Airships

Airships

Airships, vehicles for transport through the air, are one of the major transportation methods within the Corsian Empire. Airships were first invented in the Ziran Islands, but Waylength Grastus brought modern airshipping to the world. Nowadays airships are used to transport goods, people, and information all across the Empire, and also play a prominent role in the Corsian Armed Forces. The proliferation of airships and their profound impact on daily life have led some commentators to refer to the 1300's as "The age of the airship".

Airships are distinct from balloons, in that they have a means of propulsion. An airship dock is known as an Aerodrome, and it supplies refueling and repairs for docked airships.

History of Airships

The earliest airships known to exist are the Ziran Islands built by the Ziranians since at least 970. These small craft however are far distant from what would be considered a true airship, being a small craft lifted by hot air and propelled by unique 'wings' operated by the pilot. These craft were designed to allow the Ziranians to get from island to island in their homeland, however their use is difficult and dangerous, as a strong gust could strand a crew kilometres outside of their plotted course.

By the 1270's Corsians began to take notice of the craft in Ziran. The first corsian airship, Innovation was built in 1286. Innovation was very similar to the Ziranian designs, lifted by hot air, but it used a small steam engine and fan blades as propulsion. After a popular series of public demonstrations, Corsian engineers and innovators empire-wide became interested.

Real excitement started brewing around the use of airships when Waylength Grastus unveiled his first airship, Sunset, which was also notable for being the first ever rigid airship, in 1297. A flurry of innovation and development began, all headed by Waylength and his company ''Imperial Skysailing''. In 1301, engineer Arnold Luffzich invented Luffzich gas (LZ-G), a substance lighter then air; and this truly began the age of airships in Corsia. Waylength purchased the patent for the gas, and immediately nulled it, allowing engineers all over the Empire to prosper and design newer and more magnificent airships.

Currently there are many airship companies and services throughout the empire. Most cargo between major cities is carried by airships, and the Corsian Armed Forces maintains a large fleet of powerful airships. Many civilians own their own small airships as part of their own businesses or for personal use. There are some governmental regulations as to at what times and altitudes airships may be flown around cities, and city guards maintain these restrictions. Airship crimes, including Aeropiracy, have been a constant influence since the early days of aeronautics, but the cost of maintaining an illegal airship keeps them operating in slower, outdated models from Outland outposts.

Designs

[[Medusa]] above Irongate in 1328. Note the interesting steering arrangement, common to all three ships in the Bladud Line]]

There are many hundreds of airship designs and specifications, and almost every ship is custom made to some job or requirement. However there are some universal features. The most important aspect of an Airship's design is it's mean of lift. Originally, airships were lifted via hot air, in inflatable balloons. Nowadays, almost every airship is rigid: that is to say that the balloon is structural, and does not deflate. Instead of heated air, LZ-G is used, which is far more buoyant and does not require re-heating. There are a few ways lift can be controlled. The simplest is to vent some LZ-G out to sink, or release some ballast to rise. However this results in a ship that can only rise by as much ballast is stored at the beginning of the flight. Nevertheless, this is the most common form of lift control, especially among smaller airships. In a larger airship, to fall LZ-G is vented, and to rise it can be generated from reaction chambers on the ship. By bringing a comparably small amount of agent onto the ship, LZ-G can be generated in a reaction with air, allowing the ship to adjust it's altitude much more frequently. The major drawback to this design, is that the LZ-G reaction chambers are highly volatile, and can be caused to explode - as in the Hyperion disaster. It is also possible that the ship may run out of the agent, meaning it couldn't rise again until it was restocked, although this is very unlikely given the small amount needed for the reaction.

Some of the most modern and expensive airships have a system to allow indefinite control of altitude. By cooling the LZ-G, it can be made to condense, lowering the amount it can lift and sinking the ship. By then heating it back up, the ship can be made to rise again. As no gas is ever vented, this system allows the ship to continue adjusting it's altitude forever. However, the system is very expensive, and requires precise engineering; and as such it is only seen on the absolute newest and most expensive ships.

After the gas balloon the next most important section is the method of propulsion. Many airships have a series of engines around the balloon that work in unison, these are generally set along one plane of the ship - often the lengthwise cross-section. Some ships work on a number of engines placed directly on the aft. While this allows for more power, and therefore faster speeds, it also makes steering harder, and slows acceleration and deceleration. Steering is usually done by angling rudders placed behind each engine, but is sometimes managed though a single large rudder, or exotic aerofoil setups. A single method of steering on ships with parallel engines is to change their relative speed to orient the ship in a given direction.

Most airships have a gondola - suspended below the balloon - or bridge - placed on top of the balloon - for crew and goods, passengers or payload. Generally, airships only have a gondola as it makes it easier to stabilize the ship. Larger ships are more likely to have the bridge on the top, as well. Rarely, a ship will have its main areas inside the balloon, if the ship is light enough or the balloon big enough.

Airship captains rely on communication with members of their ships to properly steer and control. To do this, they have radio access to local ground teams, and speaking tubes to contact the crew. On a larger ship, the captain might have radio intercoms throughout the ship.

Personal Airships

Wealthy individuals may own their own private airships, and airships built for racing are considered personal airships as well. Oftentimes personal airships are very small, with speed or comfort being the main agendas. However, as it's any person's business to build their own airship as they like, there is also great variety. Typically a personal airship would be constructed by a smaller craft company or workshop rather then a major airship manufacturer. There are many of these smaller companies, the most famous being ''Hayson Aeronautics'', who supply the Emperor's personal airships during their reign. The other most important craft airship makers are ''[[Airship Manufacturers#Grigori & Sons | Grigori & Sons]]'' and ''[[Airship Manufacturers#Rose Airships | Rose Airships]]'', who each compete aggressively in the [[annual fenton airship races]].

Airship spotters can sometimes identify personal airships from the ship's shape, or from banners flying personal coat of arms colours. Personal airships are not often allowed to fly around cities due to safety and defence concerns, and most owners will have them docked at aerodromes outside city limits.

Commercial Airships

By far the most abundant class of airships, commercial airships have become the lifeblood of trade in Corsia. Any medium sized company will own a few medium-sized freight airships, for trade between Imperial cities. Trade between Nations or Colonies, or over seas, is run by the [[merchant guilds | merchant guild's]] ships, some of the largest airships in existence. Each merchant guild, ''[[merchant guilds#Corsian Merchant Fleet | Corsian Merchant Fleet]]'', ''[[merchant guilds#Isambard's of Irongate | Isambard's of Irongate]]'', ''[[merchant guilds#Celestial Trading Company | Celestial Trading Company]]'', and ''[[merchant guilds#Outland Trading Company | Outland Trading Company]]'' command an ever moving fleet of gigantic trade ships, that shunt goods and people over large distances. Freight commercial airships will almost always have a bridge up top, and limited crew and engine space below. The entire middle of the airship, or the underside, is most often loaded with freight. Commercial transport airships almost never have a bridge, with the people housed below in a gondola. The speed and comfort of these ships varies a great deal across the spectrum of purpose, but often times passenger airships are built to be faster then freight ships, which are built to hold the largest amount of cargo possible. A typical merchant guild freight ship could be expected to be over 250m, while a passenger ships would be smaller - in the range of 180-250m.

Military Airships

The [[CAF Airforce]] operates a large number of airships for a variety of purposes. Airships are often used to supply and transport ground forces to the frontline, to combat other airships, or to provide fire onto ground targets. Military airships come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, with some of the heaviest airships ever made being military designs. It is forbidden for civilians to have armaments placed on their airships, so the CAF also manages a division of escort ships for protecting merchant ships in dangerous areas. Finally, the CAF has a dedicated [[CAF Anti-Piracy Division | anti-piracy division]] for combating airship piracy.

Operation and Construction

The operation of an Airship, as regulated by local and international laws created by bodies such as the Royal Aviation Association, almost always requires a crew of at least two. In the smallest airships, a captain is required to man the controls, while an assistant is needed to perform other duties; such as stoking fires, or hoisting colours. Only the smallest personal airships would require a single crew member. The larger the ship the larger the crew required to operate the systems. Freight Airships will often have crews of 20-30 people, who work in 12 hour shifts. Military airships can have even larger crews, often reaching up to 140 airmen on a battleship.

Airships require maintenance and refuelling at an aerodrome at regular intervals. Machinery must be oiled and cleaned, and LZ-G and/or other fuels must be restocked. Balloons often have to be patched up or re-painted, as they suffer from exposure and rain. Very large airships often do most of their maintenance in the air, and will only dock once or twice a year. Very, very few airships are able to land on the ground without suffering severe or incapacitating damage. Almost all airships in service only dock at aerodromes, and will never touch the ground until they are scrapped.

Construction

Airships are built at airship-wrights. The first part to be constructed is always the balloon, so that the ship can be filled to test the buoyancy, and reduce stress on the airship dock. After this, engines and internal systems are gradually built into or onto the balloon, with cabins and storage rooms built last. Painting is an important step that protects the outer layers of the balloon especially from exposure.

Building an airship is highly expensive, and airship builders are paid well - not least due to the high rate of accidental death. The [[Potions#Leaping Potion | leaping potion]] was originally invented for airship-wrights, but was found to be too expensive to use in large quantities. A typical medium sized airship will take generally 2 years to be build, with small personal airships maybe taking 8 months, and huge freighters taking up to 5 years.

Famous or Notable Airships