfoot Lake Hangar] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901023503/http://www.goodyearblimp.com/history/wingfoot.html |date=2012-09-01 }} at Wingfoot Lake, Ohio. The D-2,[http://www.earlyaviator.com/archive/airships01/1920.USN.Goodrich.D-2.jpg U.S. Navy Goodrich Airship D-2 1920] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120143327/http://www.earlyaviator.com/archive/airships01/1920.USN.Goodrich.D-2.jpg |date=November 20, 2008 }} D-3, D-4 and D-5 were transferred to the United States Army which the Air Ship Board had given the primary role of operating non-rigid airships after World War I.Shock, James R., U.S. Army Airships, 1908–1942, 2002, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, {{ISBN|0-9639743-9-4}}, page 44 D-3 participated as an observation and photography aircraft at the famed "Mitchell" bombing test of 1921. D-3 also participated in the Mitchell bombing trials and tested experimental mooring masts. D-3 also participated in early "hook-on" experiments to see if it was possible for an airplane to fly up to and hook onto a trapeze hanging from an airship. No actual hook-ons were achieved, but approaches were practiced. D-4 also participated in the Mitchell trials, for observation and photography. The D-5 was never operated by the Army with that designation. After the loss of D-2, the D-5 was erected with more powerful 180 hp Wright V engines and flown as the D-2 (no. 2) D-2 (no 2 is a designation created by historian James Shock, never used by the Army).Shock, James R., U.S. Army 1908–1942, Airships 1908–1942, 2002, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, {{ISBN|0-9639743-9-4}}, page 44 There is no evidence the airship flew for the Army with the designation "D-5". D-5 is believed to have been renumbered "D-2" after the loss of that airship.Shock, James R., U.S. Army Airships, 2002, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, {{ISBN|0-9639743-9-4}}, page 45
The Navy retained one additional D-type, the D-6.[http://www.earlyaviator.com/archive/airships01/1921.USN.Goodyear.D-6.NASRockaway.jpg U.S. Navy Goodyear Airship D-6 1921] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119160912/http://www.earlyaviator.com/archive/airships01/1921.USN.Goodyear.D-6.NASRockaway.jpg |date=November 19, 2008 }} The D-6 was built by the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but her design was sufficiently different that she was distinct from the other five D-class airships. It featured a further improved control car (the "D-1 Enclosed Cabin Car" which had a water tight bottom for landings on water and internal fuel tanks. The D-6 was burned in the Naval Air Station Rockaway hangar fire[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B05EFD9143EEE3ABC4953DFBF66838A639EDE NY Times Sept. 1, 1921, Page 2, Biggest Navy Blimp Burns with 3 More] of 31 August 1921 along with two small dirigibles, the C-10 and the H-1 and the kite balloon A-P.
The last operational D-type, the D-3 was decommissioned by the Army sometime in 1924.
Operators
;{{USA}}
Specifications (typical)
{{Aircraft specs
|prime units? = imp
|crew=Four
|length m=60.37
|length ft=198
|length in=0
|dia m=12.80
|dia ft=42
|dia in=0
|height m=17.68
|height ft=58
|height in=0
|volume m3=5,380
|volume ft3=190,000
|lift kg=1,969
|lift lb=4,340
|eng1 number=2
|eng1 name=Union
|eng1 kw=93
|eng1 hp=125
|max speed kmh=93
|max speed mph=58
|cruise speed kmh=64
|cruise speed mph=40
|range km=2,380
|range miles=1,480
|endurance=37 hours|armament = *1 × .303 Lewis gun
- 4 × 270 lb (122 kg) bombs
}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite book |last= Althoff |first= William F..| title=SkyShips |year=1990 |publisher=Orion Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-517-56904-7}}
- {{cite book |last= Grossnick |first= Roy A.| title=Kite Balloons to Airships... the Navy's Lighter-than-Air Experience |year=1986 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington D.C. }}
- {{cite book |last= Shock |first= James R.| title=U.S. Army Airships 1908–1942 |year=2002 |publisher=Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida |isbn=978-0-9639743-9-6 }}
- {{cite book |last= Shock |first= James R.| title=U.S. Navy Airships 1915–1962 |year=2001 |publisher=Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida |isbn=978-0-9639743-8-9 }}
{{USN non-rigid airship classes}}
Category:1920s United States patrol aircraft