Signal Corps Dirigible No. 1

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{short description|Airship}}

{{Infobox aircraft begin

| name=Signal Corps Dirigible No. 1

| image=Signal Corps Dirigible No 1 afmil-01.jpg

| caption=

}}{{Infobox aircraft type

| type=Dirigible

| national origin=United States

| manufacturer=

| designer=Thomas Scott Baldwin

| first flight=

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| number built=1

| program cost=

| unit cost=$5,737.50 in 1908

| developed from=

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}}

File:Le dirigeable baldwin n009w3396 0 6m311q593.tiff

Signal Corps Dirigible No. 1 was the first powered aircraft ordered for the Signal Corps by the Aeronautical Division of the United States Army. The purchase of SC-1, a dirigible designed by Thomas Scott Baldwin, was the result of urgings by Chief Signal Officer Brigadier General James Allen. After seeing Baldwin demonstrate a dirigible at the St. Louis air meet in 1907, Allen had urged the U.S. Army to buy a dirigible, as many European armies had dirigibles by the turn of the century.{{cite web|title=Baldwin Dirigible: U.S. Army's First Airship|author=NMUSAF|publisher=National Museum of the United States Air Force|date=22 May 2010|url=http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=665|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714182816/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=665|archivedate=14 July 2014}}

On 5 August 1908, the Army tested SC-1 at Fort Myer, Virginia. The craft fell short of a two-hour, 20 mph objective to meet a $8,000 per unit award. The Army formally accepted the craft as Signal Corps Dirigible No. 1, paying $5,737.50.{{Cite journal |last=Crouch |first=Tom D. |date=2010 |title=The Aero Club of Washington: Aviation in the Nation's Capital, 1909–1914 |journal=Washington History |volume=22 |page=39 |jstor=41000588}} On 28 August 1908 Lieutenants Frank Lahm, Michael "CC" Finney, Thomas Selfridge, and Benjamin Foulois were taught to fly the craft.

After Second Lieutenant John G Winter Jr of the 6th Cavalry was assigned to duty in the Aeronautical Division, the balloon detachment was transferred to Fort Omaha, Nebraska.{{Citation | title = Army News: Dirigible No 1 | newspaper=Aeronautics; Volume 5, Number 1 | page = 10 | date = July 1909}}

On 26 May, pilot Lieutenant Lahm and Lieutenant Foulois made a flight in SC-1 at Fort Omaha, and maneuvered the craft at will. SC-1 remained there until scrapped in 1912. The Army did not purchase another dirigible until after World War I.

Specifications (Signal Corps Dirigible No. 1)

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References